Another timing off, won't start, girl left, dog died story

[NCArachnid]

So here is the skinny. I met a guy at church a few months ago and we started talking hobbies and come to find out he has a '79 Spider 2L FI, AT in his garage. He bought it about 2-3 years ago and drove it for 2 weeks and it blew a head gasket. He took it to a few shops who wanted more than he paid for the car to replace the head (I guess it was warped or cracked?). He found a friend who helped him replace the head and gasket and button it all up. For the last 2 years he has been trying to find someone to help him get it running. His wife wants it sold but he is staying strong for now.

Last weekend I took a look at it with him. Here is what I found: 1) The car is clean and in great shape inside and out. 2) The cam timing was lined up perfectly (new timing belt), 3) The ignition timing was 180 deg off so we fixed that, 4) The dist. cap was cracked and the center electrode was broken or worn (flush with plastic). I had an extra one. Good spark at all 4 plugs. 5) When cranking it would pop and sputter rarely but never really try to start. 6) After cranking all 4 plugs are wet with fuel 7) Did a compression test dry and the needle would move but never above 10 psi for all 4 cylinders. It didn't crank with a "wheezy" sound but I think the cam timing may be off leaving a valve open during the compression stroke. Could the cam pulleys be reversed? I read about that here. We looked for an "A" or "S" but didn't see anything stamped. One pulley has 2 holes the other only 1 hole. Which goes where? Did all pulleys come stamped "A" or "S"? Additionally, I'm a carb guy and this is an FI car so I'm not sure how much of the FI sensors, air pipe, etc. must be in place for it to run. I would assume from Brad's article that all the sensors (esp the coolant temp sensor) should be plugged in and it would make sense that the air hose between the air box and plenum should be in place to bring the AFM into play, right? Thanks for any help that I can pass on to my friend.

His wife told him he needs to fix it and take her for a ride or one of the 2 of them (the car or the girl) would have to go! But, as far as I know their 3 long-haired Chihuahuas are alive and well.

[narfire]

The compression is kinda weird. My stock cammed 80 FI had compression around 140-150. That engine won't fire at 10 lbs.
Have you checked the clearances between the cams and buckets? The cover on the intake side is a bit of a pain as you usually have to back off the 10mm bolts holding the top of the intake plenum on. If it hasn't fired in a long time perhaps the piston and rings need some oil. Put a bit of oil down the spark plug holes and turn it over a couple of times and let it sit for a bit.
Sounds like it is getting fuel if the plugs are wet.

[JFreeman]

The cam pulleys can't be reversed or I should say they can, but the engine won't run. If that's what you're dealing with, I can say it wouldn't be the first time it had happened. Many years ago one of the forum members here inadvertantly reversed the cam pulleys with similar results. As I recall, he had dual carbs and actually had fuel spitting up from them.

[azruss]

my 80 FI shows the exhaust cam pulley has one hole and the number 5 on it. the intake pulley has the double hole and the number 12 on it. yes, the plenum must in in place and leak free to get the right fuel mix to start.

[124JOE]

as someone unknown did the head
i would pull the cam covers to see the timing intake about to open and exh just closed
then check the tourq on the head bolts
as well as that pesky aux gear pointing at the 1oclock position

this is with all the marks lined up

[baltobernie]

Could the cam pulleys be reversed? I read about that here. We looked for an "A" or "S" but didn't see anything stamped. One pulley has 2 holes the other only 1 hole. Which goes where?

Not all cam pulleys are stamped intake and exhaust. Fiat did this to add excitement to our lives.

The pulleys are indexed to each camshaft with a male pin on the cam which mates with a female hole on the pulley. If the intake pulley is lying on a table face up (as it would be viewed looking at the front of the engine), and the female mating hole is at 12 o'clock, the timing reference hole(s) will be at 11:30. Pulleys have either one or two timing pointer holes. The number of holes has absolutely no identification value, just another red herring (or is that "anchovy"?) to provide additional excitement for us amateurs. The exhaust pulley, placed in a similar orientation, will have its timing pointer hole(s) at 12:30

Fiat TC engines will run with incorrect or swapped pulleys, but very poorly.

Tune in next week, when details of the Secret Handshake will be revealed.

[NCArachnid]

Thank you everyone for the hints. I have forwarded them to Matt and we'll see how he makes out. Thank you Baltobernie for the explanation of the cam pulleys, that was great. I knew there had to be a way to tell, short of removing the cam box covers. That is why I love this forum! Despite the challenge, it seems that one of you guys (or girls) has been there and done that!