Got to spend some time on the car today. Pulled both badly worn cams off, and it's still stuck tight. So that would seem to rule out piston/valve interference.

Next step is to investigate the starter.

Other unpleasant discoveries:

- right cam had front plastic oiler out of tube
- one left cam bearing is missing half of its upper "foot"
- all of the rockers show serious wear, some really serious
- several of the cam bearing bolts were too long and had been "shimmed" with extra washers - one of the upper bolts had THREE washers under it
- lots of metal powder from the cam/rocker wear.

__________________
Chuck Taylor
Falls Church VA
'66 200, '66 230SL, '96 SL500. Sold: '81 380SL, '86 300E, '72 250C, '95 C220, 3 '84 280SL's '90 420SEL, '72 280SE, '73 280C, '78 280SE, '70 280SL, '77 450SL, '85 380SL, '87 560SL, '85 380SL, '72 350SL, '96 S500 Coupe