First minute in and I already ran into an issue. I was trying to tighten the cam bolts but without the specific tool to hold the cams in place, I couldn't get them to stay to accept the 37 lb-ft required.There's holes on the cams (and plates) that people usually stick drill bits or punches into, but they will widen the holes when trying to torque the bolts to spec. There are also cam holders but I did not want to wait for shipping from overseas.
So I improvised
The handle of a small screw driver was all that was needed. The plastic was soft enough to protect the teeth from getting damaged as it wasn't a crazy amount of torque.
Next up was the rear main seal
The original seal was far from OK
Compared to the new one
After removing the seal I was left with a less than desirable surface for the new seal
Some E85 and a rag later
And in it went
Whilst test fitting the idler pulley, I noticed these filthy bolts staring at me that must have somehow escaped the clean-everything-treatment
So off they came
E85 + rag did not do anything to these, so this came out
And this happened
Test fit #2 did not produce an eyesore
Timing belt gear was next on the list
And we're good
Timing belt gear + balance shaft delete spacer on
TDC @ Piston #1 marked on oil pump + cam gears
And we're finally done with the motor
On a side note, I was contemplating on purchasing a belt walk blocker but didn't want to spend $100 for a washer with a chamfer so I decided to put the balance shaft idler on (you're meant to remove this when deleting balance shafts as there is no belt anymore) and got a similar amount of clearance that the 'walk blocker' would produce
This way if it does decide to walk, it's not just going to shoot off. Happy days.
Coming up next: Gearbox assembly!
