Hello everyone,

I finally replaced the retainers and valve stem seals yesterday and wanted to share my findings.
Billman was right: the 7th retainer from the front of the engine was pretty badly cracked. Besides that one, the retainers for the 2nd, 3rd and 8th valves were also cracked, though not as severely. All exhaust retainers were good, as expected. I’ve attached some photos for anyone who wants a reference when checking their AP1 retainers.
Unfortunately, there was a bit of bad luck as well. While reinstalling the cam caps, the 1st cam cap cracked during tightening. So it looks like I’ll need a different matched set of cam caps. If anyone has a set for sale and can ship to Germany, please reach out to me.
Thank you!

Vitali

 

For unknown reasons, the 7th from the front (2nd from the back) is always cracked the most.