KA24E 240sx, I need GENIUS for this

[dareo]

Ok, myself and other very poor car friends without any real decent tools or any real car experience, undertook the SOHC Timing Chain job. Things went a little rough as we learned how to tear down the motor, but after about 10-15 hours of work the Intake manifold is bolted back up, the head is bolted on but not tightened, new timing kit is fully put in, but we have a PROBLEM.

The valves of (we think) Cylinder 4 may be striking the cylinder while we hand turn the engine ever so carefully.

Question:What should the valves be like at TDC? 1 exhaust open and 2 intakes shut at Cyl 1 and Cyl 4?

Because the valves on 1 and 4 arent the same, all the other valves seem to be almost identical as we turned over the head. (head was off)

Is there any way we can fix the timing w/o taking the head off again? (THAT SUCKED)

Feel free to point out my/our stupid newbie mistakes, making fun if you must, and help us out with any info you can.

This job has taken us a LONG time so far, and i dont have any cash to get some professional help.

I have a Chilton's manual for the car, but its also shared with like 5 other motors and basically sucks for anything but basic info. I wish i had the real shop manual for the car, but i wish i had a lot of things for my car.

[NISTECH]

first and foremost. the head does not need to come off to do a timing chain. BUUUUUTTTTTT since you are already there. if you have turned the cam or the crank independantly of the other you could have bent your valves. or if you installed the chain incorrectly and rotated them together you may have still bent a valve weather the head was tight or not. you need to line up your marks on the cyl head and the crank so they are at TDC. both sprokets have marks to indicate this. Even if you are using a chiltons manual it should show you those locations. once you find these locations reset it all then tighten your head down. If you are way out of spec you will need to lift the head so valves wont touch if they are rotated. Cyl 1 valves should all be closed when you are at TDC and your marks on crank and cam should be matched with their marks on the head and block.

[dareo]

We weren't sure if the head needed to come off or not, but we pulled it for kicks and to further inspect the engine.

Thanks for the post, from your info and some other stuff i read last night, it would appear that i need the dowel/marks on the crank and cams to be straight up for it to not totally cork itself over. Maybe we should pull the head (again, yay!) and put new valves and port out the carbon and crap from the head. There was a lot in the engine.

[llamabeta]

Sounds like a good idea to get that carbon cleaned out. There maybe a very slight bend in the valve. Be sure to inspect them well. Exactly as NISTECH said. Line up the cam and crank as they should be and you should be set in terms of alignment.

Good luck.