And you're really going to need to do a CKS/CPS sync.

 

Will still fire, just won't accelerate.

So to review, the PO rebuild the engine, and <15K later disintegrated a 0630 head?

 

It's getting a little hard to follow all this, and it's unclear,(to me àt least) if it won't run at all or if runs but really badly.
any way:

1)How long did the thing sit waiting for the new head before you tried to get it to start? Thinking old summer fuel and cold temperatures
2) you said you replaced the coil. Try it with the old one. There's spark and there's SPARK.

3) if you have one of the old school inductive timing lights hook that up and see what that tells you.

 

To be clear, the engine cranks but will not start. When I parked this on 12-03-2023, it ran but had a lot of white smoke on startup. Didn't idle perfectly but was nearly-smooth. Now after the head replacement it will not fire up at all. All ignition components are new now including the battery (probably dump over $300 just because of this no-start issue...) I am headed back over to the storage unit later this morning to re-arrange the wires and report back here what happens. Its 4 degrees outside right now and this will be an adventure. I think @Dave51 hit the nail on the head that the cam was installed incorrectly. I'll just put the wires back to how they were before I touched any thing and cross my fingers.

 

For your viewing pleasure; The Fire:
Lessons learned: #1 If you're doing a redneck style FI test, then disconnect the coil. #2 Always keep some sort of fire extinguisher around. I went out and bought two more yesterday. The one I used was decades old and has been rolling around in the back of my pickup for its life. Thank God it worked just fine. When I get this XJ going I'm going to drive to a coin-carwash and wash away the sodium bicarb.

 

CONCLUSION: After installing the spark plug wires on the distributor the way they were prior to removing them, it started up as if my troubles were all a dream. I believe the cam was installed by the rebuilder 180 degrees off therefore requiring the distributor wire arrangement to be backwards. It is a shame that I had to spend several hundred dollars for all new ignition components including a new battery and CPS but that is a learning lesson.

 

Well that was easy 😉

You are awarded extra points for letting folks know the resolution....a lot people don't.

 

You were smart to utilise the forum or otherwise you would probably still be ****ed

Kudos as well to cruiser for posting pic

On another forum I am on, 180 degrees out also happens, and it is a right ***** to diagnose

You should make a permanent under bonnet tag to note plug order

For the Jags, there is about 5 ways to fix the issue, the easiest being swap plug wires

I am not sure, but I think it is possible to pin the dizzy drive gear 180 out on a Jeep XJ ?

 

Well, here I am now dealing with a leaky radiator and now also replacing the water pump and timing chain setup "while I'm down there". As my camshaft is 180 degrees out of phase, is it possible I can now fix this problem when installing a new timing chain and sprockets? I've don't this job before on an XJ before but it didn't have this issue. I haven't pulled the cover yet so im not sure what I'll see in there.

 

Well it appears that the PO who rebuilt the motor did indeed replace the timing chain as she's nice and tight. I'm perplexed why my spark plug firing order is in reverse. Maybe the cam is aftermarket and is 180 degree out of phase by design?