I have a couple of questions.If you can manually turn over the motor to a certain extent the starter should also be able to momentarily put things in motion.I'm suspicious of the starter /connections or battery state of charge when I here "STARTER DID NOTHING".Also did you try to turn the motor over with the heads off?That would be a good way to examine the cam and rotating assembly and eliminate most of the valvetrain as a source of trouble.Good luck!