How strong are timing belts, anybody test one?
 

I bought an 85 motor the other day and the seller pulled it using the old timing belt as a lift strap. Has me wondering how strong the belt actually is, how much it stretches with a given amount of tension etc.

Now I've heard of recycling old tires for tennis courts but timing belts as lift straps... That's creative! I wonder how violently the hoist would have bucked if the thing snapped at the highest point of lifting, and if it would have sounded like Indiana Jones' whip?

just because you can, doesn't mean you should...

Oh there was a WHOLE lot of that going on in pulling this motor. Instead of carefully removing parts etc., cherry picker on top, floor jack on the bottom, and frequent use of a pry bar in ways it shouldn't be accompanied by sounds of this or that breaking loose.

Now pulling a motor with a coat hanger or extension cord, and thats getting shade tree. ;)

seems like a Darwin award may be in his future...

That reminds me of the time I bought a transmission from an ad in the paper. When I arrived, it was some sort of half assed junk yard type of place. When I asked about the E4OD transmission in the paper the guy pointed to an old sedan and said "its in that car there". Once I told him I wanted it, he took the seat belt out through the window and laid it across the roof. He hooked the seatbelt to his forklift and rolled the car onto its roof. He grabbed a pair of dykes and an Oxy/Acetaline torch and three minutes later they were ready to load the thing into my truck. They just cut the Bolts, Ujoint, trans. mounts etc. It was horrible.

The worst part was that I ended up putting four transmissions into my dads car before I realized that I was never going to get a good one. We finally bit the bullet and had his rebuilt by the drunk mechanic guy down the street. LOL Those were the days. :)

When your wrench says Victor on it, you don't need any others. ;)

The belts are tough. Tough enough to break a camshaft if you overtension one. Belts can strip teeth due to old age, but failure is usually caused by another part giving up.

As for pulling engines with one, give them enough rope and they'll hang themselves.

I'm going to see if I can measure the length of some old belts, and maybe break a couple if I can think of a safe informative way to do it.