Only one stuck port ??

[WE3RX7]

Kind of funny, but I started working on the GSL-SE's engine tonight. My plans were to fix the stuck 5th & 6th ports since the car didn't seem to want to rev past 5K much when I bought it... I also wanted to clean up/repaint the intake manifold something more stock looking than the blue the previous owner used.

Either way, I ripped everything apart and found that only the REAR rotor additional port was stuck. I was able to free it up a bit, but it still doesn't have the full range. Oddly though, its stuck in the "half-open" position. The front rotor's extra port actuator arm moves smoothly back and forth by hand. I put some lube and cleaner on it just to be safe and tomorrow I'm going to see what I can do to free up the rear rotor's port enough to where it'll have full range.

The car started "popping" while idling very loudly. I know the gutted cat has a little to do with that, but its really strange since its gotten louder since before. Would a half open port on just the rear rotor make the engine not rev past 5K? I mean..it'll go if I keep flooring it but it has no power... just seems odd to me.

Since everybody is visually stimulated around here. I added some pics of the work.. I took vid too, but its kind of blurry..