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Been so busy here & the CTi has run so well since I rebuilt the engine (2007) that I've neglected all maintenance etc! I realise this is wrong & asking for trouble....that was over 41,000 miles ago & I think the recommended cam belt change interval is 36,000. So, once I've checked I have a spare one, I'm going to start on it today. My original head was cracked, so QEP sold me a good one, actually from a 1.9 so has 1.9 cam (the original 1.6 cam was badly worn). They skimmed it of course; I asked them only to take enough off to bring it up to dead flat, but of course it could have been skimmed previously. I've done a search & it seems a mild skim has little effect on altering the cam wheel/crank sprocket position, so the timing pins should go in their holes as standard. But mine didn't. So, two questions! 1/ Is it usually the case that a 1.9 cam in a 1.9 head on a 1.6 block will mean the timing pins not lining up? 2/ I don't want the hassle of sourcing & fitting a vernier pulley, so my only option is to retard, or advance, the timing slightly, by fitting the belt to a position either side of the point where the pins do line up...so which should I opt for? I realise the ignition timing is affected as well, but can at least adjust that if necessary. When I rebuilt the engine, I didn't have time to go into niceties like this, but would like the best setting now I'm doing the job again. Petrol consumption has been fine...often 38mpg, & I've seen 41 once! But I've never really been happy the performance is as good as I expected. I realise that's a common observation with these cars; my cousin's car did drive as fast as I expected the CTi to be, but his is a 400bhp Lotus so I've had to accept I'm expecting too much!