5kcstq engine rattle noise LONG

[auditude at cox.net]

My '88 5kcstq is making a noise that sounds like it is coming from the distributor or cam area.  It is intermittent at idle.  I haven't driven the car much since it was back on the road.

I threw the car back together after it being down for many weeks, maybe it was months.  I took it down after it lost an exhaust manifold stud.  I have been getting good at waking up at 6am and wrenching before it gets unbearably hot outside (110f or so), then coming back in the evening to continue.  I must've taken a hundred showers this past week.

I first pulled the manifolds with the head in place, which sucked and required me to remove everything, like the turbo from the EM(!).  I then encountered/caused three broken studs.  So, I pulled the head too and swapped on the assembled head from my '87 5kt donor motor.

I got the car back together on the morning of the last day of registration (30th), which I happened to have off of work too.  Passed the smog idle test without any problems, and by noon I had renewed online.

Anyway, the car has two noises it didn't have before.  One is a noise that could be the timing belt rear cover (as the front cover is off and it could be loose), or the water pump or other accessory.  The second noise is more worrisome and it sounds like it's coming from the head or ignition distributor.

I think it is the original distributor for the car.  It has the larger rotor pin, and is taller than the other MC distributor I have.  Perhaps it doesn't like the cam.

Hmmm...  The head I took off the '88 5kcstq had a funky problem of one of the cam lobes being too close to the cap and actually machining into the side of it.  I was going to suggest that perhaps the distributor somehow is causing this noise and the other problem, but I compared that funky cam to another, and the lobe does seem to be unusually too close to the cap.

When my Audi tech friend comes back from vacation, I'll be asking for his opinion.  I'm not driving the car currently, and want to nail this noise down before doing so.

Any ideas on what to look for?

Thanks,

Ken