So I decided to pull the head off my wife's 99 forester and rethread the
stripped spark plug hole (knowing that if I messed it up I could still pull
the head off the old engine thats been sitting in my garage for a cuppa
years.

So I finally got the head off and the stupid rethreading tool went in
crooked and the insert wouldn't go in all the way and basically, head ruint.

So I pull the head from the old engine and get the head gasket and do the
weird torque sequence and get everything (??) reinstalled.

So I ( this is 3 months later) try to start the engine and it cranks and
smells like gas at the exhaust but no spark at all.

Oh, and by the way, the front o2 sensor wires pulled out of the molded plug
so I sorta guessed which went where (like 2 whites and 1 red go to 2 blacks
and one red - or something like that...)

or could it be the timing belt... I thot I got the marks all lined up
upward...

or did I leave some rully important but practically invisible plug
disconnected...

or does the computer lose its uh, mind if not connected for months...

waaaaat.... ?     :-(