My 1800ES finally hit the road today. Off for a new life (for restoration/donor) in Colorado. This freed up my garage and gave me a chance to lift my dead 500,000 mile B18 up on my chain hoist.

If you recall, a couple weeks before thanksgiving, my oil light came on and the engine began making 'bad' sounds. I hauled it home and swapped out the B18 for a freshened 120,000 mile B20E. My only discoveries regarding my poor 'ole engine's demise was burned oil and a sheared off distributor shaft gear.

Tonight I dropped the oil pan and found some brass metal filings in the pan and splashed up on the sides of the sump. I pulled the foul smelling oil pump out and found that the screen had a few little metal shavings caught in the intake screen but nothing bad inside the screen. The pump works just fine. I cranked it with my hand looking down at the condition of the internal gears. No visible damage and the pump makes a nice little "suck-pump" noise. I have not disassembled it yet, but it moves and sounds just like my good spare pump

Humm...

With a flashlight in hand, I looked into the block and turned the crankshaft by hand looking carefully at the condition of the cam and cylinder walls. I don't see any scoring or obvious damage to the cylinder walls. The cam looks a little worn, but no clear damage. I guess that makes some sense if the pump was not running and therefore not pumping oil up into the engine.

After this second stage investigation the only clear damage that I've been able to see in the sheared off distributor gear with heat damage.

Is it possible that *this* alone is the culprit and only the damaged component of my venerable B18?

Now, I'm a bit worried that I incorrectly assumed the engine was dead and had consequently started it briefly to get it on/off my tow dolly and again to back it into my garage (the garage is on a slope)...

SO... the question is now "where did those brass metal bits come from?"

My only suspect is the missing pin in the distributor gear.

Any thoughts?