just swapped in a new motor because the old one had a spun bearing and blown head gasket. so the motor is a 22r block with 20r head, high comp pistons and a mild cam. the motor rotates but does not fire. there is spark but its once every turn just like. i changed the cap and rotor and checked the distibutor to make sure the rotor was pointing at 1 at TDC. there is fuel and even starting fluid doesnt get anything out of it. any help???? thank you

 

up ttt please help

 

Is your timing 180* off? I did that last time I put the motor together. Do you have a spark? Check the wires against the blog. It should spark when the engine turns over (turns over = rotates), do you mean it won't fire?

 

dito, you put the wires in the right order?

 

when the timing mark is at 0' TDC the rotor in the distributor is pointing at the number 1 spark plug hole on the cap. i even took the spark plug out to make sure the piston was actually at TDC. also the firing order is correct.

edit: and yes i did mean it turns but doesnt fire.

 

it's possible to be at TDC and having the sparkplug fire, but not have the timing right. a timing light will even show it's timed right.
the distributor makes one turn for every two crankshaft revolutions. so you could be at either TDC of the compression stroke (which is where it should be) or TDC of the exhaust stroke- which won't run.
to check, verify the piston is at TDC, the distributor rotor is at #1 cylinder and check that the #1 intake and exhaust valves are loose- that's where everything should be.
if it's not you have need to pull the distributor and rotate the rotor 180 degrees

 

Yeah, what he said, valves on #1 need to be loose.

 

Just rotate it 180 and try it. It won't have anything. Does it backfire at all or smell like gas? Cause those would be good indications of the distributor being out by 180*.