Hi, thanks for the suggestion; confirms my prelim plan; glad to be reassured I won't cave in the side of the head by pulling the pins this way. Inexperience is a frightening thing; I am confronting a lot of fears in this job; sorta like performing surgery on a family member must be.
I did find the cam timing marks, on the right cam, of course. I am not far off; I stopped barring the engine a hair short of tdc, and the marks are a hair from lining up. I agree with your suggestion about the chain and tensioner; I am ordering them; also the injector seals (I already have a set). I don't have a spring compressor (to get the right-side rocker arms out). I also am ordering some tune-up parts for inside the distributor, and plan to replace the short hose behind the thermostat. What do you think about the tensioner rail? From what I can see of mine, there aren't even any grooves worn on it, nor on the other three guides, for that matter. All plastic guides are an even caramel color. Engine seems clean inside: althought there is a caramel to dark caramel colored deposit on many of the surfaces, there is absolutely no sludge or similar buildup anywhere.Updates later!