Timing is Everything

[Dave]

Hi all,

Here's one for all those U-20 gurus out there...

I have two complete U-20s that I'm going to be parting out. One ran great until the day I pulled it 2 months ago because of transmission problems. The other is a mystery engine. Came as a spare when I bought the car.

I know the timing chains, gears, tensioners, etc. are a hot commodity. I simply wouldn't feel right about selling the one out of the mystery engine for what it's worth (assuming it's good) without knowing it's in decent shape. Is there any way to tell if the assembly is OK without running the engine?

For what it's worth, I already began disassembling the engine. The head is off so any measurements I may have been able to take by pulling the valve cover off and inspecting the chain are now gone. Oops!