Spent yesterday helping my brother in law with his plumbing, so I'm just getting back here. Good news is, I went out just now and tried cranking it without the key on and, yes, it sounds fine that way. To my surprise though, even though it seemed to 'lope' and drag a bit with the key on, it fired up on the second try, with the choke all the way out and the throttle at about an inch out. Also, it's pretty nippy out even at 36* with a stiff breeze, so now I'm thinking I may have flooded it the other day (when the teachers were filing out) when I poured some gas down the carb after it wouldn't start a time or two. I left the throttle out and decreased the choke a bit after getting out and moving the Silverado out of the way, then took it around the block to park it back in our level so-called driveway, mostly to get it out of the way and clear the curb.
So, if it drags just with the ignition on, then it's an ignition timing issue?? That's odd, because Steve said the timing was good, so that's got me scratching my head. But if there's a chance the cam wasn't placed correctly, and that would cause 'rubbing' noises, which I won't know until at least tomorrow when Andy's shop is open. Am I correct in that? Now, as bad as I hate to pull the oil pan that is not leaking with new gaskets (My experience with oil pans, specifically, is pretty sad. No matter how well I seal and torque them, I always get a leak), it seems I need to check if those marks on the crank and cam shaft are lined up. Would that be right? (After I ask the shop what they did per cam timing). But, as usual for me, it fired up on the second attempt. I'm now starting to question my memory on whether this sound was there already, since it's now been almost a year and a half since the gears stripped and I last heard it "normal". Since the old truck is so loud when I get it out on the road, I was in the habit of putting in ear buds to listen to music instead of the road noise. But I'm pretty sure this wasn't ever present before that. It's not even loud, sort of like the rubbing sounds of an old washing machine winding up into a spin cycle.
Also, as Mike mentioned, if it was hammered back in to hard/far into the thrust main bearing, what would be the symptoms? A rubbing, rolling sound? What I've described as a rock or can rolling around, (as if the rock/can is rubbing on the side of the box as it slides by, sort of), could that be a bearing rubbing or just the bearings rubbing against the cam or other bearings in itself? What is the fix if this has happened?
