mswilks,
Slow down there buddy don't start ripping into the timing cover and pulling gears. A sure way to see if you have timing gear chain stretch is to take the distributor cap off and chalk mark the location of the rotor in relationship to the distributor. If you have a bolt in your front harmonic balancer the bottom pulley on the crankshaft, put a big socket and breaker bar on it, pull all the plugs so it will turn over easier and rotate the engine counter clockwise a 1/2 turn or so. Then get up and take a look at where the rotor is now in relationship to the mark. If its move a lot you don't have much chain stretch, if its move not at all or just a little you have a lot of chain stretch and need a new chain and gear set. You may have to do it a couple of times to get a feel for this procedure. I'd say if this is an old engine from the sounds of your rust story you are probably ready for a rebuild or at a minimum, new timing chain/gears and a oil pump. Hope this helps.
