What has my 6.2 oil pump beeen chewing on???

[GMCMG]

Hey, guys. I'm doing a '66 Suburban build with a '82 6.2 Diesel intended to go under the hood. The guy I got this off of cleaned it and painted it (black - why black?) and put some new peripherals here and there before going to a different project. He said the rear main seal was weeping and I should fix it.
I got it on the stand, flipped it, pulled the pan and went towards the rear main. Since I was in the pan, I thought I'd check the oil pump. I pulled it apart, and the plate looks almost new. I almost just threw it back together and called it good, but since it was apart it was a great time to clean everything. Might as well get as much gunk as possible. When I pulled the gears, this is what I saw; what has my oil pump been chewing on? Looks like maybe wire or something? There is damage at contact points on both gears in several places. Should I be worried about something?