timing chain or tensioners?

[thumpida]

89 mtx 96,000. i think i might have killed my timing chain and or tensioner. the other day i overheated and seriously cooked my oil. as soon as i got it cooled down to a reasonable temp i got a bad ticking from my engine, my first thought was rod bearings. now that i got my steth out it seems the noise is loudest at the front drivers side cylinder.it sounds the same on that part of the valve cover as the timing chain. though upon further inspection i can hear what sounds like a bike chain dragging across a bar along wiht the ticking. it is proportional to the rpm. feather the throttle at the right points and the ticking stops. also performance seems to have dropped(disrupted timing on exaust cam?)i am not currently driving it. btw i have no oil level or pressure problems. as i understand it i can safely drive with the tensioner bad just lots of noise. however it prolly needs a chain. how much are these and where at? how difficult are they to change? i need to pull my intake and do the valve cover gaskets anyway.

 

[thumpida]

btw i thought i might mention in the 1 month i have owned it i ran the **** out of it. i bought this for a few hundred bucks with a new timing belt and water pump installed. so this started as my beater but now im really starting to love it.jsut thought it might be pertinent that i redline all the time.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

The timing chain and tensioner are not that hard to replace, but both are dicsontinued parts so you'll have to try to find good used ones.

Honestly, my bigger concern in your situation would be head damage. Aluminum heads on a cast iron block do not take kindly to being overheated. It's possible you warped your heads and that's the cause/source of the new valve train noises you're hearing.

 

[thumpida]

i was under the impression that block and heads were both aluminum. aslo if you are correct how would that cause ticking of the valvetrain? if it was that bad and warped the head wouldnt i be losing compresssion?