I had to pull the engine out of my sister's FC, due to a corroded front intake housing (the engine was working fine otherwise). I marked all of the seals/springs, replaced the front intake housing, and assembled everything back on (after porting the intake and housings).

The car started fairly quick, but it shut down on its own. Getting the car to start is now a PITA. I have to crank it for a while, but the damn thing won't catch, and if I push the gas pedal all the way down, it tries to start. I keep repeating this process, till it finally starts.

Once the car starts, it idles fine, and revs fine, but once I turn it off, it won't start again. The engine has been on for a total of 20 mins or so

Any ideas on this?

 

are you getting good spark to all 4 plugs mine did that when my leading coil went out

 

Rebuilds tend to be hard starting until they break in. I realize you reused everything, but give everything time to settle.

 

also make sure your battery is fully charged

 

He didn't reuse everything.

He stated he had a bad housing so he at least replaced that.

You built the engine yourself, correct? Did you match the apex seals to the new housing? If you didn't their going to have a hell of a time building compression till theirs a couple thousand miles on the motor. This could be the problem with the starting.

Does the car have trouble starting only when cold or is it hot and cold related?

 

Sounds like it's flooding when it's trying to start probably caused by low compression. Let the motor get some hours on it and report back.