Well I took all the advice and changed the tranny filter and gasket and pulled the harmonic balancer to check the timing chain. The nylon gear on top was getting worn and the chain was pretty slack on both sides so now it has new chain and steel gears. I marked and pulled the distributer shaft and have started cleaning up the block. I will wait till everything is clean then pull off the valve covers. Anything I should be looking for while they are off ? I have been putting fresh paint on all the parts as they come off so it has gone slow disassembling it but once the block is cleaned up and painted it will hopefully go back together faster. ANY AND ALL ADVICE IS APPRECIATED AS THIS IS MY FIRST BIG BLOCK OLDS PROJECT. The last car I did much work on was a 327 back in 1976.
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Since the nylon timing gear deteriorated you should probably remove the oil pan and clean it. The chunks of nylon probably fell to the bottom of the oil pan. This won't hurt anything since they are too big to damage the engine, but since you are painting and freshening up the engine you might as well go the extra mile and pull the oil pan.

 

That was one of the first things i did . new gasket and seals and fresh paint while I had it off , I cleaned up the oil pump but did not replace it since it works fine and looks good.