rocket951

...and I have encountered slight problem. It seems that when I was disassembling the related parts on the engine, I got ahead of myself and removed the timing belt BEFORE I put on the flywheel lock. Fortunately, I had already attempted to get the engine to TDC, so it should have been at TDC when the belt was removed. At first I was really pissed that I could do such a knuckle-head move and then I was worried that I had really effed something up. Now, I am ready to install the new belt and I got to thinking: as long as the bottom end is at TDC and the cam gear is aligned with the timing mark, everything should be fine, right...? Just for clarification, the timing mark ( OT ) is clearly visible in the window in the clutch housing and the notch is perfectly centered in the timing mark at the bottom of the clutch housing. The cam gear is within a half tooth ( before ) that respective timing mark.

So will I be okay or did I screw the pooch? It seems to me that this is how you would static time an engine after rebuild...Thanks for any HELPFUL comments, I am acutely aware of the improper order in which I committed this error.

Rodney

F18Rep

Rodney... you're doing fine - crank is at TDC, cam is at TDC. Put on the belt and roll it through a couple of times, the marks should come into alignment on every other pass. Locking the crank at TDC is just a good idea, not a absolute nessesity. Personally I have problems with using the OT mark but the one at the bottom of the bellhousing has never failed me. Bruce

Ski

Absolutely.

rocket951

Hey Bruce, good to hear from you again...thanks for reassuring me. I agree that the lower timing mark is easier to see and as I said, it is aligned perfectly in the center of the notch. I am pretty sure that everything is aligned correctly, just nervous about it knowing what damage could be done if I was wrong...

With all that being said, I have been learning a ton about my car the past couple of weeks. It is so much different to put your eyes and hands on the car rather than look at diagrams or read about someone else's experience. I have had the car for three years and this is the biggest project I have gotten into thus far. All this will come in handy when I put on a MAF and bigger turbo in the next year or so...

Thanks again Bruce!

smac951

Bruce,
What type of tensioning tool if any are you using?

rocket951

As I am still working on this project it seemed a good idea to revive this thread. I took advantage of a really nice day to work on the car and have installed and tensioned the belts, using Bruce's 920X tool, and I have turned the engine over by hand a couple of times. My question is this: How much force would be required to damage the valve train if by chance the timing were not correct? I turned it over via the crank bolt with a long breaker bar and never really had to push too hard on it, I could feel the compression strokes and then hear the air hissing out the open intake ports followed by easy movement of the crank until the next compression stroke. It seems to be turning over normally. Does anyone disagree or have any advice to check anything else? I am probably putting too much thought into this but I want to be sure it is correct before I button it up. TIA.

Ski

If you see the notch in the bell housing matches the line on the cam gear/indent on the back of the cam gear cover - A OK.

xsboost90

sorry i tried to read all of that but was distracted for some reason...

ittia

x2. There is something very hypnotic about them....

rocket951

Thanks Bret, I feel like everything is okay, just looking for a little reassurance.

And yeah, ain't those babies magnificent...?

Porsche-O-Phile

Yeah **** there's a **** reference mark **** on the bottom **** as well as the OT **** mark on the top **** of the engine. It can **** be hard **** to see sometimes but **** if you shine **** a light down in there **** it's usually not **** too bad.

Just line up the **** cam gear **** with the mark on the **** distributor cover **** and use the **** OT mark or the **** one on the bottom **** for the crankshaft. You'll **** be fine.

SD Porsche Fan

+1 or +2 actually!

Ski

**** the season to be jolly!

ryanm6100

tommo951

Remember that both nipples alligning is .... oh my god i am at tit too!