NewRedSun

Thanks for the positivity. i over think a lot so it's refreshing to read some sensibility. so i pulled the cover and everything was fine. i almost started dying inside thinking i wonked something in the heads but then i decided to recheck all sensor connectors.... passenger side intake position sensor plug was hiding and unplugged. That sweet amazing stupidity feeling, while embarrassing, is feeling much better than trashing my girlfriend's ride :-) so i just have to clean up the cover, install timing again refill and go forward with life again. thanks a lot to all who responded and to the forum itself. it is clear that i need more light in my work area. but I'll still happy.

Thanks, I'll find out today if there was any damage. I'm just concerned more because i rebuilt the heads with new valves, seals and o rings and whatever gaskets came with the top end kit. my first head work and I'm kind internally hurting at the possibility or wrecking all the work. learning takes work though i guess lol.

I had as first picture, installed cams as close as possible. then when caps were tight I looked them up. then chains, then moved the DOT from 9 oclock to 12 which puts key from 12 to 3 oclock. so i definitely need to look at the sprocket where the chains meet, I flew over something overthinking. I'm betting on the bottom sprocket i failed to notice that not all chain links are inline... Thank you for the insights.

thank you. I was in that line of thinking about now but just wanted another voice to be sane. I have done all the head work pulling them off with the motor in. to do it again I'd definitely get a helper and pull it as it was cramped as hell and caused more stress adding room for error. I did rotate the motor by hand and didn't feel anything but I am hoping all is good as well. also I'm hoping I actually fix the problem... later i heard these don't really loose head gaskets much but crack the head.. i hope not cuz with over 200,000 the oil/antifreeze seemed plausible for gasket at that age. i should have invested in material and tools to test them. Thank you very much for the replies. I'm new to Subarus, and i can say I see quality... different but quality. i hope it's got more left. though I'm thinking of a catch can next cuz what i saw in the intake runners and behind valves was crazy. but she's old and tired. -David

So I did a full top end rebuild with heads rebuilt. I got the FSM and I did what it says. Says to Have the crank mark at 9-oclock, then make sure all cams are at 12-oclock ( though I think one was out of this when i pulled it off but im a bit foggy as I took my time on the project, whether it moved post chain removal or not idk. But then after the cams it says, NOTE: crank at 3-oclock. So I moved it there from the pervious . Long story short, I did my best translation and did as the manual states but the car is not right. It does not start fast like it should and run obviously rough. So I think since it runs it has to out but not horribly to rip its self apart, Im not happy at following the FSM and nit having it right so If i could just get a confirmation that would help me out before I remove the cover again and go at it. I included what I see. Thank you for reading and any help would be fantastic. - David