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So, Lets start off with what Ive got.

1995 Honda Civic DX sedan
manual trans
1.5L D15B7
248,xxx miles

I drive this car 85 miles a day / 425 miles a week

Ok so I've been DD'ing this car for like a year and a half with no problems other than a bit of oil consumption.
However, in the last few months the oil consumption got to be about a quart a week. On a hunch I pulled the valve cover and did a visual inspection of the valve stem seals (or at least what i could see) and unsurprisingly found that a few of them had visible cracks in them and seemed pretty brittle.

So I decided to just go ahead and replace all of the following since I had no clue about the history of the car before i acquired it.

valve stem seals
head gasket
intake manifold gasket
exhaust manifold gasket
valve cover gasket
distributor cap
cam seal
water pump
timing belt and tensioner
crank seal
spark plugs and wires


Everything came apart and went back together without incident, all fluids filled, externally checked for leaks, timing set, checked and double checked, tensioner tightened down. turn the key, damn thing sounds like a lawn mower and smokes worse than a fog machine and doesn't idle for more than 10 seconds before *fading into a stall* (idle speed just falls to zero)

My questions to you guys is : What could i have possibly done wrong or overlooked? are there any common honda (oh **** moments) that i may not be aware of? because overall....its an engine but it is definitely a different beast than my 4.0L or my 5.2L where i have plenty of room to get my hands! i have never had something like this happen with either of my jeeps.....so.... just a little stumped,

any advice, pointers or a magic wand is greatly appreciated! TIA!