Ok, I got my mini me swap together and cranked it over for the first time ... and it just cranks and cranks. Its getting spark and I haven't checked if its getting fuel, but it smells like it. The weird thing is its blowing air OUT of the intake manifold. The only thing I can think of that would cause this is if I set the timing 180 degrees off. Any ideas?

 

You are dead on, timing is off. Turn the cam gear till your on compression stroke on cylinder 1, which means all the valves are closed.

Then turn the crank till its lined up with the mark on the block. Slide the belt on, give it some tension, try to start it up. And bam, you should be fine.

If its blowing anything out of the intake manifold, then yes, your timing is off.

 

Thanks I think I'm confused about where the cam gear should be. How do I know when its positioned correctly?

 

The best way with the head on, take the valve cover off, and look at the valves on cylinder 1. They should be all closed, hard to explain, maybe someone else can explain better, but the gear will be all the way up too(mark), so thats a little extra help.

 

That makes sense

 

Would bent valves cause air to blow out of the intake mani?