No, the scoop grille is fake - not open at all. Yes, the choice for blower clearance was a 1" body lift or the scoop. The body lift would have given more room at the firewall which would make blower removal/installation easier.

Eddy - that flying bolt trick is not easy to do. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

Eddy and I had lunch yesterday in Atlanta and I told him about one (hopefully) last issue I found that was caused by the flying bolt. When I installed the Beck-Arnley oil pump, I left all 3 timing marks spot-on. When I installed the lower timing cover, I noticed that the TDC mark was 5* retarded at the balancer. My first thought was that the mark was cast into the wrong spot on the new oil pump. But, when Brendan and I started the engine, the timing trigger offset was still set as before.

I thought about all of that on my drive to Atlanta and realized that I didn't initially set the timing trigger offset until after the timing belt broke, so I was just repeating the same error I didn't catch before. More than likely when the bolt jammed the crankshaft, the crankshaft stopped, valvetrain inertia broke the timing belt and the inertia from the blower, alternator and fan put enough torque on the serpentine belt at the balancer to spin the hub 5*.

This would explain why the ignition timing curve feels lazy and power feels a bit down..... spark lead is probably 5* less than what I "think" I have, since I used the TDC mark as the reference. The only way to prove it is to swap balancers, which I'll do ASAP. It may also explain the lousy gas mileage and what sounded to Brendan and me like a soft intermittent knock at idle - but the knock wasn't coming from the engine.... sounded more like the exhaust... probably a late timed rich mixture not burning completely until it hit the exhaust.

So, the list of issues from that episode has grown to include:
1) broken oil pump case
2) distorted/pulled threads on the oil filter adapter bolts
3) compromised RTV seal on the oil pan/block flanges
4) broken timing belt
5) busted upper timing cover
6) chewed crankshaft sprocket
7) bent belt tensioner
8) blown head gasket (maybe)
9) spun balancer (probably)

What a crazy, dumb episode.

If you look at the rear of the lower timing cover, there's a cavity behind the timing reference. Apparently, that's where the bolt was hiding. Hopefully no one else will make that same error, but it's worth a mention to suggest that it's worthwhile to check that before installing a lower timing cover..... do a cavity search. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

Frank