I bought a 97 civic from a guy for $600, said he swap heads but it never ran after that. I looked at the motor and when the crank is TDC, the UP of the cam gear is at the bottom. My question is could I just remove the timing belt and rotate the cam 180 degrees to TDC?

 

Yes.

 

And in order to remove the belt, I just loosen the tensioner and slip the belt off correct? Don't need to loosen crankshaft bolt?

 

Could I just slip the belt off the cam gear and adjust the cams and put it back on and tighten the belt? Or do I have to completely remove the crank pulley and pull the belt off?

 

What block and what head?

 

Yes, just loosen it and slip it off and rotat to the up position.
Make sure cyl 1 is at tdc

 

d16y7 block and same head, he just swapped on another for some reason. Ok, so no need to remove the crank pulley?

 

No
Unless you are removing the t belt

 

but if he was trying to start it like that could have bent the valves

 

Doesnt the crankpulley need to be remove before I can get to the tensioner or can I just wiggle it out the way? The lower timing belt cover is still on and I cant get to the tensioner bolt without removing it.

 

If you rotate the crank another 360 degrees so that the crank tdc marks line up again, you would notice that the cam gear's "TOP" mark is now on top. Now remove distributor cap and see if the rotor tip is pointing to plug wire #1. If its pointing 180 degrees away, then the timing is way off. What i do is to just loosen the tensioner, remove camgear and slide it away from the camshaft with the belt in it. Its now easy to remove the belt from the cam gear and you can align the marks easily. There is an access hole for tensioner bolt. Just remove the rubber cover.

 

Ok, I got the timing spot on by the looks of it. The car still wont start but it cranks. If I spray carb cleaner down the intake, it will start up but begin to die unless i put it in nuetral (Automatic tranny), it will stay on until I switch it into any gear except neutral. Any thoughts?

 

NO ! by just letting the starter spin the engine you won't bend ****. OP follow axis11's advice he know what he's talking about

 

Anyone?

 

Check your fuel pressure.

 

I loosen the top nut to the fuel filter and switch it to the "ON" position and fuel sprays everywhere each time. Is that a good test?

 

...No, it is not. That's a very bad test, and a very dangerous way to test it. Buy/borrow/rent a fuel pressure testing kit, or buy an in-line fuel pressure gauge.

 

Yeah, kind of stupid and dangerous since the battery is right there but ok, I will do it right with the guage