I just completed re-assembling my 96 850 top half of the engine (valve job) and the car just won't start. It turns over but it just won't start. It seems to fire a little while cranking but nothing real convincing. No backfires or other telltale signs of trouble.

I've done dozens of valve jobs but this is my first 850 five cylinder. The car was driven every day and developed a burnt exhaust valve a couple of weeks ago. It's been in my shop ever since.

Here are some things I've checked:

Valve Timing: During assembly, I didn't use the special Volvo tool to align the camshafts but I did carefully line up the timing marks on the cam and crank sprockets. The camshaft cover went on smoothly. I hand cranked the engine several times to ensure no valve contact and everything seemed normal.

Ignition Timing: The distributor and rotor seem to be on correctly. The timing order, wiring and CCW rotation were doubled checked with my Haynes manaual. There is good spark coming off the end of the spark plug wires (I checked two). Spark plugs are gapped to 0.028 (is this right?)

Compression: I checked each cylinder and there is 160-180 PSI on all five.

Fuel: There seems to be plenty of fuel on the fuel rail but I did not check with a pressure gauge. I did check the valve on the end of the rail and it squirted plenty of fuel when I pressed it.

OBD Codes: I checked and there are no codes present. At first, I forgot to plug in the TPS and I received an appropriate code to remind me to plug it back in.

I'm out of ideas....

Thoughts?