Sterlingaidenk

So first off, I bought my s14 ka24de automatic and it ran super great for 3 months, then many problems came up and one after another a new problem would come up. Right now it runs great when it wants to, I could go on the highway and there are no unusual noises or anything and no bogging then out of the blue it dies, when I am able to get it going its extremely gutless and wont shift into second gear. It does not want to start when it dies, when I get it to fire up I gas it to keep it alive, black smoke comes out the back. The ignition timing is at 18-21btdc at 700rpm. So far i have replaced spark plugs, Idle air control valve and air regulator, a brand new engine harness from wiring specialties, tps, coolant sensors, all fuses(no relays), new 5 point grounding kit, and 02 sensor, no coolant leaks, no milky oil either. The owner before me did do a egr delete so some plugs on the harness are not used but no codes are thrown. The only code im getting is the IAT which i just ordered. Another thing that is odd with the motor now is that it does not die when i unplug the MAF, it used to die when I first got the car dont know if that matters. The only real thing i can think of is the distributor is going out, and a vacuum leak but there is little to none that are left after the egr delete which look good to me. I will not do a engine swap either. I hope its just one little dumb thing im looking over. If you need pictures of anything I will take some.