alternate timing belt install?
 

instead of the locking tool, caouldn't you just mark the positions of all the pulleys with paint or nail polish before removing the old belt and make sure you put the new one on with the pulleys in the same spot? or am i missing something (very likely)?

The crank gear can come off easily, or it can be a real PITA. I would just be concerned it might move when I was screwing with it.

I've tried the fingernail polish on the pulley thing (while at the same time, using a flywheel lock) and the way everything is situated in there, it's really dificult to get a good, straight-on look to see everything's matched up.

The flywheel locks aren't that expensive, and it only takes a couple minutes to dismount the starter.

This is a place I would't try to cut corners.

If you're just doing belts and rollers, it would be sufficient to just line up the TDC mark on the flywheel, and lock it in place by putting the car in gear and setting the parking brake. If you have to take off the crank gear to do the water pump, crank seal, or whatever, then get the flywheel lock. Even in the best of circumstances, it takes a crapload of torque to get that crank bolt loose.

And the flywheel lock makes it easy to torque it back down to the correct spec.

I can loan you my flywheel lock if you want. Just pay the shipping. The only condition is dont turn it into a year long belt job.. :). Let me know.

Thank-you gentlemen, good info. Techno, you must be familiar with the way I work, I'll let you know, maybe i can take a ride out and pick it up even, I've been in your neighborhood before, I bought some parts from a friend of yours a year or so ago, i forget the gentleman's name but he was buying a turbo at the time, an older gentleman I believe he was retired.

The flywheel lock is a must for retorquing the crank bolt. When you are torquing you will be putting more torque on the bolt than the engine makes while running full boil. To take it off I would use an impact gun.

Speedy:)

You can install the timing belt without removing the crank pulley. then you don't need a lock - just line up all the marks and tension the belt properly. You don't need to mark anything there's already marks on everything at TDC

No it isn't. Two people can accomplish the task when one holds a pry bar on the flywheel teeth. I've never used a flywheel lock, or an impact gun for this procedure, but I like to do things the hard way.;)

I'm not trying to discredit the good advice you have supplied, Speedy. However, there are other methods that don't cost $50.

$50 versus the cost of a head job... Not sure I see that equation working out well.

Imho
 

You don't need to lock the FW to do the job if you don't remove the crank pulley.
Don't remove the crank pulley unless you have to. Just snake the belt off and then on again. In fact, sometimes you need to release the FW lock to get everything to line up when doing the job.

I can understand not getting the torque on the crank bolt right and losing oil pressure, but if you are saying that there is a possibility of screwing up a head by not using a tool, that you definitely don't need, I'm lost. Please explain.

I misread the first 2 posts and thought he was wanting to remove the crank pully.

There is no need to remove the crank pully to do the belts

You could just mark everything using nail polish and make sure nothing moves as you are removing and reinstalling the belts.

I would feel more comfortable locking down the flywheel with a lock for a couple reasons. The first is the crank can move fairly easily when it is static and the only reference mark is on the top of the bellhousing which is hard to see. This mark is only visible from about +/- 2 degrees of crank shaft rotation. If the crank goes any farther than this you would have to use the dowl-in-the-sparkplug-hole trick to make sure you are turning the crank back to TDC or until the TDC mark on the flywheel is in the viewable window.

Although it is possible to do I just use the factory flywheel lock (Purchased for about $25 years ago) for peace of mind. It just removes one more item I would have to worry about doing correctly.

The screwdriver-in-the starter-ring-gear trick is a 2 man operation. Many times, alright almost all the time, I am a 1 man team. I need the flywheel lock.

Hope the project goes well for you.

loosing your head
 

I think what he is trying to say is that doing the job right is worth the extra 50. There is a chance you will need to go in there and remove the crank pulley. You don't really know until you take it apart. To do the job professionally you have to take it all down and replace everything. IMHO this necessitates a FW lock. I have done it without one, but the tool is money well spent. What we are talking about is a piecemeal approach. My car is currently running on a belt only job as I was just plain lucky and the rest was in good shape. Once you have it apart there is a real good chance that something besides the belts will need to be done. If you don't have the documentation to verify how old the components are the safe bet is to replace everything. I inspected the components and found them good. The inspection and appraisal can be tricky and I understand if some people are not comfortable with it. I am of the opinion that removing the crank pulley has a good probability of doing more harm than good because of the oil pressure problems that some people have. However, if the seal is gone you really need to pull the mutha. FW lock time IMHO.

I still find it very convenient to mark the old belts and pulleys with white paint ad transfer the marks to the new belt side by side to make it easy to line up everything rather rather than chasing all the pulley marks in the dark and under the car.
But it is very difficult to slip the cam belt in the tensioner and crank pulley spaces so I still found it convenient to remove the crank pulley and tensioner. To do this you need a FW lock unless you can find another way to loosen the crank bolt without the FW lock.
Good luck!

Belt
 

I had no problems snaking the belt in. I soak it in warm soapy water and then work it in counterclockwise if it is stubborn. I find it takes a lot less time than the CP removal. The important thing is to NOT kink or scratch the belt. If you do remove the CP take special note as to how the hardware goes.

I fabricated one by welding a piece of thick muffler clamp to a 1x1 square tubing and plate steel. Works like a champ, and it probably only took me a couple of days to make - maybe 6-7 hours. All in all, I probably spent $70 in time and materials to make something I could buy for $50...nothing new. :rolleyes: