The color of your engine's innards will tell much about it's condition.
The darker it is the worse it is. Clean or very light gold is
great...light brown is very good. black is ugh..
I have seen the same problem with three other water pumps with scoring
on the timing cover. Don't worry about the timing cover..it is solid and
a little light scoring is nothing. However, you have to fix the problem
with the pump as the scoring does indicate the pump is not pumping all
it can. Many of the V8 pumps have poorly cast impellor blades. If you
look at yours from the side I am sure your will be able to see this. A
new pump is a silly 200 US. In all three cases, I placed the pump in a
vice grip, angled a file off the side of the impellor blade held in
place by two vice grips and turned the pump until I took of the 2-3
thous neccesary to get an even surface.
All three have been on the road without a problem for an aggregate of
100K miles.
Clean the carbon off with Easy-off. It is non-abrasive and takes care of
the carbon quickly. I put it on one piston at a time..leave it for a
couple of minutes and wipe it off. I repeat until the piston is shiny
and then wipe the surface with a motor oil and then a dry cloth.
Yes, drill Hardcastle's two holes and check your timing cover
distributer gear carefully, it is very possible it is partially broken.
Yes, the new timing chain will be tighter. The Rover nylon factory job
goes limp if you stare at it hard. It is important you look at
http://www.gomog.com/articles/timingchain.html
http://www.gomog.com/plus8/camwear.htm#Bad
and browse http://www.gomog.com/plus8.html
The carb you are using, the "Edelbrook," is a Weber manufactured in
Italy and/or Spain. Great carb...very easy to adjust unlike the small
Holly 390 cfm that others have used and much more performant.
The cam you are installing is very very mild with almost the same lift
as the Rover standard and less duration. I might have gone to the Crane
204. Use a camshaft positioner and I am assuming you are changing the
lifters and the valve springs. Make sure you use a degreeing wheel for
the install and lots of cam lube after.
Standard timing is fine on the chain.
Before you put on the valley gasket, turn the engine by hand to see if
all is well. When everything is re-installed..make sure you have your
oil pump primed and crank the engine with the engine disconnected for a
while with another battery handy in case you run low. The first few
minutes tell the life story with a new camshaft. Then start it up and
listen to those lifters clack!
Lorne
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