I got it all put together-- went super-smooth. No surprises or leftover bolts, etc. Everything torqued to spec.
But it won't start. It used to start instantly if the throttle was 2/3 or more. I can get it to smoke and I can feel it kicking a little bit, but it won't catch.
I started everything with the fuel lines open hoping to discharge any nasty fuel first. I didn't know about the hand primer pump though, so my starting at first probably didn't send any fuel through. I tightened the lines (why, i don't know) and tried to start it, and still nothing. I googled and found out about the hand primer, so I primed it with that and the lines tight. I did send some nasty fuel to the injectors doing this. I then cracked the fuel lines afterwards and saw a few teaspoons of darker stuff come out before it cleared up.
BTW, pumping the hand pump sends fuel through the other pumps directly through the fuel lines. I was surprised about that. Seems it could overfuel or even create some kind of hydrolock if you send too much.
Here is a video (40 seconds) showing fuel spitting out the little holes in the valve cover, and it shows some little black specks in the fuel:
https://vimeo.com/141899485
I read somewhere there are screens in the little fuel nipples that go through the valve cover. I may check these for gunk.
I looked at the diagram of the injector pump, and it looks like even if some dirt/water/etc (which if anything was condensate) got in through the top uncovered fittings, there is a check valve right below, so it wouldn't have been able to mess up the moving pump parts or anything crucial. And I kept some diesel in the holes with a dropper. But I'm still wondering about the state of this thing.
I rechecked valve lash and it seemed fine. I didn't do anything while apart that should mess up the timing. I did give the cylinders a little hone to remove a little rust that had formed on two cylinders (we forgot to reoil the walls after removing pistons), but it cleaned right up, and it didn't seem to remove any material.
Could my injectors be so clogged from the first bit of dirty fuel? Should I take an injector out to test? Maybe turn it upside down so it sprays upwards to check the spray pattern?
People say it's hard to get the air out of the fuel system (even though it seems to me I got it out) and that they need a little help first time starting. Should I try to spray some ether or wd40 in the intake?
Thanks guys!