S14 KA into S13, and 5 speed swap no start issue

[raven2345]

First off, I'm not exactly a newb, and I've been researching this for a while before I attempted this huge swap. Hopefully, someone can open my eyes to a missing piece of the puzzle. Here goes:

1991, base model
S14 KA and 5 speed
S13 lower Intake manifold
S13 sensors on upper Intake manifold, the two on the front
S13 dizzy
S13 auto ecu
timing is good
aftermarket header
universal one-wire Bosch O2 sensor
oil pressure sensor not plugged in because it sheared off when putting the motor in the car
neutral-safety switch soldered together
no IACV, IAA, EGR, SCV, or AIV
White Bunny clutch setup
248/248 cam swap

I'll ask... without the oil pressure sensor hooked up, would that really cause the car not to start? It hasn't been reconnected yet because I'm not the best with a soldering iron. The motor turns over perfectly fine, except the fact that it just keeps going and going and going and going. It never catches. I've pulled the plugs; gas on them, but not a bad amount. So it's getting gas into all four cylinders, great. Stock coil, and lightly used NGK wires and iridium ix plugs are sparking. I switched plugs and wires out to normal NGK plugs and Bosch wires with no difference. The throttle body is adjusted to never close, though only slightly far from it. At the moment, the clutch pedal and master cylinder are not installed. However, the trans has the right amount of fluid, is in neutral, and the rear wheels off the ground.

There might be some other things, and I'm also lacking a ton of sleep, so I'm here wondering if there is anything I might have overlooked. Thanks in advance for not being flaming dbags about the "S14 into S13" problem.

[Future_gohan]

Did you check for spark? Check the coil, double check the distributor, put it at top dead center and see where the rotor button sits, if its not at number one its off.

Other than that the coil could have went bad

[raven2345]

The spark seems good from what I can see. A friend of mine who is very knowledgable on cars, took the wire for the first cylinder off of the distributor, took two screwdrivers - one to each "point" - and spark jumped across. So I assume from that that the coil is good and should be good for all other wires. Rotor button points right at #1 when at TDC.

[Future_gohan]

check compression, make sure your dash plug is plugged in correctly, and make sure all your ground etc are good, just go over everything.

[raven2345]

I'll have to do a compression check a little later on today... Which dash plug are you talking about exactly? The only grounds I have messed with are the main battery grounds and whichever connect physically to the engine. There's one on the exhaust side, one on the intake side next to the injectors, and the other on the intake side coming from the battery, and that's it I believe?

I'm still kinda leaning with timing, and now that I have light and rested, I'm gonna give it a shot again. I think it could be off just one tooth...

[Future_gohan]

well, just unscrew your dizzy a little and move it back and forth and see if it'll fire, if it will start then yeah its off, or if its backfireing threw the intake its off too

[raven2345]

Just redid timing, from what I know it is and has been spot on. Still no difference. No backfiring, nothing odd. I guess a compression check is in order later today...

[raven2345]

So I did the timing, again. This time however, I did it with a timing light. Following factory procedure, was nowhere close to where I need it to be. I tried again and again and again with retarding and advancing the distributor and got it running. It's still pretty far off, but obviously not as bad as it was since it's running. I believe it's about 35* BTDC, when it should be around the 20*. But then again, my idle searches and sits around 1k. I have a misfire when revving and the light will shut off. I believe it's still a tooth off or so, but it's been a run-around trying to get it right.

What I don't get it why the factory procedure was nowhere close to right. the only thing I can really think of is that when I did the exhaust cam swap, one or both cams ended up a little off somehow. Tomorrow is another day for play so maybe I"ll just figure it out then.

Thanks for the help man.