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I appreciate it, but don't worry about the gear, someone already offered me one and it's already payed for and in transit. You still need to let me know what I owe you for that starter that caused all these problems 😂.

How far out does the oil pump need to be to disengage? It's been slow trying to pull it out,just can't get a good grip to twist it well enough. I've got it about two inches out, but need to work at it further.

Cam does feel pretty free for a tiny bit of movement, so it's not sized in the bearings, but that could very well be the lash in the engagement with the dizzy/oil pump drive gear.

I will absolutely drop the pan to evict the rodent residence, and inspect, however I'm not going to pull the head. The rotating assembly feels smooth and nice in its rotation now, so I don't expect any cylinder issues, and if there's any major problems I find underneath, I'll probably just go to work on the 359 instead.

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I guess the pictures didn't post for some reason. Let's try again.

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Sorry, 3rd. Not used to the world of 3 speeds yet, used to my fragile-as-glass British 4 spd gearboxes.

So update, got my dad and was going to try again with him locking the trans yoke with a pipe wrench, and me on the front bolt. Wanted to show him how I usually break them loose, bumped the starter twice, and it came free.

For the first time ever it feels like, a 3 jaw puller actually worked as it was supposed to, and even though as usual I set it up wrong 3 times, the balancer came off without a fuss.

Crank gear and chain seem unscathed, however, the cam gear is no more, galled the cam nose a little bit on its way out too. All fresh breaks, definitely was me that broke it not an old issue. Cam does rotate just a hair back and forth, and I was able to get just enough slat that I could feel all of the tappets are free in their bores, though I can't speak for the hydraulic function of them.

The oil pump doesn't want to come out easy, I got it backed out about two inches, and so I don't think it's engaged with the cam anymore, so it's definitely just stuck valves being the problem now.

What I wasn't expecting, was the absolute condominium of a mouse nest in the oil pan, they apperently got in through the oil pump hole in the block and went to town, interesting to see the extent of that when I drop the pan to clean it out. Wasn't in the plan, but now I gotta do it I guess.

So if someone has a spare 356 cam sprocket they'd let go cheap, I'm in the market.

Photos of the destruction, and where I'm calling it for tonight.

Unfortunately, motor and trans are not in the car. I tried putting torque on the trans yoke, with it in 4th and the breaker bar braced on the ground, but it was kind of springy and I didn't like the feel, didn't want to brake anything else unnecessarily.

New question, I finally got a 1.75" socket for the front bolt, however the old brace the breaker and bump the starter trick didn't work, how do you guys lock up the motor to crack it off? And it's not a left hand thread, is it? The service manual I found in the literature section didn't mention it at all, besides the torque value when reassembling.

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356 is a flat head, no rockers to be removed.

How annoying is it to take the manifolds off of the engine? Do they usually come off straight, or usually need to be resurfaced before going back on? If easy enough, I might whip them off and sauce the valve stems/guides that way.

Unfortunately I don't/didn't have a way to turn over the 356 without the starter, short of barring it over painfully slowly with a crowbar in the ring gear teeth. No water pump or belt, and no socket that fits the crank bolt. the 359 I can turn over fine by hand since the front bolt is 1" which I do have plenty of options that fit.

Any recommendations on getting the valves loose without getting the head off? don't want to put too much into the 356, just want to get it good enough to run. it doesn't seem that bad, it was still in the car when pulled, dry stored in a barn, even still had some coolant left in the block. Classic "ran when parked", was tempted to believe since everything else I was told had checked out so far.

Ok, so fingers crossed that didn't happen lol. I definitely have stuck valves, the c style spring compressor did in fact fit, and all but two lifters are free in the bores, the other two the valves are stuck on hard and won't rotate, probably are the problem children.