First post so go easy on me. Haynes Manual does not describe my particular setup. First I have a coil pack no distrib. Truck looks right out of the show room and has 23k original mile no doubt in my mine cause its been tucked away for almost 20 years and I paid 200 bucks for it so I didn't care if motor was blown but its not. I have everything off the top end cause it had a broke timing belt. it ran for 30 min the turned off(no surprise but the belt looked fine surprisingly. The cam sprocket will not turn. I already took the head off. No interference to bottom end. Compression on all four cylinders checked out very good thank god. Should I have my buddy just do the cam bearings and seal or can I open this head up to squeeze some power out of it. I need some tips. I do have a carbed 5.0 but that's for some thing else. Id like this truck to have all original cause its imo a new truck. paint shiny flawless all around except the cam. Any suggestions? I'm deleting the erg set up but ill keep it just in case. I know this truck is a dog so I'm not looking for big power but would like to mildly spice it up if possible. I will search the forum also but I want to get this truck running like it was before or better with no add ons. A header and open air intake is as far as ill go with add ons, but if machine work and porting the head and intake is worth it I'd also do that. Drop me a line just don't talk $hit or be negative I am searching but cant find someone who has this coil pack and my timing belt tensioner is different than what the Haynes is showing. IDK. Thanks if you read this far

 

First do NOT delete EGR setup, it is only a benefit, and will be less of a headache when trying to deal with Check Engine Light(CEL) being on all the time and the pinging/knocking that will start to happen on regular gas, especially if you shave the head.
The myths about EGR systems and power are endless, lol.

Yes, you can shave the head to boost compression on the 2.3l, you will need to google it to see how far you wish to push it.

If I read correctly, the cam won't turn even with the head off?
If so then could be a spun cam bearing if it won't turn either way, if it will turn just one way then stop it would be rocker assembly or bent valve.
2.3l is a not interference engine, as is, so valves can not touch pistons even if open all the way and piston is at TDC, if you shave the heads enough that can change.
There are also more aggressive cams available for the 2.3l Lima engines

Spun cam bearing would make me wonder about oil pump.
What did the old oil look like.

You say engine ran when you got it?
Did you crank it without spark for a minute or two to get oil up at the top of the engine, or did you, or someone, start it dry after......20years?

All fuel injected Rangers have cold air intake systems stock, also they have tuned exhausts to make the best power(lowest pressure) in the mid-RPM range.
So if you want to change the air intake and exhaust for looks that's fine, if you are doing it for power then...............waste of money

 

Thanks for that info or I would of ended up doing things that don't need to be done. I just didn't like that tube that recirculates to the intake. That's where the header and intake setup came to mind but skip that. I may of said the head is off the engine my bad I'm at the point where I can just unbolt it. its still on the motor. As far as oil under the valve cover doesn't look like oil was getting up top. no puddles or dripping but I did wait 4 weeks before I tore it down. It does have a very thin layer of oil. When I cranked the engine nothing was hitting it was turning smooth. The gear will not move so I knew the head had to come off. I just jump on it. I know something is wrong with it. I'm just going to change the oil pump to play it safe. The guy I go to is a awesome machinist when it comes to clearances using all his lil measuring tools. Ill let him judge how much to deck it. One last thing does the aux shaft have anything to do with getting oil pressure up top. I ask cause on my Eagle talon the balance shaft feeds oil to the head and learned the hard way I drove it 10 feet and bang!!!. So basically I'm just gonna put it back together the way it was and do a go through with the head and deck the head and figure out what a Lima cam is. Clean out the upper and lower intake make everything nice and clean under the hood. Today I noticed I have 2 coil packs and 8 plugs???? whats up with that. IDK If you have any more suggestions like the oil pump possibility the culprit let me know cause I don't wanna have to do this ever again. I build Black Hawks at sikorsky Mechanic so I used my helicopter skills to take it apart. Cars are so much easier and this is the first time Im removing the head on a car. so much little crap attached to it. Its all labeled and I got the 2 step torque process. Im getting all new bolts I'm not reusing any hardware.

 

The AUX gear runs the oil pump.

LIMA is the engine type, 2.0l/2.3l/2.5l were LIMA SOHC engines used in Rangers from 1983 until 2001, in 2002 and up Rangers got the 2.3l Duratec DOHC engines
2.3l was a bored out 2.0l, 2.5l was a stroked 2.3l

Good read here on the Limas: The Ford Ranger 4-Cylinder Motors - The Ranger Station