this is a continuation of the previous thread:
http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/index.htm?id=1164868

Well, I finally worked on the car today (it was much warmer) and tried to find the source of my no compression (I was assuming that I had blown the head gasket).. A compression test showed zero compression in all 4 cylinders. A few of you had suggested that the timing belt had broken or stipped a few teeth so I got all the pulleys off so I could take a good look at the timing belt.

Well, the belt is fine (all teeth accounted for), but the timing marks didn't line up.. the camshaft and the distributor shaft lined up, but I could never get the crankshaft timing mark anywhere near where it's supposed to be at the same time.

The tb tension wasn't so bad, but it wasn't supertight either.. What the? I pushed the car around the driveway in gear until I turned the engine over a few times, but still, it never lined up.

Well, I took a chance and just reset the timing, and I had good compression again.. put other stuff back on (timing belt cover, dist cap, spark plugs), and the thing started right back up, as if nothing ever happened. Somehow, the timing belt slipped nearly 180 degrees off the crankshaft when i tried to start the engine supercold. I still haven't figured out if the frozen water in the coolng system has damaged anything else, but tomorrow I'll reinstall the radiator and try running it with nice fresh antifreeze and see if anything leaks out, or if water gets into the oil or not.

Right now I will be happy with an engine that sorta runs!