Hey all,

First time posting here, but I used a lot of the threads on this site to build my runner! Currently driving a 3.4 5VZ swapped 2nd gen with a manual, but I'm having some issues with the engine at the moment.

She's been driving great for a few months, the only problems I had after finishing the build was a few brake lines cracking and a fuel injector dying on me. Two weeks ago, my girlfriend smelled fuel on our way home from work. Pulled over to check it and it looked just like the first bad injector, fuel puddling around the base of one of the injectors (farthest back one on drivers side - cylinder 6 I think?). Got a new one from the parts store, that had a slightly different look to the neck above the nozzle but the nozzle and body looked the same. Swapped it out, went for a test drive, and after about 10 minutes of driving I lost power and the motor started stuttering hard and backfiring if I gave it any throttle. Limped it home, pulled the plenum off again and saw a much larger puddle of fuel. Pulled off the fuel rail and the 2 oring from the top on the middle drivers side injector was torn. Got some new orings, installed them today and let the engine idle for 15 minutes or so and took it for a test drive. Test drive went great, so I stopped to grab some food and when I got back behind the wheel she ran great for less than a minute and started stuttering, stalling and backfiring like crazy - exactly as before. Limped it home again, but a couple minutes before getting home it stalled out, I turned it back on and all of a sudden it was running fine again - felt like it might be missing a tiny bit of power but running smooth. Popped the hood as soon as I got home expecting another fuel leak, but there's no sight or smell of gas in the bay. At the moment, it's pretty much not driveable like this - I can limp into town if I need but with the surging power combined with an elocked rear diff I'm worried about really damaging the vehicle. And it barely goes up the slightest of inclines when it's surging and limping.

If anyone has any clue what this could be, please let me know. A few more relevant things:

• My ecu is for an auto tranny, so I've got it tricked to think it's im neutral to work with the manual tranny
• I was hesitant to cut up the perfectly good stock 3rd gen intake box to make it fit in the 2nd gen body, so I'm running an aem cone filter instead
• I replaced the spark plugs when I did the swap, last spring.
• Truck didn't get driven most of the summer as I was away for work, so there's really only a couple months of commutes a a top speed of 70 kph, and one big day of highway driving a couple months back.
• I didn't have to do any internal work on the motor, but I did replace the timing belt (and water pump, pulleys) myself and somehow managed to misalign the timing by 45 degrees (both myself and two friends who have a fair few years of car work under their belts checked the alignment marks, not a clue how I managed that - I'm not usually a total moron)
• Most of my vacuum lines are disconnected and capped, didn't bother getting evap to work and for the moment I have the vacuum lines to the front diff disconnected and plugged as well.

Amy ideas would be incredibly welcome. I don't have a shop/garage at the moment, so I'm at the mercy of mother nature for when I can have the hood open.