Wait, you mean crack it like break it???

I think i have a cold chizel somewhere in the shed!

 

Yeah, Tony.

Place cold chisel between teeth of gear.

Hit very hard with large hammer.

Repeat, if necessary.



- Eric

 

Thanks, MD - at this rate, he'll be done by the 4th!!
But I guess we all start somewhere!

 

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE 8 DOLLAR STEERING WHEEL PULLER!!!

Steering wheel puller in action...

Here is the steering wheel puller in action, i basically used the bolts as leverage against the old crank gear, MAN was that thing on tight... I blame the keyway..



next, we have the stripped front end of the engine block, for 40 years of crud? I'll call it "decently" clean on the inside.





Lastly! NEW CLOYES TIMING CHAIN!!!



So, cloyes and the CSM both said to align the dots just like this, having the crank gear at 2 o'clock and the camshaft at 12:00.

Can anyone confirm this is good alignment before i start the assembly process?!??

 

whats on the 4th? is there an olds show or something?

 

Now you are going to need the #1 on TDC.

Now you need the cam dowel pin to be at 12:00.

Now my thought is the fuel pump is going to be in the way.
When you install the timing set on make sure the dots line up.
You should clean the crank snout with sand paper or green scour pad, be sure to put a rag to catch the debris. You may want to clean enough to be able to slide the crank gear on WITHOUT beating it to death.
i would put the timing set on first and line it up then put the key way in and make sure all is good.

Gene

 

Wow, you did it already. I guess I should not watch tv at the same time.

Don't forget the fuel pump cam and the oil slinger.

Gene

 

Thanks Gene! Appreciate the advice, this was actually the first time i ever cracked my engine open. It's not as scary as i had originally fathomed..

I just lined it up exactly as you said, #1 is at TDC and the Cam is at Noon. I oiled the crank and used a brass dowel to tap the crank gear on. Slid real nice.

The dots on the gears seem to line up pretty well. I hear that Cloyes is pretty accurate with their timing equipment, should i be worried about not having done it right?

 

I almost removed the fuel pump! But in the end what i did was line up the #1 at TDC and slid that gear on, then i swung the cam gear under the fuel pump with the chain already looped around the crank, seemed to line up OK.

 

For 40 years of crud, it's immaculate inside.

Good job!

- Eric

 

nice work tony and good pictures....now when I get my front end together I gotta do my timing chain too

 

If your front end is off I'd do it soon! I have a terrible back ache from leaning over the front clip to get all this work done..

What do you have to assemble in the front?

 

I was thinking of running a pint of ATF before my next oil change to get it a but cleaner in the oil passages? Good/bad idea?

So should I be using RTV on assembly of all gaskets? Water pump etc? I have a tube of high temp red RTV somewhere in my box of extra stuff..

 

OK so fuel pump can and oil slinger I can figure out where they go, but what about the oil seal? Does it go in that cavity in the timing chain cover?

I think the seal has to go in a certain way in so it doesn't leak right?

 

The crankshaft snout seal in the timing cover will pound right out with a hammer and a drift.
Be sure to inspect the crank for any tapering where the seal was riding on it.

I put a paper thin coat of rtv on both sides of all of my gaskets when re-assembling everything.

There is coolant-to-oil contamination possible, so be sure to scrape and clean everything to a high standard.

 

If there's any question at all about the condition of the crank where the seal rides, install a crankshaft repair sleeve:

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1118846

 

I was wondering what that was!

one of those was included in my Felpro gasket set........ it looks to be the right size to slip right over my crankshaft. How do i know if my crank needs it or not??

 

ive got the wrong end of the front end apart LOL thats OK tho my back already hurts

 

Wow that looks really clean! I've gotte wirebrush/paint my frame too, soon soon.

Did you have any trouble replacing your A-Arms? I'm thinking of just cutting the old bolts out so I don't have to bother.

On the plus side, new a-arms and steering hardware are ready to install!

 

The repair sleeve goes on the balancer tail and not the crank so to speak as it repairs the balancer. If the balancer is grooved you may want to use the repair sleeve

 

What do you mean by grooved? I'm really new to all of this

 

The timing cover lower seal has a spring in it to keep tension on the seal. The tail of the balancer rides on this seal and over time gets a groove cut into it. As the groove deepens the seal no longer seals good and instead of replacing the balancer the repair sleeve can be used.

