I just changed the head gasket on my 1.6 8 valve trackick. I took the valve cover off, took out distributor, took the head off with manifolds still attached, scraped old gaskit off, put new one on, turned the crank pulley to TDC (by putting the key way to the top),turned the cam pulley until the mark was at the top, torqued the head down ( by the Chilton repair manual standard), and put it all back to gether.
1. it didn't start
2. it will only crank for about 5 seconds before blowing the main 60 amp fuse ( it blew the original one, then a new one).
3. everything was working good be fore and I messed with anythink except putting on the new head gasket.
4. did I do something wrong?
5. any opinions. I don't think any of the plugs are crossed because they only plug in one way, and I never messed with the starter or alternator.

im not sure about the 8v, but the 16v has 2 marks on the cam pulley. if i were you i would wait till monday and call the master.... Brent at Trail Tough

the secret to the 16v is as follows...... dowl pin E at 6:00 , timing  mark E at 12:00 , crank key at 12:00

hope it helps

if the cam was 180 degress out are the vavles going to all be bent?

Valves will be OK, its very common to get the valve timing 180 degrees out. You should also check that the block is correctly earthed.

I thought these motors are zero clearance? I heard a pop through the exhaust, then it blew the fuse both times.

what does earthed mean? how do I know if it is timed right?

The trick is to line up the marks BEFORE you take the engine apart.

Now, you have a miss timed mess, not to worry, the Chiltons book is full of crap
on how the cam timing is supposed to be. The real way is crank mark up, cam
dowel pin down, ya I know the cam backplate has a mark in it, but this works for
firing #1 cylinder, otherwise you need to time it to #4 cylinder, so if you put the
wires all back where they were, and you are sure you have the crank/cam timing
set as you said, both marks up, you need to swap plug wires to opposite sides,
#1 to #4 and #2 to #3, this should get you started, but remember the timing
will need to be done from #4 now, and the smog guy will scratch his head when
he can't find the timing mark on the crank pully

Good Luck
Wild

basically what I got from all of that is it is timed 180 degrees out. I am still scratching my head on the dowel pin is there a sensor that could be blowing the main fuse because it is 180 degrees off? why would it blow the fuse? I just blew the 3rd fuse. the last time i thought it was the two wires going into the alternator arcking together, but I fixed that and it did the same thing. cranked for a bout 5 seconds and the fuse blew.

what does earthed mean? how do I know if it is timed right?

"Earthed" = check your electrical Grounding

There must be something touching the starter wires, get in there and follow the wires,
the small one would be the one popping your fuses

Wild

As someone else said check and make sure you have a good ground connection to the block. If there is no ground when you hit start it tries to find ground through another source and that is what might be blowing your fuse.

I think I figured it out now. the person that had it before had a "master michanic for a brother", but so far everythink that hes done is wrong. thay put a new positive wire on it from the battery. there is one main lead going from the batterie to the altinator and one smaller lead going to the 60 amp fuse then it run through that down to the starter. If I am correct there is suposed to be one lead running from the batt. to the starter, one from bett. to altinator, and one going to the 60 amp fuse, but not one comming out of the fuse to the starter. RIGHT?

There is no fuse between battery and starter whatever the largest thickness of you battery cable is that should be the same as going ti starter because starter draws about 350 amps.

got the wiring straightened out and the timming. IT RUNS. ya!!!, BUT it idles at about 3000-4000. I aslo have another 8 valve that I just put in another that does the same thing. I am getting tired of this TBI Im thinking of taking a sami intake and weber on it. WHAT DO I DO

They idle high till warmed up, the wax pellet causes the high idle, it's an air
bypass thing for cold start.

Get it warm, check the idle set screws and make sure the throttle cable
isn't being pulled on and opening the throttle some

Wild