A Two-Bolt Boo-Boo (long)

[Tim Rogers]

So, first a bit of back-ground:
Over a year ago, I installed JWT S-3 cams, dynoed in late May (144Hp and
132ft-lbs at the wheels) and was feeling pretty good about the car.
In June, I was driving to a friend's house when the motor totally lost power
at 55 MPH in 5th and the tach dropped to zero.  I called the friends and
they came out to see how they might help (these are guys that I do brake
jobs, etc. for because they are automotive neophytes.)
We check for spark - no spark.  So we go back to my house and totally
disassemble the ignition system from my 91 NX racer-to-be and swap it over
piece-by-piece into the street car.
No spark.
I remove the distributor cap and turn the motor over.  I ask them if the
rotor moved.  "Uh, what, that thing?, yeah, I think so"  was the answer.
Frustrated, I had the car towed home and drove my truck for a while as I
tried to diagnose the problem.  I had pulled an ECU code for the Crank
Position Sensor, so I bought a distributor from JGY.  That was not it, so I
got a wiring harness from Fred Casey and finally got around to installing it
on Monday with assistance from my next-door-neighbor, Tommy.
Still no spark.
I took the dizzy cover off and cranked while Tommy watched.
The rotor did *not* move.
We removed the valve cover and found that the chain was loose because it had
broken, the upper chain tensioner was loose along because one of its bolts
was loose and the other one was missing completely!
So, the whole thing came down to when I did the cam install.  I must not
torqued the upper chain tensioner bolts down as I should have, one of the
bolts loosened enough over the next few months and worked its way out and
over to the timing chain and broke it.
So, now I have a broken timing chain, probably bent valves and a little bit
of cash in the bank.
So, I am toying with the option of buying a JDM Primera motor or maybe even
an SR20VE as a replacement.
If I had just checked the torque on *all* of my bolts one more time....
And if I had made sure my friends had been paying full attention when I was
diagnosing the problem, I would have come to this conclusion 9 months ago.
Now, what to buy???

Tim Rogers
-93 NX T-top -needs a motor
-91 NX - Racecar-to-be
-75 Silverado - Rusty Beast
-01 Astro - Work Van, Tow Beast