$500 s13 hatch

[DinoMan]

So my brother and i just picked up an s13 for $440. 215k miles 1990 s13 hatch pignose. We went to check it out and mechanical wise something is wrong with the timing. The guy said the timing chain had alot of slack in it before and ran like crap so he replaced the timing chain and now it doesnt start. He claims that he put it in correctly and all the marks lined up. When he cranks it a puff of smoke comes out the back and it cranks but no start. But for the car i think its not too bad for the price. The paint is oxidized but mostly just on the hood, the fender is a little smashed in by the headlight, the left rear caliper is out and drags a little and the right headlight doesnt go down on its own. The interior is in pretty decent shape and the dash has one small area thats peeling. I'll try and get pics up tomorrow since its dark outside and he deleted his original post off craigslist already. But in the meantime does anybody have any suggestions as to the car not starting? any help is appreciated.
Im excited to get to work with another 240 and further my knowledge with 240's past my s14 :) I'm going to be using this thread as kind of a progress thread to document the restore/"build" of the car.

Pics from before we started any work.
http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/Picstohost/d2afd483.jpghttp://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/Picstohost/eba938d5.jpghttp://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/Picstohost/c8a3ee72.jpghttp://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/Picstohost/7d4f78ce.jpghttp://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/Picstohost/8cee2afa.jpghttp://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/Picstohost/7ea2efb5.jpghttp://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/Picstohost/08d8434e.jpghttp://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/Picstohost/9f98c7f0.jpghttp://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/Picstohost/d9f581ad.jpg

Taking off the front end for paint
http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/Picstohost/21b8ee46.jpghttp://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/Picstohost/34c73c6f.jpghttp://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/Picstohost/596fa085.jpg

Removal of hatch to close up spoiler holes and take care of rust under the spoiler
http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/Picstohost/22aeeeab.jpghttp://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/Picstohost/842a5f07.jpg

[DinoMan]

Oh yeah and it has the original single slammer ka24e in it.

[s13panic]

Hit it with a timing light. If its way out start from scratch and pull valve cover and rotate engine over by hand till your on tdc compression stroke. Check your timing marks and make sure distributor is pointing at cylinder number one. Should be a good start to get an idea of where your at. Good luck.

[srstan]

swap out the single cam, fix the fender, replace the light and the caliper, do something about the dash and paint the car...but if you want to get the car running your timing is off....if the chain is ok than its the distributor.

[DinoMan]

So we think we got the timing right but it still doesnt start. put the crank to the 0 mark, put cam to tdc, distributor pointing to cylinder 1. new spark plugs and wires, new fuel filter and lines, new air filter. The engine has fuel going through the lines, we have spark, and even sprayed starting fluid to try and start but still no luck. The car cranks but no start still. We're stumped:confused::confused::confused:

[skyline331]

Could be a bad ecu.

[DinoMan]

Also we did compression test and its about 140 across all cylinders