Well after a tedious amount of back and forth I have with out a doubt discovered that the cam gear in my dart is toasted. I installed a new distributor and got it set properly with the help of a local shop and we got nothing out of it. so we drained oil and it was full of shavings and I even found a tooth.

This puts me in an objectively interesting position.

I am going to pull the engine later today, I'm working with a neighbor who has a cherry picker. Im dead sure I need a new camshaft. I think the timing gears and chain are okay, but I haven't pulled the cover off to look at them so they might be hashed too.

My question is this. Everyone locally that I have talked to has told me to get a new engine, rather than trying to replace the camshaft. I think its worth looking at replacing the cam, assuming there isn't anything else wrong with the bottom end, but to be honest I don't know if that is a good bet to make.

what do you all recommend? I'm going to do everything I can to get the motor I have back in business, but it also has some pretty substantial carb/ exhaust issues as well and I just dont know if its going to be worth it.

Before you pull the motor, pull the valve cover and distributor and rotate the crank by hand. First, wat through the distributor hole in the block and observe the condition of the cam gears. If they are truly damaged, it will be obvious. Also watch if all the valves are opening and closing.

If you end up needing a new cam, I recommend dealing with Oregon Cam in Oregon. They can sell you a cam or regrind another cam and have worked with slant six enthusiasts to develop cam profiles that are good for a slant. Search the board for "RV-10" and "RV-15" and "Erson cam grind."

Do a compression test, then if you can a leakdown test to get some idea what shape the rest of the engine is in.

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

Sorry- I was just informed that Oregon Cam is actually located in Washington State.