five alarm emergency for Lil B

[Blue-S]

Originally Posted by eightsandaces

The upper cam marks are within sight, the intake at about 1:30 and the exhaust at about 4 o'clock, to their respective aim points with the crank pulley notch at the bottom. Since the car was in perfect timing and the auxiliary pump can just be reset to 1, I am strongly thinking of just putting the components on and carefully turning the crank, the timing should not have changed if nothing else has moved and I am confident it has not.

It sounds like you are saying that the camshaft sprocket marks are 90 degrees clockwise from their respective pointers, and the crankshaft timing mark is 180 degrees from its correctly timed position. This assumes that "straight down" on the crank pulley notch is 180 degrees from the timing position - I don't remember. If the components are positioned the way I think they are, then it does appear to be in time. Pistons #2 & 3 should be at TDC right now; I don't remember which of those two cylinders would be firing. If you want to put the belt on the way it is now, it sounds like you can do so. If you want the aux shaft sprocket to be in "correct" time (not that it really matters), just ensure that its timing mark is 90 degrees clockwise from the normal timing position.

If you choose to install the timing belt the way it is now, be sure to remove the spark plugs and verify that #2 & #3 are at TDC, install/tension the belt, then carefully turn it over (clockwise) by hand to verify that the timing marks all line up correctly. After that, you might want to turn it over by hand two more revolutions of the crank to be totally certain that everything is timed correctly. It's not uncommon to find a cam off by one tooth on your first attempt to install the belt.

[eightsandaces]

Blue S, I still need to know this, if I can verify all cylinders below deck and turn the cams perfect to their marks, how do I know the 180 on the crank afterwords doesn't hit something?

I have no reason to believe the timing is off given the precautions of movement already taken. Unless you can tell me the movement of the crank after positioning the upper cams is safe I am going to go with my initial thesis, that the engine is in time or damn close enough that only the smallest of accommodations need to be made. Hopefully it will turn easily and slowly, that's my goal. I'm very concerned and it sucks that my dad who has done this way more than a thousand times can't remember how...

[Blue-S]

If the #2 & 3 pistons are currently at TDC (and I think they are), then you need to turn the crankshaft FIRST. After verifying that cylinders #2 & 3 are at Top Dead Center, turn the crankshaft carefully CLOCKWISE until the crankshaft is about 3 teeth on the timing sprocket BEFORE the timing mark lines up (#1 & 4 TDC). As you do this, the #2 & 3 pistons will be going DOWN and the #1 & 2 pistons will be coming UP. With the pistons below deck, you can turn both cams without worrying that a piston will whack a valve. Next, turn both camshafts counter-clockwise 90 degrees to line up their timing marks with their pointers. If you want to be really slick, put a wrench on each cam bolt and SIMULTANEOUSLY turn both cams back to line up the marks.

[eightsandaces]

Originally Posted by Blue-S

If the #2 & 3 pistons are currently at TDC (and I think they are), then you need to turn the crankshaft FIRST. After verifying that cylinders #2 & 3 are at Top Dead Center, turn the crankshaft carefully CLOCKWISE until the crankshaft is about 3 teeth on the timing sprocket BEFORE the timing mark lines up (#1 & 4 TDC). As you do this, the #2 & 3 pistons will be going DOWN and the #1 & 2 pistons will be coming UP. With the pistons below deck, you can turn both cams without worrying that a piston will whack a valve. Next, turn both camshafts counter-clockwise 90 degrees to line up their timing marks with their pointers. If you want to be really slick, put a wrench on each cam bolt and SIMULTANEOUSLY turn both cams back to line up the marks.

OK Blue, it's going down 11:30 Eastern, I understand exactly what you're saying now. I plan on going very slowly as B suggested anyhow but I understand the sequence now and have a great engine cross section to follow as well which illustrates the piston relationships spot on.

[eightsandaces]

Thanks to everyone who helped, I did it, it runs perfectly, it aligned on the factory marks. By turning the engine carefully I was able to line up everything on the proper timing marks. I placed the pistons below deck adjusted the cams to their marks carefully yielding to pressure and making corrections with both cams. Then once they were lined I carefully turned the crank to it's mark, installed the belt and manually rotated the crank, anyhow thanks to everyone! The tensioner had broken and was being contained by the bolt and flat washer, I caught a potential disaster.


PS Lil B, doesn't this make me a Ferrari mechanic by proxy?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_Lampredi_engine