97 Mirage - Startup problems... Please help...

[Adam_M]

I have a 1.5L '97 Mitsubishi Mirage and the head gasket blew on it. We replaced the head gasket on it and started it up and it was working pretty good, but then starting smoking really bad and shooting the coolant out. It had blown again. Then the car sat around for about 8 months and I finally started working on it again...

This time, we had the cylinder head milled and got a new head gasket for it. We put everything back together and when we first tried to start it up, it wasn't staying on, so we kept turning the key and applying more gas and it finally stayed on for about 20-30 seconds (really rough though) without having to apply any gas. Then it shut off again. I then noticed it was low on gas, so I put more in it and it hasn't been able to turn over since.

I replaced the distributor cap, got new spark plugs, made sure gas was getting through to it, nothing seems to be working.

When I turn the key, it sounds like it want's to start, but it just wont start up.

Any advice?

[DFBonnett]

Are you getting spark? Is the fuel pump operating? Is the timing correct?