MYSTERY METAL

[jonnyrose]

oil pickup was super clean

 

[AJ/FormS]

The only thing I marveled at about Corvettes was their brakes, man could they stop! Well that and, in the turns they kindof made my 70 Swinger look real bad.

 

[Christine&Rusty]

If im finding a rock in the oil pan the engine is coming apart.

So "who" had it open before you had it? I'd be on the phone. see weather they rebuilt at or a shop for sure.

Put a torch to it to see if it burns. If it’s flexible, it’s probably not metal. Could be etc or gasket material of some sort

OK, that would work...don't "inhale" blah blah blah. Personally I don't remember a non ferrous, non metallic metal (hit it with grinder and see what color sparks it throws) that moves at room temp, but does not melt at crank case type heat-a liquid bath of what, 240 deg - and if you run over that, steady, your oil breaks down fast, viscosity. Thats just me and my rememberig ain't so good sometimes

Valve seals

So thats what I'm going with. If it is the cam, and it can run on a flat cam, sounds like a RV cam. And babbitt can do that except it's not flexible. The cam being flat or installed wrong would cause it to not really pump fuel to the carb-had that happen.
Find a close up of a new one, it will have that ridge around it. Stock, aftermarket all the same, as far as for what they do, how good they do it is what your paying for.
I'd go ahead and spread it out over bench and go back together with aftermarket. High end ones should have a color in them.
Did you throw away the oil filter yet??? Might have collected some "evidence" of lower quality, improperly installed, or just have never been replaced at all-and it's a truck, not a lot of truck owners go through the process of doing a rebuild-complete-to haul toys.
Wish I could try a reassembly of those pieces and check against pics
Good luck!!!

 

[jonnyrose]

the motor apears to have been professioal build but theres evidence of poor fuel pump install and water pump,lots of gasket sealer hangin out and bolts weren't tight,as well as the valve covers were badly tightened down, will straighten them as well Bought the truck from a 18 year old young buck,said he got the truck off his uncle,who loved it

 

[nm9stheham]

It ought to be trivial to tell the difference between cam bearing material versus RTV or a valve stem seal.

 

[Christine&Rusty]

the motor appears to have been professional build but there's evidence of poor fuel pump install and water pump,lots of gasket sealer hangin out and bolts weren't tight,as well as the valve covers were badly tightened down, will straighten them as well Bought the truck from a 18 year old young buck,said he got the truck off his uncle,who loved it

IDK.....Love 'em and leave 'em? (or sell 'em after you can't quite get it right) and I've seen the uncles favorites a time or two. Pro rebuilt with a little after build R&R...yeah, more than likely.
Did the fuel pump actuator arm look like it was getting a flat square strike from the cam lobe?
Poor install would cause it to have deeper strike mark on the tight side.
Did the crank case or oil have a smell to it, other than the oil smell that would be normal?
Mystery metal: May only be a mystery to us and a piece of gravel.
May be the only one to know how it got there-small children, pets, or someone forgot to shake it out because it was near the bench where something was being prepped, end of the day, got in a hurry.......something like that.
Actually thinking it may be an outside the block contamination, all those pieces fit through the oil return off the top of the head?