Thanks again for the replies. Managed to get quite a bit of work done on the engine again.
Found a replacement camshaft with some other parts that I bought, was in decent shape. Tiny bit of surface rust, but got rid of that by rinsing with WD40, some gentle rubs with sandpaper and chome polisher.
I removed the oil pan, there were quite a lot of metal shavings in the pan, probably from the camshaft. I also fished out the lower part of a dipstick.
Cleaned everything and fitted new cork gasket to the sump (few dots of superglue to keep it in place). After doing this I noticed the rubber sump seal could not easily be fitted to the sump, but should be fitted to the engine-side.. I cut away a bit of the rubber ends and used two dots of silicone gasket sealer where the rubber meets the cork. Hope it will not leak.. What is the right way of fitting these gaskets?
As advised: I packed the "new" camshaft in assembly oil (bought this oil at an engine rebuilders workshop, found out most parts stores don't sell it) and it went in very easily. Also used lots of assembly oil on the cam followers. Wil re-use old followers and found a replacement for the damaged one. Hoping that I get away with this. The replacement cam follower cost me a fiver, a new camshaft & followers would be a lot more.
Decided to not change the timing gears for metal now, after I was told my engine would sound like a siren with the metal gears.. Cam gear seems fiber and the balance shaft gear seems nylon, with a metal center. I have to do another rebuild on one of my other Transits soon, will try the metal gears on that engine, as on that engine the balance shaft gear stripped and all the gears in this engine still look brand new. Also no play on the balance shaft bearing.
Filled new oil filter with oil and screwed on. Will change oil and filter again after the first long drive.
I will absolutely check out the rocker assembly to make sure they are fitted correctly for good oil flow, very good point. I did remember I didn't see much oil spattering around when I ran the engine before with valve covers off..
I will use headgaskets from eBay on this engine, but i also have some older grey Goetze headgaskets. The eBay gaskets look better.. are they?
For now 2 questions as I will continue working on the engine tonight:
- what torque settings do I use for the head bolts? When do I re-tighten these?
- How do I put back the distributor correctly? Dots on timing gears aligned (cilinder 1 TDC) and then..?
Hoping to start up the engine tomorrow