I have a little round bowl-shaped metal plate on the crank, between the timing gear and the cover seal. Is this an oil splash device to keep the timing gear more oiled or to prevent direct splash onto cover seal, or both?

Which way does this go on, concave side toward timing gear or toward timing cover seal?

Mine is not perfectly round, it has a flat portion along the outer circumference, where an edge region has been folded over along a perfectly straight line - is this normal or did somebody bend mine oh so perfectly?

Thanks all.

It's called an oil slinger,your right,it's job is to sling oil away from the seal area....I'm sure someone will chime in on which way it fits,but from my memory I think it will only go on one way.it will interfere with the timing chain and gear if you fit it the wrong way,swap it around and if it clears everything you have it right! Cheers

That would be correct. Think of it as putting a cup over the timing cover seal to keep oil off it.

-D.Idiot