no, i had a d15z1 and that is the 12 valve system, obviously you know that. the vtec in that car activates the lobe to use all 16 valves instead of 12 turning it into an si head basically. the intake manifold gasket on wrong would be backwards???i duno about putting it on wrong but if he did it would block off water from the manifold to the head circulating. i dont think you can put it on backwards..correct me if im wrong someone pls. i take it you checked all the vacuum lines. maybe the rotar bunnon is not tightened down? what codes are you throwing, if any?i had like 2 year old gas in the tank and that may very well be the problem. drain the gas out of the tank with the plug on the bottom and put fresh gas in there. also, check your injectors for problems, as this was the problem of my sohc not starting and wierd idle. fill us in w/ whatever info you get next