Nissan Repair: wont start 88 r31 pintara, r31 nissan, nissan pintara

Question
i have an 88 R31 Nissan Pintara (ca20e) i have just replaced the head gasket and it wont fire but what it will do is backfire through the intake what is the cause of this and how do i fix it?

Answer
James,

The distributor sounds like it is 180 degrees out.  The distributor can be advanced or retarded.  But, it can be installed with the drive-dog one of two ways and one of these is 180 degrees off.  Pull and reposition the distributor.  If you want to be certain pull number one plug, ground the distributor and either with your finger or a compression gauge, bump the engine over until you get compression coming out of number one.  Stop as soon as it occurs.  Now, turn the engine over by hand, using the crank, until number one is on top dead center.  Now, note the location of the distributor and where number one is on the cap.  I bet the rotor is pointing 180 degrees out.  Now, pull the distributor and run it around to point to number one.  It takes a few tries to get it but it will eventually work.  Email me back if it is not 180 degrees out or if you need more.