 

Ok great, i'll take some pictures maybe and you guys can have a look-see.

From my i saw, the front end of my crankshaft that sticks out of the engine looks really good, no knicks or pits.

 

I imagine it would because nothing touches it that would wear the crank there. The balancer goes over the crank snout completely and as mentioned it would be the balancer that has a wear groove in it....

 

I looked at my balancer last night, looks like there's a chamfer on the end of it.....

Does anyone have a picture of what it is supposed to look like?? If i put the seal on there, should i be adding some RTV between the seal and the balancer?

Can someone tell me if my gears look nice and lined up?? I did it as best as i can and i dont have the tools to degree the cam, you can see the marks below here.


Here is the before and after painted picture.

 

Gears look fine as far as alignment you are not showing end of balancer that would have a wear groove in it. If it looks good dont worry about repair sleeve...

 

thanks, I wire wheeled, marine cleaned, metal prepped, and POR15d the frame followed by a POR15 chassis black. so far it looks 100% better than it did IMO !!!

The control arms came right out w no problems, they are the originals they got the same treatment as above, along w new bushings, ball joints, and bumpers, Ive been fortunate w this car not single stuck or frozen fastener, sure some Ive soaked w kroil but every one has come out cleanly !!!

for good measure I threw in new MOOG springs too.

to add to it I scrubbed and steel wooled my fender wells and then smoothed on 2 coats of 3m restore black, they came out very well considering they were a greyish whiteish when I started

now w your TC thread I know its something else I have to do, you made it look easy....hopefully mine goes as well as yours did.

at this point I will say thanks to you, Rob, Allan and everyone else who puts up the How-to (or how I did it) threads....sure it leads to serious MAWs but it also inspires slackers like myself to do it. I knew had to change my 41 year old bushings, but as it goes w MAWs I did the BJs and bumps and cleaned and painted everything so its better than when I started and more satisfying than just swapping out the bushings !!!!

 

Just picked up my heater hose.... 20 bucks....

Went to pay for it and guess what?? NOS GM!!!!!

 

I finally managed to take a picture. Could you let me know what you guys think?

 

[QUOTE=Tony72Cutlass'S';412512]I finally managed to take a picture. Could you let me know what you guys think?

/QUOTE]

Looks good to me. Mine had a few more grooves then yours and it is working just fine. If it wasn't leaking before, I wouldn't hesitate to use it as is with new seal.

d1

 

THE CUTLASS RUNS!!!!!!!!!

After 2 weeks of blood sweat and tears. Timing chain is changed. new water pump and hardware installed. Gaskets and seals were re-sealed with RTV on top of it.

Two puffs of the starter and she roared to life!

Now i need to go out and buy some pre-mixed anti-freeze as well as other liquids. I'll probably change the oil and other stuff at the same time. Might as well!

 

Congrats - no better feeling than when they come to life! [except s__!]
Guess some of us know what we're talking about!

Wait - todays the 4th!!!!

 

Congratulations!

Why premixed antifreeze ?

- Eric

 

I find it's way cheaper up here to buy it that way. The premixed antifreeze is around 10$ a gallon and the concentrate is 13$.

So i mix one concentrate with one gallon of ionized water. Works out pretty well.

EDIT:

Wait, i just realized i said premixed above. I meant concentrated.

 

Thanks! i can honestly say sometimes it's a tie after working this hard

Thank goodness the misses isn't on this site. else i'd be in deep trouble..

 

Ah-HA!

- Eric

 

Gotta stop working on the cutlass so late after working all day...

Is it a good rule of thumb to leave RTV for 24 hours before putting coolant in the engine? It said that on the package, i just don't want to get anxious and ruin everything.

The engine sounded so weird without any pulleys/coolant/power steering attached. But it felt so smooth when i revved her just a little.

 

Picture before i installed the balancer/fan pulley. I was a bit generous with the RTV.

I'd post in between pictures but there really are none, it took 4 hours of kicking and screaming to get that timing chain cover on. even with the bolts loosened i had a rough time.

 

Sorry to hear that.

And, yes, the smart money is on leaving the RTV for a day.

I've left it for less (not very patient) and had no problems, but why tempt fate?

- Eric

 

Anyone have any tips on safe way torquing the balancer bolt? I barely got it to 65 pounds and the engine starts to rotate if i try to give her more.

Im worried if i feed rope into the #1 cylinder that i'll bend a valve or connecting rod or something.