Really rough startup and little/no power

[Xise]

Okb so I just got this s13 back together, it is a KA24E, the motor itself was only painted and reinstalled nothing was taken apart aside from the EGR vavle was removed and blocked off, and I also got rid of the AIV.

the problem is when I started it up for the first time in about a month it started up really rough(motor bouncing around) mind you it is on some stiff urethane D2 mounts. It also runs/sound like shit, the cat gets cherry red after just a few minutes and it literally sounds like a lawnmower, when before ripping the motor out it sounded nice.

now at first I thought the gas in the tank went bad and that's why it was running like crap, but after filling it up and running some cleaner through it, it was only marginally better. Since I didn't mess with anything I am kind of stumped...it is acting like the timing is off but I NEVER touched that when I had the motor out so I am at a loss here. Any suggestions??

[rcdad123]

check your spark plug wires. if you took them off to paint the engine, you might have put them on wrong. cherry red cat means there is a lot of unburned fuel getting to the cat and burning IN THE CAT! that would melt the cat, if it`s not melted and clogged already. before you start working on it again, disconnect the cat so that it does not get damage anymore than what`s done already. then when the engine is back to normal, then connect the cat back on. hope this helps. good luck.

[Xise]

lol yeah before you even replied I went out there to check the plug gap and the 2/3 wires were swapped.....that's what happens when you have other ppl working on your car with you. Seems like all that is left to take care of now is my high idle prob.

Honestly I am surprised it even ran with the wires switched