JonL your words were prophetic.

So we finally got the timing chain reassembled, crank at 0*, camshaft marks lined up, buttoned it all up.

It starts with difficulty, runs very rough, lots of smoke, will die if I take my foot off the accelerator. Not the look we're going for. Threw in the towel at 2000 hours last night.

Bit of background: '92 300D with 415K, bent a rod. Found a OM602 from a '93 at a local junkyard (that in and of itself is amazing for Maine). Understanding the risk, I bought it because (1) head looked brand new & (2) the IP was intact and apparently untouched. JY man assured me the car was running well before he pulled the motor and disposed of the car. We had hoped to get this cab on the road in about a week. LOL

Swapped out bolt-ons, fuel injectors, glow plugs, new filters, now new timing chain. Now I'm thinking IP timing. Is there a DIY out there on adjusting IP timing on a 602?