i have had so many problems out of this project its not even funny any more. my car has been down for 6 mnths! i finally get the motor back and i run into this problem.
its a 97 lt1, with all the mods you see listed below. it is getting spark and fuel. but it wont start. it will hit and die. it sounds like it wants to but it just wont run. i dont know what to do. if any one can help please give me some suggestions. thanxs

 

sounds like the timing is off... my bet is on the opti or timing chain being installed incorrectly.

 

i was hoping i was guessing wrong on that. i heard that the opti. could only go in one way. but i didn't know for sure. i hope that the timing isn't screwed. i will honestly cry. is there any way to check the timing without the car starting? i think you can do it by checking the compression. but not sure. thanx for the advice.

 

Is it possible you overtightened the valves??

As far as the opti comment... I have seen a vented opti go on wrong and it did exactly what you described. We found fuel and spark but it just wouldnt hit so after pulling out the opti and making 100% sure the cam dowel pin was in the correct slot we bolted it down and did a successful test fire. There are 3 slots and you can force the dowel pin on the cam down in one of the 2 wrong ones if you try hard enough. The opti should sit flush against the block w/o beign bolted down.. taht is how you know its on correctly. Good luck!

 

i didn't install any of this. i had someone else do the rebuild. i guess thats what i get for trusting someone else. thanx for the advice and be looking for time slips