i am in the process of having a distributor installed on my 1993 ford falcon and the mechanic has just rang and told me he can't do the timing because my car has a leaking manifold gasket which was ok before.he wants a further $195 on top of the $350 to fix the distributor and i would like to know if i am being robbed plus is he telling me the truth when he . is telling me he can't carry out the work.but whatever happens he still wants the $350 if i don't want the rest of the work done which he can't finish anyhow

If he's taken the intake manifold off to replace the distributor it should have been included in the price. The price for a intake manifold gasket is 30-40 bucks. I personally think he's taking you for a ride.

I'd say he is taking you for a ride...although a leaking intake manifold might cause some idling/fuel economy issues if it is bad enough and could make it harder to adjust timing. I'd take it to another mechanic once the distributor is done and get another price, unless you want to do it yourself.

You can still adjust timing with a leaking intake manifold, I managed on mine (although it is an EL with broadband manifold, not sure if it's much of a difference with log manifold).