When I discovered I needed a new valve spacer my local friend and fellow Brick owner volunteered to make the appropriate tool. He has a garage full of strange, to me, metalworking machines.
I also discovered that the PO had over-torqued a valve cover bolt, cracking the soft yet brittle camshaft bearing cap into which it fastens. It would no longer hold the bolt.
My attempt to 'fix' it by inserting a Heli-coil resulted in the female thread body disintegrating into several pieces. The camshaft bearing cap is not a separate part but integral to the cylinder head; the bearings are line-bored. My machinist friend sprang into action. First, he Krazy-glued the pieces together and took careful measurements. He then transformed the end of a steel rod into a ring that fits snugly over the broken threads. Finally, we re-tapped for another Heli-coil and it held. The valve cover is back on and all bolts are correctly torqued.
Moral: get yourself a helpful buddy with a garage full of strange lathes, presses and metal saws. And always use a torque wrench!