[sperberj]

Hi All; It was a 60 degree day on the East Coast and I completed the polish and paint on the valve covers and cam chain cover. I polished them with a 1500 grit sandpaper and then buffed with rubbing compound followed by Mothers. Then I broke the seal on the new Eastwood 2 pack clear and coated them to seal the Aluminum. It really looks good. I followed all the methods talked about using a Z fixture and micrometer. It indicated that I did not skip a toot. Then I turned the engine through at least 10 times gently to detect any binding. This all seemed fine also. Then I grit my teeth and turned the key! It fired right up (minus muffler) and I let her run about 2 minutes. Everything seemed fine and no cam chain rattle at the moment. I will provide pix tomorrow! Here are the important lessons learned from this process:

1. This forum is amazing and invaluable!
2. Mark all locations of the cams and the settings before you start.
3. Take pictures.
4. Tie up the cam chains on both sides of the tensioners as the tensioners will allow a lot of slack when removed.
5. Tie them up tight.
6. You can tell if the tensioners are bad immediately after you remove them by squeezing and if you can compress beyond 1/8 inch with your fingers, they have gone bad.
7. They rebuild pretty easy but lots of little bits and pieces that can go missing.
8. Re-install of the tensioners is a bit tricky but eventually there is a way!
9. If any doubt about the timing, the methods defined in this thread are great and a simple fail safe seems to be to turn the engine through gently to determine if any binding. If there is no binding between pistons and valves then you are good to go.

This thread is real great for understanding these issues! Thanx again for all the great help!

Joe