Sluggish crank and no start?

Hi, I have the vehicle listed above G, with a 1.6 16 valve engine that cranks sluggishly. The car was towed in as a non-runner. The only thing done was a cylinder head skim as it was warped. Before it was sent to the engineering shop, it was started by starter fluid as it refused to start on its own but ran horribly and pinged/knocked. I checked the timing, and it was spot on.

As per scan tool, the spark timing was 10° BTDC when key on engine off but was 7° BTDC when cranking, is that fine?

Before disassembly, I scanned for codes, and they are attached. Now the scan tools classify all of them as "not present" at the moment when I scanned for them, so I take that to mean that they occurred in the past but were not present, I stand corrected though.

The primary reason for the Knocking was not engine bearing related (I stripped and checked) but I think it was caused by one of the broken teeth on the exhaust cam sprocket which is used by the cam sensor. Which, I think, caused the ECU to advance the timing a lot thus causing the Knock.

The cylinder head was sent to an engineering shop and that the starter turns sluggishly if coil input plug is connected but turns fast if disconnected. It gets sluggish as if the starter is faulty but not.

Thus, this leads me to believe that this sluggishness is caused when the fuel is ignited by the spark plug but there seems to be a disagreement between the piston compression and spark timing thus causing the slow and turns. So, the possibilities of such a problem come down to Incorrect valve timing or bad valve clearance or bad ECU.

The valves have hydraulic cam followers so that is not a biggie. So, we have timing or ECU problems to worry about. Concerning the timing, please look at the live data I got when KOEOff. The RPMs say it is 50 RPMs while the engine was not being cranked.

I will add that the crank pulley keyway way got damaged, and I machined the slot afresh. The bottom mark on the timing plastic cover lies in between tooth number 8 and 9 counting from the missing teeth on the pulley is that fine? Besides that, I do not doubt my timing.

When it was cranked, it got as high as 173 RPMs, obviously caused by the sluggish rotation of the starter thus not fast enough to run the engine. I put a good battery that easily started a diesel truck for the first time into the Opel, no success. Only a few quick rotations followed by many slow hard turns as if the engine is seizing. If you remove the power to the coil (meaning the spark is cut), the engine turns rapidly with no hiccups.

Someone suggested that the cylinder head could have been skimmed too much and the valves clearance is not right. Could I be given the valve clearance specs please? Many I have wiring diagram for the engine management for me check for a possible ECU fault.

Please help.

Sizwe