The case got a final washing inside and out.
I blew air through all the galleries and went through a few towels getting all the water out. I sat them in front of a fan for quite a while and that got them totally dry.
The plugs went permanently in, as well as the return oil intake. I then went about the task of repairing that small hole.
I put both the inner and outer plugs in, sealing them up and let the threadlocker dry. I then rolled up some of the JB Weld High Heat Epoxy Putty into 2 balls.
The first went in to the inside of #3 cam saddle and then, with the flat end of a tool I have, I pushed this in until it totally sealed the inner plug.
I then took the second ball and used it to cover the exterior plug.
This one I smoothed out over the same shape of the space, making sure there was a lot over surface area covering the plug.
I’ll see tomorrow how well they cured.
Now with the #3 cam bearing over the saddle, there is only the tiny oil hole, far smaller than the actual bored hole in the saddle that I plugged.
I am thinking that I could probably cover the plug in a small amount of sealant, and once that cures, it should offer quite a lot of resistance to pressures and vibrations.
The Aftermarket Distributor Pinion Gear
So I pulled the 45 year old AH engine original distributor pinion gear and washers out of the AH case and went to transfer them and the gear would not slide in. Even after honing the bore like I did nothing would go in.
I then grabbed the aftermarket one. Same issue.
So the aftermarket gear was too large for the AH case. But both gears are too big for the AS41 case. Ugh!
I decided to further mod the aftermarket gear so I put it in the vise and using a sanding bit on my drill I continually went around the head.
This went on for multiple sandings. I’d clean the gear, grease it, try to get it in, and then failing to do so would clean off the grease and start over. I think I did this 4 times.
I finally got the size down enough to let me get the gear fully down into the case.
I pulled it out, got to brand new distributor washers, lubed them all up, and got them finally inserted and smoothly rotating.
Major pain in the ass.