Ok, got the cam out and the head off. I ground the rivets a bit and then used a Motion Pro chainbreaker/press I got from Mike’s. Cam was a little stuck but I was able to pull it free with just my hands (no way I was gonna tap it with anything). I don’t see any pitting on the lobes, but let me know if there’s something else I should check. Here’s a question; I’m assuming you could measure lobe spec with a digital caliper, not necessarily a micrometer? Just got a new one I’m playing with. Given how clean it seems, I can’t imagine it’ll be out of spec, especially with less than 20K.
I’ve added a couple shots of the combustion chambers. The one from the right side where it was spitting oil on the exhaust seems to have slightly more oil around that section of the gasket, which would make sense. Valves and chamber seem slightly less sooty than the left, which I assume would be from sucking air through the leak (running that much leaner than the left? Honestly, I’m surprised the head gasket looks like it does - I though it would be more abraded on the leaking side. Anyone know what the stock gaskets were made of? I assume some fiber (not metal)? I’ll pull the cylinders and post more/better pics, but the crosshatching looks good on top at least. Carbon buildup on the pistons I think looks normal - what does everyone think?
I figured I’d take a straw poll now, as my next stop will to place that I’d like to do the machine work - bore measurement to see if I need a hone or overbore, check the valves and do seals. Who does everyone like for gaskets, rings (and pistons if necessary), seals, valve guides and cam chain and front tensioner guide (believe that seems to be the one to replace?)? I wouldn’t mind getting everything in one shot from one place, and have been looking hard at 650 Central and more recently, Hoos Racing (I think Mr. Hoos posts here?). I get and will continue to get certain things from Mike’s, but I’m a little leery of getting this
kind of stuff from there, though I know there’s plenty of it. The Vesrah gaskets seem to be the ticket over the Athenas Mike has - I’d also like to keep the same compression ratio. 650 Central and Hoos also seem to have name-brand chains as opposed to Mike’s. Anyway, I appreciate any thoughts and input. More to come!