Not starting after head gasket replacement

[JimBee]

If you're near an auto supply store and you don't already have one, the inline spark tester would be a very useful purchase. You can visually check every plug wire using that tester.
One thing I discovered the hard way when I didn't have spark was that I turned over the engine with the spark coil high tension wire out of the distributor. That damaged the spark coil, so no spark.
Somebody on this site alerted me to that. How did that happen? I wanted to turn the engine over without ignition so it wouldn't fire up, because I was checking compression. So I pulled the high tension wire. Don't do that. Instead, disconnect the 12 v. input to the spark coil by disconnecting the plug with the wire release clip that supplies the coil. That won't damage the coil.

[erikv11]

... disconnect the 12 v. input to the spark coil by disconnecting the plug with the wire release clip that supplies the coil. That won't damage the coil.

Thanks, great tip!