Help! Sudden loss of power, loads of smoke and rattles

[ian2000t]

No, normally starts very quickly - and did this morning before I drove to work.

That long cranking on a hot engine is definitely "something new" - along with the rattle and smoke.

Last night I altered the timing from 0.88 to 0.98, and it started fine last night and this morning. Drove the first 13 miles to work perfectly - no smoke, no rattles, smooth as usual.

Just the last mile, something definitely changed. Wasn't a slow transition, it literally went from running great, to running awful in a split second. I HOPE the timing has somehow slipped!