Been a long time since I updated this thread. That's for sure.
Noticed a weeping from the rocker cover gasket recently so decided to replace it. Got a gasket from Roughtrax.
Not really a difficult thing to do but ended up taking me all morning. There's really only one sod of a bolt and that's the one in the cover against the bulkhead. What a stupid place to put a lone bolt. Other than that it's all very easy.
Cover itself was pretty clean inside.
Timing gear looked fine, no scoring or anything. I didn't check the clearances based on the fact that it drives perfectly well thanks.
Then I got to the inlet mandyfold. Yuk. it was utterly caked and looked like the inside of my arteries. Thanks to that, I now need to change the fluid in my wash bath. It was honestly like a smoker's lung. The middle of the intake was seriously compromised in relation to diameter.
Whilst I was at it, I cleaned off the turbo pipe too. Pretty messy.
Then whilst I was in there, I had a look at the heater element. Hmm, as it's not wired up, I couldn't see any point in it being in there, so I junked it. I put the plastic surround back in because it fills the cavities and irregularities in the spacer block. IN terms of getting air into the engine with as little restriction as possible, this thing really makes no sense.
And the result?
Whoof!!!!! What an immediate difference. More torque, free revving and zero smoke when I gun it. It does, I think though, sound slightly louder inside when I'm driving. Might just be me. But it breathes so much better. Under the bonnet when revved it feels so much smoother.
Have a look in yours. You might be surprised.