Can't get timing right

[Flatland2D]

I've got a '94 del Sol with a B18C1.

It's burned oil since the day I bought it (over two years ago) and a few months ago I finally decided to do something about it. I replaced the valve seals and headgasket. When I went to put it all back together, everything went fine, but the car ran like crap. The timing was way off. With the dizzy as far advanced as possible, it was still retarded. I made sure the cam gears were both pointing up and that the timing belt was tensioned correctly. The car ran like it was an inch away from dying. With some throttle it got better (probably advaced the timing more), but I can't let it idle like that. So I decided to put the timing belt on with the cam gears one tooth over. They are not pointing straight up. Now I have the opposite problem, to far advanced, can't retard it enough. But, it idles just fine, and at the time I really needed my car running again so I just left it. It's been running too far advanced now for a few months. Gas mileage sucks. I used to get around 34-37mpg highway, now I'm a hair under 25mpg. I'm pretty sure it's all because of the timing issue. I've noticed there's oil leaking from around cyl 3 and 4 where the head gasket is, but I can't remember if it was like that right after I fixed it up (maybe head not put back on correctly) or if the gasket blew already (due to advanced timing and running hotter).

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I want to move the cam gears back so they point straight up at TDC, but need to know what I can do about the timing problem. I tried resetting the ECU to no avail. Let it sit idling (if you could call it that) for a few minutes and never got better.

[jadziasman]

honda-tech.com is a good source for info on swaps. I'm surprised you could get 35 mpg on a B18C1 DOHC engine. What sort of tensioner is on this engine? It could be that it is not adjusting the timing belt tension correctly hence one or both cams get out of time. I have read that there are automatic and manual tensioners for the DOHC engines. Too bad you don't have a D series engine still in the Del Sol - timing on the SOHC is really simple - a child could do it!

Best of luck of finding out what's f***ed up with the timing. And good luck finding a decent Civic VX.