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I have come back to update this thread for any future bozos that might be as dim as me :p.

I finally got around to removing the valve cover today. I shuddered as to what I would find.

Neither one of my sprockets looked like those in the picture above. They were both black. And the part numbers did not match those in the picture either. But at closer look, staring me right in the pink face was the letters stamped EXHAUST on one and INTAKE on the other, and they were in the correct place.

I did however notice that my cam actuators are covered in sludge as well as the underneath of the valve cover. It’s pathetic how people just drive and drive, cant take the time to get at least an oil change. I have a set of actuators on order. As far as the sludged valve cover, I am going to try and clean it out some today.

Any advice will be appropriately evaluated :)

 

Do they look like these?



Or these?

 

They look like the bottom ones, mister blue

 

Not like these, note the part numbers


12578515 is the intake
12621505 is the exhaust

 

I don’t remember the part numbers now, because I have it all together. But they are stamped intake and exhaust on the actual sprockets. I did not notice this when I assembled them the first go around, but I really had no reason to at that time because I did not suspect a mix up until later

 

Kevin, I'm having a hard time following your logic. You say the sprockets were marked in black ink, but were reversed. If you didn't notice that they were also stamped, how did you figure out they were reversed?

You noticed that the sprockets you have are not the correct parts numbers, but you didn't record what numbers you have?

You comment about how dirty the engine internals are, but you put the head, and valve cover, on personally. You didn't notice then?

If the PO had taken proper care of the car, you wouldn't have got it dirt cheap, it might not have even been for sale. You sometimes, if you're fortunate, get what you pay for.

You may want to pull the valve cover again, and take note of what your part numbers are. It's easy, and you can clean out that sludge before it dislodges and causes some other problem.

 

Well,,,,,,

When I got the head back from the machine shop I noticed the sprockets were marked with a black marker “intake” and exhaust”. I then realized that according to those markings, they were backwards. the one marked intake was on the exhaust cam, and the one marked exhaust was on the intake cam. I simply assumed they made a mistake and put them back on opposite. They were pretty backed up and I assumed they just made a mistake. I simply switched them to their appropriate cams (which tuned out to be the right move, thanks God). Yes I should have slowed down and verified it at that time with the part numbers, I admit was a dumb move on my part, I had too much on my mind and was just concerned with getting it back together. Probably was just too dang cold, it was 25 degrees that day.

After I got it together and running, THEN I got to wondering,,,,hindsight, what if,,,,,,, they just marked them wrong. Then me, thinking I was correcting a problem, actually caused a problem (hence this thread). But that ultimately did not turn out to be the case. I’m sorry if this is hard to follow. I cant explain it any better than this. I can see its confusing.

As far as the part numbers go,,,,, I didnt feel a need to be concerned with part numbers since (while looking for the part numbers to match up with what OldBlue furnished) I then found the stamped marking them intake and exhaust from the factory. Which, imho, is better than a part number.

And my comment about how sludged up the internals are,,,,,, I was just putting that out here. . I knew this the day I took the valve cover off. i just happened to mention it here today. Maybe I shouldn’t have. I thought by saying something about it being heavily sludged someone may have had some advice on a trick to clean it up. I cleaned it the best I could with a solution of dawn and paint thinner. . The machine shop already cleaned the head when they did the valve job. The timing chain section actually wasn’t bad. Probably the crank area is bad, but I really hope I can avoid pulling the oil pan off. I’m hoping frequent oil changes will help it along. If this is a dumb move, chastise me please.

the car is fixed and running is the bottom line here

 

Double post

 

Good, drive on enjoy the ride! Use your favourite oil so long as it’s Dexo’s certified. 5W20 weight.