1989 3l s2 exhaust camshaft and head gasket

[tom_babbs]

I managed to get the head off of the engine today but whilst removing the camshafts i noticed this damage on the end on the exhaust samshaft, looked up a replacement and they are quite expensive. It looks terminal to me but what do you guys think?

Next the head gasket and you can see that oil and water have been integrating but to me the gasket doesnt look too bad, under close inspection somebody in the past has made a poor job cleaning the block as it has a bit of scoring going on.

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At this point i gave up and came home

 

[T3rra]

Think I saw some new 16v cam shafts on eBay, MIT still be on there.

 

[PSH]

Hi Tom

I would most certainly buy a replacement camshaft but more importantly where has the broken piece gone, if not in the housing then I'm guessing the previous owner knew of this damage and has tried to hide it. I'd be talking to him for sure. At least now that you have the engine apart you can check for any other damage and hopefully fix it before rebuilding, a new HG will be needed too. It may be prudent to have the other camshaft checked for cracks just in case.

Pete

 

[T3rra]

Is there some bits missing around the bolt holes on the headers as well?

 

[sulzeruk]

I would say no2 cylinder has been not firing properly as it is considerably darker than the other 3. No4 has been blowing at the manifold as well. If it is over 100,000 miles on the clock, your rings will probably be tired and time for a change. It also looks like that head had been off recently as well.
Alasdair