Boy am I an idiot. Let just say that if you pull an allnighter working on your car DO NOT tension your timing belt last.
I was tired and didn't tighten the locknut on the tensioner all the way.
I started it up today and heard the belt slapping the cover. I shut it down and pulled the air cleaner and the front cover off and sure enough, the tensioner locknut was loose. I turned it over by hand to TDC to see if the belt may have jumped a tooth. As I turned the crank and the belt slipped. The crank turned, the cam didn't. Son of a _____. So I pulled the a/c and p/s belts, the lower cover, and both belts and started to set the crank at TDC. Luckily it was already close to the mark. As I turned it slowly I felt some resistance. It was a valve. I stopped turning the crank and slowly turned the cam towards TDC. Whew, no resistance. I got it all lined up, put the belts back on, tensioned them with the Kricket an put it back together.
I crossed my fingers and hit the key and it started instantly. It ran a little rough, but it always does when the engine is cold. I think I dodged a bullet.
Moral of the story, make sure you tighten all the locknuts and don't work on the belts when you're freakin' tired!

 

Agreed. Work on your car when you are awake. we don't want any mishaps.

 

And always tie back your long hair, or it won't be that for very much longer! Of course I have looooong hair, and it always reminds me it's there, thank goodness. When we did my timing belt and balance belt a week and a half ago, it went smoothly, but of course it always takes a few realignments to make sure even the balance belt is correct. Had to run back and forth a few times on lining it up, but she runs nice now!

- Julie

 

Ha, I haven't had long hair since the '80s when I played in a big hair rock band. Sure do miss those days.

 

Pete, I'm glad everything turned out OK!!! I still wish I could've helped - but I didn't even spend the weekend in Chillicothe like I was supposed to. My car has been at the Oakwood garage since Thursday night when my clutch failed coming home from work. I guess I'm lucky - it could have failed in Chillicothe, leaving me with a much larger tow bill.

Your wife and daughter are still gone, right? What are the other interesting things you'll be performing this week? Maybe I could help out?

Dale.

 

Oh, and I had hair down to my waist in the 80's/90's. I had it cut when I graduated college. Now it sits in a box under my bed (I have trouble letting go of things).

 

Humm... oddly familiar. I caught mine loose when I spun it by hand the last time before putting the belt covers on.

Good to hear nothing bad happend. Crazy weekend for you!!

 

Glad it worked out pete, that must have been one of those heart stopping moment....

So did you get the long list of items completed?

 

I did see your old sways on his car when I stopped by last nite......

Tifo

 

Dale, sorry to hear about your clutch. How much is it costing you to fix it?

I still have more to do but nothing real exciting. I got the oil pressure valve done, the sways painted & installed, the belts retensioned, and some vacuum lines and the J-boot replaced.
Tonight I'm going to install the speed bleeders and flush the brake fluid then take her for a spin to make sure I didn't screw anything up.
After that I'm gonna fix that f@#$%ing sunroof and tighen up the uphostery on the driver seat. A couple more days should do it.

Brian, your calipers look great, how much longer until you turn the key on that beauty?

Ian, thanks for the swaybars. They should make a nice difference especially with all new bushings.
Anyone need a pair of NA swaybars?

 

Pete - It looks like $1050 with a Sachs spring-center disc. It's not done yet, so that figure could change. I'm anxious to see what the old rubber hub looks like now.

If'n ya runs into trubble with the bleeding and could use another hand, call me at that number in our previous e-mails and I'll drop by.