Dumbest engine assembly mistep I've made to date

[country 0]

Well, I have the Kohler MV18 converted to run horizontal, and have it completely installed back into the tractor. I haven't been able to get it to start. I didn't think it was getting gas to the carb, but I confirmed it was today. I started thinking other things, and put my hand over the muffler. It's blowing out exhaust. One of the times I have the air filter turning it over, vapor was coming back out of the carb, and I could smell gas. After thinking it over and trying to figure out why it was pushing out of the carb instead of in, and after talking to my Father-in-Law, it was obviously a timing issue. Gee, can anyone guess what I forgot to do when I put the engine back together? This has to be the stupidest thing I've forgotten during an engine assembly, and probably one of the easiest things to forget. The bad part is I was referencing the manual when I reassembled it.

[wilm169 1]

Timed it 180 off.

[dentwizz 6]

Rotational direction opposed?

[country 0]

I believe #1 is a closest to a winner. I forget to look at the timing marks at all! That means I now have to pull it back out of th tractor, remove all the shrouds, split the case again, clean off the gasket, realign with the timing marks, and reassemble. The only good news is that it should all go faster the second time.

[Al 6]

Hi, Usually these things happen only once. I tell my employees that the only people that don't make mistakes are the ones that don't do anything. Al Eden

[Mike 0]

I was buttoning up my daughters car after installing new headgaskets. All done and noticed the pushrods in a box on the floor.