'88 Hardbody knock/ping after timing chain fix

[Barrel_Ball]

So my truck was starting to really clatter after driving for about 5 months with a used engine I dropped in after the first one bit the dust due to a blown head gasket. At first, I thought my valves simply needed adjusting. Nope, one of the timing chain guides broke off its mounting tabs and fell down into the bottom of the timing cover. I pull the head, weld up a crack I found in the cover (that's where my oil was going!), install a new timing kit (new guides, tensioner, chain, and sprockets), install all new gaskets to whatever was disassembled, replaced that leaky power steering line, and fire it up... Barely idled, knocked all the time, and the exhaust manifold got hot fast. Turned out my ignition timing was out to lunch, so I corrected that to about 5-7 degrees advanced.
Fire it up again! Idles great, but knocks when you try to rev it, and won't rev past 3000 RPM, exhaust still gets hot quicker than it should. Not good.
Now I'm wondering if my cam's timing is off by a tooth. If so, could it be that I need a head rebuild because a valve said "hi" to a piston? This is a Z24i, and it's a world less common here than the KA blocks. An engine swap is not an option as winter is creeping up on me REAL fast, I don't have the money or time for doing harnesses for different engines.
P.S. - sorry for the long-winded post.

[mrecoolgar]

You need to rotate the cam gear on the timing chain.
I had the same problem.
Unsure if that will correct your heat problem.

[Barrel_Ball]

Okay, so it IS a camshaft timing issue then. If it's off by one tooth, it shouldn't hurt it much, even though these are interference engines, right? We got a timing chain wedge on its way here, so hopefully I can get this sorted out before the end of Sunday. My guess about the exhaust manifold getting hot was originally the ignition being set too far back, and probably worsened somewhat by the camshaft being a bit off too. Flame fronts in the cylinder being too hot or something, I imagine.

[RT22]

Timing the gears can be tricky and yes if it is way off you will get a hot running engine. Good luck let us know how it turns out. Always good to get the answers so we can pass on to the next guy who has the same issue.