I have a b20vtec in a 1995 civic and it doesn't seem to have as much power as it should. Bought it swapped and whoever built it didn't tune in the cams, just aligned them with marks on the outside gear. Turned up distributor and made a noticeable difference so I adjusted the cams, set the distributor back to the center and it was worse than ever. Seems to be about 10 degrees retarded on intake and 6 degrees on exhaust so I set them both to tdc. Does anyone know why this wouldn't have helped the power on the car? What should my next move be?
Pic of original timing:

 

It didn't help because you don't know what you're doing. "Doesn't seem to" & "Seems to be"? How did you adjust the cams? Are you just guessing while you're doing it?

 

If your timing is retarded leave it alone.
Your next move should be to take it to a professional tuner.
Or read and learn how to dial in the cams.

What cams are in there?

 

why are you playing with them? do you know what cams you have? do you know your p2v and v2v clearances? how are you determining what you're doing is better or worse? the butt dyno?

 

messing around with cam gears without knowing v2v or p2v clearance is asking for disaster.

 

if it was me, id take the tbelt off, make sure your timing is set correctly and have it tuned. gl

 

Um he tried that already and failed. He doesn't know what he is doing.

 

It's pretty obvious that the cam lobes are not facing up whenever the crank is set at tdc. When the timing was set by the builder he aligned with marks on outside gear instead of setting true tdc. Since it is a b16 head on a b20 block adjustable cam gears have to be used to compensate for height difference of the head. I advanced the cams to tdc but didn't notice a power difference. When everything is set to tdc there's no worry about piston/valve contact, only when advancing intake and retarding exhaust too much. @grumblemarc need help getting the stick out of your ***?

 

Depends on the cam. Lots of aftermarket cams will have v2v problems at 0,0 -- they need some separation. And even though an agressive cam should be safe for p2v I still wouldn't take chances.

Besides the lobes shouldn't be straight up at TDC...

 

So you're telling us the builder left you in this predicament; that the builder timed it incorrectly? WTF? Any reason you don't stop whinng and take it back to the builder to rectify?

 

closenough
either read or get professional help.

you havent even told us anything about the engine and whats in it and expect to help you?
b20vtec can be alot of different things.

did your builder just slap it together and had it running on stock ecu? or did he get it tuned

what cams what pistons?
oversized valves or stock size.
was the head milled?
are you using OEM thickness headgasket?

you gonna blow this sht up and run to the guy that sold it to you complaining that he sold you crap lol

certain cams have to be dialed in.