[cwm9]

cwm9,
I'm sure she is laughing with you, not at you.

Yes, absolutely! She's a sweetheart.

I'm so glad to hear you say this; you definitely made my morning. Thank goodness!

Is there any chance I've warped or scratched anything by doing this? That's my major concern now.

 

[Bennie]

Yes, absolutely! She's a sweetheart.

I'm so glad to hear you say this; you definitely made my morning. Thank goodness!

Is there any chance I've warped or scratched anything by doing this? That's my major concern now.

Not likely but you would probably know better than me since you were working on it. It's extreamly unlikely that you bent a camshaft so the things to look at would just be the cam journals (all the caps that bolt it in) and cam. Make sure all the inside surfaces look good, not scratched.

 

[cwm9]

Make sure all the inside surfaces look good, not scratched.

Does this look ok, or is the grey area on the right a problem?

 

[doctorbee]

it looks okay. just take the timing chain off by removing exhaust sprocket. load will then come off of the shafts and you can remove the cam journals and then the camshafts

 

[cwm9]

it looks okay. just take the timing chain off by removing exhaust sprocket. load will then come off of the shafts and you can remove the cam journals and then the camshafts

Did that tonight. Unfortunately I lost a washer down a hole, which I thought was impossible. I'm guessing when I take the head off I'll find it on top of a cylinder or in the oil pan.

 

[1998Prizm]

Just a tip for these headbolts: depending on how abused the engine was, they may be dirty. Like very dirty. Mine looked like they were packed with dirt. If they are this bad, you need to clean them out really well, and make sure that your head bolt bit fits all the way to the bottom of the bolt. If not, it will strip the head bolt. I did this to one of mine, and probably spent an hour trying to get it out.
If you have the misfortune of stripping one of these head bolts, go buy a 3/8 inch 12 point socket. Put it on your head bolt and hammer like hell. Did the trick for me, but the socket is never coming off.

 

[Lucasi]

Thanks for advice!