[Blue'72]

This morning when I was discussing this problem with my brother, an idea popped into my head. I mentioned that when the light flashes, it can damage the... And then it hit me. That horrible sound sure did sound like a chunk of the cat rattling around, and it makes sense now why when I turned the motor over without the ignition relay, it didn't make any noise. Only when it was running. Why the starter broke is still a mystery..

Could it be that the chunk of cat had ended up plugging the pipe causing the motor to backfire back through the intake?? I mean, it literally blew out the rubber gaskets in the valve covers.

I really hope there's no motor damage!!

I still plan on pulling the heads and checking everything out as long as I'm at this point.