Engine Condition - 2.0L Options

[mmascari]

I recently purchased a 1973 2.0L that I am in the process of restoring. According to the previous owner the engine hasn't run in 5 years. I drained the oil which looked OK. The other day I dropped the engine out and was going to take a look at it. My question relates to if the motor is ceased. I am able to turn the fan clockwise and counter-clockwise but only about 180 degrees. Is that normal? I am not a mechanic so I have no idea. What other things can I do or verify that the engine is good? For example, pull the heads? I will take the valve covers off today and post some pics. Thanks in advance for the advice.

[Nate]

I just finished rebuilding a 2.0 motor on a 73. Sounds like a good project. Trust me when I say that the mechanical motor part of the rebuild is cake compared to the electronics and peripheral systems that have to be running well after you get the motor back in the car. Are you going to keep the d-jet or go to carbs?

As far as your problem, could be any number of things but I would start by lightly sticking a screwdriver down the spark plug holes and turning the motor to find out which cylinder or at least narrow it down to which two cylinders the problem is possibly in. On a healthy cylinder the screwdriver should only poke into the cylinder an inch or so before contacting the piston when that cylinder is at top dead center.

Post up some pics (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)