[svagusta]

Owned my car about 1 year now but have barely driven or paid attention to it. Oil leak from valve cover gasket became ridiculous so finally got around to attempting this DIY and am trying to see what I can learn about the condition of my engine. Car is FBO with PS2 and meth kit and 90k on odo, and I expect has seen plenty of abuse in the past.

I'm certainly no expert under the hood so hoping you guys can help me learn.

What I found that's potentially concerning....
-[pic1] Not sure what this is called, but the metal shield above the exhaust camshaft has some cracks where you can see tiny pools of oil
---Possibly due to excessive heat? Something to be worried about?

-Cyls 3 & 4
--- [pic3] Buildup on Intake Camshaft: Not sure if this is a problem but havent noticed this on any other pictures of N55s
---Decent amount of gunk in the injector wells of cyl 3 & 4 - no liquid/oil though. The blocking plate is missing a bolt which seems like it could be a cause (not sealing out dirt from engine bay)
--- [pic4] some sort of weight installed on the valve cover between cyl 3 & 4
---Not sure what the purpose of this is, have not noticed this on anyone elses valve cover, but looks like valve cover is designed to accommodate one or two of these after cyl 3 or 4.

Also discovered someone had already attempted to replace the valve cover gasket and left me some problems...
-[pic2] Old Valve cover is missing plastic piece that is prone to breaking off. Positive I didnt do this when removing. Was able to get the cover off pretty easy. Checked all around the head just to make sure and I dont see it anywhere
-PCV Hose already had 4th/bottom clip broken
---Haven't noticed any issue, might replace at some point but seems to be ok with just 3 clips
-Also have a broken bolt to try to extract - the one closest to boost solenoid.

One bit of good news is the VANOS bolts that are prone to shearing look good, all appear to be fully seated still.