1997 Honda prelude base
Ok i missed a gear and went from 3rd to 2nd , hit rev limiter and bent 5 exhaust valves - took head to a local shop that does any motor head work and I purchased skunk 2 springs retainers and 0.5 mm oversized valves - he did a port and polish job on it and then seated the new valves and everything tested out on the flow bench - Last week i put the head back on and did everything by spec with the HELMS manual - but i cant get it to start - its getting air and fuel cause the TB is open and i smell the fuel and its getting spark but it wont start. PLEASE HELP - I also need a little help on which wires i hook up to use a MSD 6AL ignition and a Blaster 2 coil. Thanks

 

Well for starters, if you're getting fuel and spark, then it should be starting. How did you confirm that you were getting spark, and did you attempt the 6al install during the head reinstall?

 

yes i did attemp the MSD 6AL install but then realized i hadnt hooked it up right so i unhooked it and reconnected the stock coil and so on - and i know im geting spark cause when i hold the wires a short distance from the distributor i get a spark.

 

i think i found my problem i think my cams were way out of time like 180 degrees but which mark on the flywheel is the TDC mark i see multiple marks and little marks and so on???? HELP PLEASE

 

Well, it does sound like your cams could be out of whack. 180° sounds too far, because they would be opening during the compression stroke, rather than closing. Are you getting any backfires? You should be, if your cams are out of angle. If not, I doubt either A) your cams are out of spec, or B) you're not getting ignition or spark like you may think.

The valves would be smashed for sure if you were that far out of spec. Did you try to crank the motor by hand, a good 4-6 turns of the crank to turn the engine over completely?

HTH,

Mike

 

well i turned it yes but it seemed fairly smooth but im not sure which line on the fly wheel is the TDC mark so i thought i had it in time but im not totally sure - but the valves are going down and up - i took the valve cover off and watched the valvetrain and it seems to be working fine - all cylinders are reading compression of around 110 - 90 - which doesnt sound as high as it should be with a milled head and stock pistons - but it did backfire some - both intake and exahust backfires