Hey guys, I was wondering other than re-torquing the head down is there something I should be aware of as far as reasembling? I'm contemplating doing a valvejob on my 86 951, since it would be my first on any car I would like to get as much knowledge as I can before taking on the task. Any information will be greatly appreciated..

 

Another thing....if I align the T.D.C mark on the cam and the one on the fly. , will I be able to just drop in the cam?

 

I did mine a while back. Not too hard, but you need a way to tension your cam belts. I had the factory tensioning tool.

If you line up the flywheel and cam TDC marks, the cam housing should go back on without problems. I was a chicken and backed the engine up enugh so that all the pistons were sunk into their bores.

One tricky part is keeping the lifters from falling out. I tilt the car heavily and rotate the cam housing off, so that the lifters won't fall out.

Pull the header studs to get the headers on and off. Or pull the head with the header attached.

You need a Snap-on alan key to get to the cam cover allen bolts, or you can make a tool with a socket and an allen key with the L cut off.

 

If this is the first time your doing it, I highly recommend getting a flywheel locking tool so that you can pull the starter and install the pc($36 @ paragon) once the engine is at TDC. Then you only have to worry about the cam gear at TDC. Be careful as you tighten the cam tower down. You can take a socket and turn it slightly as you tighten it down so the marks align.

 

Hey thanks Tom! o.k what do you mean by tilting the car heavily? So you hold the cam and turn it over quikly so that the lifters don't fall out? Also what should I expect to pay for machining? ....on the you being a chiken part, you turned the crank then realined the marks then tighted the head down?

 

Ski..thanks for the input! Actually I went a step further when I did my timing belt when I locked the fly whith a center punch and glued an indicator stick to the bell housing and marked the fly or pressure plate with paint. I was paranoid , and wanted to take no risks on ruining the valves. I dont know if mechanics actually use the tension tool, when I told a couple of shops that I did my belts and needed to check and assure my tenssion they said they had to take it apart to make sure I did it right. they made it seem like a big deal almost a bother since I did not ask them to do the whole job.

 

Tilt car heavily = jack up the drivers side as high as you can, and leave the other side down. This puts the engine on an angle, which allows you to rock the cak housing off the head and flip it over without having the lifters fall out.

The head gets torqued down before the cam tower goes on. I set the pistons down in their bores (backing up from TDC#1 45 degrees or so if memory serves), then torqued the head on, then put the cam housing on with cam sprocket mark aligned to TDC, then brought the engine back to TDC#1 (by turning it clockwise by the same 45 degrees). Then put the timing belt back on with the flywheel and cam both lined up to their tdc marks. In retrospec, I should have just set the motor to TDC#1 and put the cam tower on with the cam sprocket set to tdc, but I was worried about the cam turning (which I did not do).

Make sure the cam tower gasket is right side up. It appears to fit upside down, but blocks an oil passage that way.

Sounds like the tensioning shop was not interested in checking it for you. It's pretty easy -- remove accessory belts, remove timing cover, check tension. Done.

 

Thats what I thought too, anyway what I ended up doing is tensioning as close to the way it was before and took the car to this VW-BENZ place where this guy charged me 75$ I know I aligned everything right and what I did was paint the tensioner nuts to see if he would really do something to the car (I don't trust mechanics) when I came back to pick up the car since it could not be done right away he charged me the 75$ and had this 'I didnt do sh.t to the car and I'm just taking your money ' look on his face.

 

Did he make a change from your painted marks? If he did I guess he was justified in charging you eh? I know what you mean about being "bothered". I think the mechanics feel like they are responsible or liable if the cam belt breaks and they didn't install it.. They could blame the break on improper installation even though they tensioned it properly.

Save yourself some loot....get a KR-1 from Napa..... 10 bucks and search the forums for the tensioning specs. I've used that tool for 3 years now and no problems . Some guys swear by the factory tool.... good for them! The cheap one works adequate... not the best, but certainly good enough.

Oh yeah I used bearing grease to hold the lifters in when reinstalling the head. Just be quick as the grease works pretty well holding them in temporarily as you roll the head over on the block.

 

H2O......how hard is ti to tension with that tool?.....as for the paint marks on the tensioner, the paint was intact no sign of wrenches rubbing it off and on the same setting. Any idea about $$$$ for machine shop and what they actually do to the head? thanks a lot!!!