[Verdoro 68]

Well, I've got bigger fish to fry on this one before I get to headers.

I replaced the timing chain this weekend to find the driven gear for the distributor was worn. Apparently a common problem on AMCs since the gear oiling is off the timing chain. That was the least of my problems. I ended up pulling the heads off this weekend as part of cleaning the cooling passages to find corrosion the cylinders. It clearly sat with water in it for a while. I'm glad I pulled the heads because most cooling passages were clogged.

It's against every bone in my body, but I think we're going to do the Frieburger "Don't get it right, just get it running" thing with a driveway hone, rering and new bearing job. Below is a pic of the worst cylinder. It really needs to be bored, but we'll see how it cleans up with a hone. I'm trying to keep this from going to full blown restoration, but it's a slippery slope.

On the plus side, I installed a correct shifter handle and got rid of the Chevy truck steering wheel with a '69 Javelin unit I repaired and painted. It should have a wood wheel since it's an SST, but I'm not dropping $1200 on a repro. AMC parts are weird. In my limited experience, they're either crazy expensive or really cheap.

The Comp T/A goes off to a new owner this week, so I'll be able to move the engine operation into the garage once that goes.