Timing & cam belt

NewPoCo944guy · 11-23-2004, 11:34 AM

I've got a 86na that I want to replace the timing,cam, water pump and seals on it. This procedure looks a little bit tricky and I don't want to mess up on it and I was wondering if there was anyone in the Vancouver area that could give me a hand. I would be willing to pay $ for someone to help guide me through this task. Half of the fun of have a car like this is doing your own work.
How important is it to use factory parts? ie belt and seals

86na burgundy 176k

cj44 · 11-23-2004, 09:15 PM

I just did the same thing on my '86 na and I haven't done anything else major on this car before other than oil change,fuel injectors, alt. belt,ect. . And I kept hearing that it was so difficult and tricky and all that too but I went ahead and did it and it wasn't that bad . You just have to take your time and think about what your doing and follow the steps from either a haynes manual or download inst. from the tech. forum . Mine turned out fine and the only thing I had to buy other than the replacement parts was the "cricket" belt tensioning tool, the fly wheel lock , and the roller wrench which all together cost about $100.
Any way thats my experience., cj44 (good luck)

NewPoCo944guy · 11-25-2004, 12:05 PM

Thanks for the encouragement. Did you use factory parts i.e seals and belts or aftermarket parts? Did you replace the crankshaft seal as well?
Did you change your water pump? And if you did, did you up grade it to the newer version? Thanks for your help

cj44 · 11-25-2004, 08:33 PM

actually I did'nt do the seals just the belts ,rollers and water pump. I used after market rollers from ********** and one roller I bought off ebay. And the rebuilt waterpump from **********. The belts were oem though.The water pump had already been updated on my car so I got the new one updated as well , which is just a metal plate that goes between the belts.In my opinion its best to use oem parts but I have used after market on this car and others and never had any trouble , maybe I'm just lucky.
good luck! , cj44

Zero10 · 11-25-2004, 11:18 PM

If you were in Calgary, I'd come over and give you a hand, but I can't afford to take a couple days away from life to drive to Vancouver =(
Just too busy at school.
I've done belts a couple times, so I'd like to think I've gotten good at them.

In the way of belts and seals, you'd be hard pressed to find non-oem oil seals, so I think you're stuck with factory parts.
However, with the belts, there are other companies that make them. From what I can tell, the difference between them is imperceptible (At least to me), however, knowing the cost of rebuilding a head, I'd rather spend the extra $10-$20/belt and get the factory ones. That said, I am running with a factory cam belt, and an aftermarket balance shaft belt.
I don't know for sure if this is normal, but the balance shaft belt seems to have stretched about 3 times as much as the cam belt did. Rather irritating if you ask me. I retensioned it at 500, 1500, and 3000km's, and every time, it read a 0 on the tension gauge (the tensioner had not backed off either, it was belt stretch).

Honestly, if you have a decent set of tools, it's a job you can do.
Read up over on Clark's garage, that site is a very useful source of knowledge.

NewPoCo944guy · 11-26-2004, 01:26 PM

Thanks for the tip Zero 10 I think that I'll use OEM parts after hearing what you went through with your aftermarket cam belt.
I'm thinking of ordering the parts through vertex or zims. I'm still wondering if anyone has replaced the crankshaft seal. I've got a oil leak on the balance shaft and crankshaft seal so I hope that this repair puts a end to that constant drip....drip...drip.