Ohh!! that might be a good shout Andy H, I'll check them in the morning. Yeah Nick W I know what you mean about the cams, but the engine itself is quite low mileage 75k. Gonna try the fanimoulds first & go from there I think.
Cams and followers plus chain setup are normally pretty shot by 60K miles.
Check the exhaust manifolds first (there were some improved gaskets for them due to this issue)
It is true that the cam lobes can wear to almost nothing but they don't make much noise as a result. There is only one cam so a new replacement isn't ridiculously expensive.
I don't recall saying they did
although the followers have a habit of getting a bit clacky
Shit job to change though with the timing cover coming off. inlets out, valley gasket off and pre-loads to reset on the rocker assembly, the chains can make a hell of a noise to when worn ....then you find if its the pre 4.0/4.6 (composite head gasket with additional row of head bolts, non cross bolt block) that the head gaskets are blowing into the valley and the internals look like someone dumped a spade full of soil in them
Of course the chain and sprockets will also need changing and the rocker shafts will probably be pretty worn to.
Oh the joys of the (ancient and should have been retired in the late 80's)
Buick 215 Rover V8