SIGNIFICANTLY more demoralizing than I'd hoped!

[printjunky]

Coupla questions: Seems to be unanimous on the fiber head gasket. Any alternate opinions?

And I know I'm opening the long debated OEM/Aftermarket can of worms, but a Cam timing gear from Allmakes is about $13, and from LR it's about $130! I have little doubt that the LR gear is superior, but holy catfish! Ten times superior? Sorry, that doesn't seem very likely.

This seems to go for everything I'm looking at. I've seen OEM cam prices of up to, (and over) $1,000! (Apparently these are NOs as the part is NLA - so a different story, I understand).
But an aftermarket cam comes in around $160.

Here's the list so far of what I KNOW I'm going to need (engine's not out yet, so this will certainly get longer):

Cam (2.5)
Timing cover gasket
Front oil seal
Top gear
Top gear bolt
Top gear bolt locker
Water jacket gasket
Oil fill gasket
Rear main seal and cork "t's"
Oil pan gasket
Freeze plug
Hylomar

Am I missing something? (probably)
Any opinion on OEM/Aftermarket on any of those specifically.

Also, any advice on other good things to perform or look for while doing this (pull engine, pull head? I will obviously be doing things like inspecting the head/valves, etc, but if there's something that EVERYONE says I should just do while it's out, I'd take it under serious advisement. Though unless there is obvious damage I will not dig into the head or pistons/crank at all. My goal is to be back on the road by Aug. 1.

[scatterling]

...well....while the engine is out you should probably just rebuild the truck

[SafeAirOne]

Were it me, I'd just buy the top end gasket kit and the bottom end gasket kit. It'll have every gasket you need and would probably be cheaper too.

[stonefox]

...well....while the engine is out you should probably just rebuild the truck

Just a simple clutch job kinda rebuild, nothing crazy right.

[printjunky]

Bump

Gotta bump this before I place an order.

Got everything out and the head off. Bit of carbon buildup on the heads, but everything looks GREAT. Cylinders are fine, virtually no ridge, no scoring. No apparent bad valves. No blowby or damage or anything. The slight weeping on the oil fill and fuel pump were just because they weren't on there very tightly (plus probably sitting for 8 years). Gonna re-gasket them anyway. Again, what else can I easily check while I'm in here?

The gear that drives the oil pump and distributor has me worried. The one with the famous Grub Screw. Well, it's in OK shape, I guess, but there does seem to be more wear on the faces of the teeth than I would expect. I don't see that unit in anyone's catalogs. I'll post a photo tonight, but anyone have any insight into what I should be looking for as far as excessive wear goes? And who has these available?

How big a deal is it if I dropped the pushrods all over the place and didn't retain their location relative to the valves? Don't imagine much, but ...

Is there any likelihood that I could still use my top (cam) timing gear? The only thing wrong with it is the slot for the key in the cam. Unlike new (aftermarket) gears, mine has slots all around (as seen pic'd above). Can I just move the gear a slot over and adjust the timing procedure vis-a-vis the initial timing marks on the gear?