I took the head back off and examined things - I had looked at the head of course before I put it on, and all still looks OK there. What I did notice this time was that (since i ignored timing this go-around) the nos 2 and 3 pistons rise slightly above the cylinder head at the BDC mark, while the Nos. 1 and 4 never quite reach that level at TDC. I can't figure out why the lock occurs at No. 1 TDC but it's pretty obvious that the lock just before the BDC mark occurs as the pistons are hitting the head as they try to rise above the deck.

So it looks to me like I'm screwed with bent rods or something. I never turned the engine over till now with the head off for fear of losing timing, and while I noticed No.1 was slightly below the deck I attributed that to the chain stretch.

The head was just fine when I took it off - no evidence of contact and the valves are all OK (the stems were coked heavily and they were sticking open just a tad, so no compression for starting, plus the head gasket was blown). I can't figure out, if something bent rods, how it happened, and how it's so uniform with 1 and 4 matching and 2 and 3 matching.

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kalpol
79 280SE
82 Fiat Spider 2000
81 Fiat Brava
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