924Board.org

jrrhdmust · Joined: 19 Mar 2008 Posts: 180 Location: Middle Georgia

Ok so I get the opportunity to replace the Cam cover gasket on my 924s.

I am fortunate to have the maintenance records and receipts - the last time the timing belt was replaced was 35k-40k ago, and the rollers were replaced 9 years ago. I have no idea on the water pump it is a new model though.

So I figure if I am pulling the timing belt to replace the gasket, I will do it all per se.

So by my calculations I need:

Complete Timing Belt, Balance Belt and rollers.
Obviously the Cam Gasket
Water Pump - I am going to go ahead and replace it

Anything else while I am in there? What about the oil cooler - I have not researched where it is as opposed to the stuff I am changing.

Yes I am ordering the tools, I think I am going with AmWorx tension gage, I have a flywheel lock. I also need a thin wrench 27 mm.

So what am I missing - Thanks for your assistance!
_________________
67 Mercury Cougar XR7 under Restoration
71 VW Superbeetle Completed Resto 11/07
73 Mustang Mach 1 10 Year old restoration

Ian924s88 · Joined: 05 Aug 2008 Posts: 51 Location: Townsend MA

You don't have to touch the cam belt stuff in order to replace the Cam "cover" gasket.. I believe you'll have to be careful while taking the cam cover/housing off, you'll want to be ready to catch the lifters.. greese them up good to hold them in place. I thought my cam gasket was leaking, but it just turned out to be the Cam end/tower cork gasket. But if your timing belt looks like it needs to be done, not bad to do everything in one shot.
_________________
1988 Blue 924s

joecitizennn · Joined: 12 Sep 2005 Posts: 2096 Location: no mans land

Rasta Monsta · Joined: 12 Jul 2006 Posts: 11733 Location: PacNW

If replacing BB seals, you need a pin wrench.
_________________
Toofah King Bad

WeiBe (1987 924S 2.5t) - 931 S3

jrrhdmust · Joined: 19 Mar 2008 Posts: 180 Location: Middle Georgia

Yet another question: For the cam cover I see that there is a square gasket for the whole box, an end gasket for left ring, and a few gaskets for the front.

I noticed on some sites they have a gasket for each spark plug and then one for each bolt. Do I need these also?

Thanks
_________________
67 Mercury Cougar XR7 under Restoration
71 VW Superbeetle Completed Resto 11/07
73 Mustang Mach 1 10 Year old restoration

Slam · Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 9:02 am Post subject:

If you mean the crush seals for the access plugs on the cam housing, then yup, you'll need them. Those little plugs strip their heads easily, too. The "gaskets" for the spark plugs are also crush washers.

Be careful lifting the cam box off the engine - slip a straightedge under the lifters so they don't spill all over your garage floor.

You'll also need a very long 6mm allen wrench with a 3/8 drive on it to get to the cam bolts that are inside the housing. Once you've seated the tool in their heads, rap it with a hammer to wake them up.

The only thing that makes this job tricky is retensioning your belts. And not dropping anything in the housing on reinstall.

Have fun! I did mine a couple of weekends ago and it took me an afternoon to tear down and reassemble and then a couple of leisurely hours the next day working on the belts.
_________________
'84 944 - kid blew motor
'83 944 - resting comfortably. For 12 years
'87 944 - sideswiped by trucker
'80 924 - gone
'78 924 - gone
'77 924 - rusting comfortably

jrrhdmust · Joined: 19 Mar 2008 Posts: 180 Location: Middle Georgia

Thanks for all of the information - you all are awesome!

One last probably dumb question but I will ask anyway. I have the car sitting on the side of my yard, and I pulled the front belt cover. Can I drive the car about 50 foot into the garage or do I need to replace the cover first?

Thanks again!
_________________
67 Mercury Cougar XR7 under Restoration
71 VW Superbeetle Completed Resto 11/07
73 Mustang Mach 1 10 Year old restoration

Slam · Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 3:56 am Post subject:

No need to worry. As long as you haven't taken the tension off the belts.

One thing I do to speed up the process of taking things apart is to leave the distributor cap attached to the top/front aluminum housing with the plug wires on. Then all you've got to do is pull the wires off the plugs, unbolt the front housing, slip the cap off over the rotor and the cap, wires and housing come off as one unit. Makes reinstall so much easier.
_________________
'84 944 - kid blew motor
'83 944 - resting comfortably. For 12 years
'87 944 - sideswiped by trucker
'80 924 - gone
'78 924 - gone
'77 924 - rusting comfortably

jrrhdmust · Joined: 19 Mar 2008 Posts: 180 Location: Middle Georgia

Ok started last night, taking my time, dissembling the airbox, cooling hoses ect. I found top dead center, and installed the cam lock.

I do have a question on top dead center, I could never see any of the marks on the flywheet itself, so I lined up the two marks on the cam and I put a wooden dowel in the number one and verified when the piston was at the top. Could I be 180 degrees out and on the exhaust stroke?

Trying to get off the crank pully I broke my 24mm socket. Handwriting is on the wall that is going to be a pain in the rear....
_________________
67 Mercury Cougar XR7 under Restoration
71 VW Superbeetle Completed Resto 11/07
73 Mustang Mach 1 10 Year old restoration

Slam · Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 4:15 am Post subject:

As long as cam marks line up you're fine (two crank revolutions for one cam rev), but you'll have to be able to see the crank mark when you finish up. The cam may move while you're reassembling - not much, but it can. And you can be off by one tooth and still run without bending valves.

The crank bolt can really be a pig. I got to the point where I modded my rear timing cover so I didn't have to remove it every time I wanted to do the water pump.
_________________
'84 944 - kid blew motor
'83 944 - resting comfortably. For 12 years
'87 944 - sideswiped by trucker
'80 924 - gone
'78 924 - gone
'77 924 - rusting comfortably

jrrhdmust · Joined: 19 Mar 2008 Posts: 180 Location: Middle Georgia

Thanks for the info and I may be doing a mod also....
_________________
67 Mercury Cougar XR7 under Restoration
71 VW Superbeetle Completed Resto 11/07
73 Mustang Mach 1 10 Year old restoration

jrrhdmust · Joined: 19 Mar 2008 Posts: 180 Location: Middle Georgia

Big cheater bar and new socket finally got it.

Bigger problem though I tore the front of the engine down and one of the water pump bolts broke. I can get vice grips on it but cant get it out.

Any ideas? Current plan is to dremel it smoth then try drilling and tap. That is not going to be easy though.
_________________
67 Mercury Cougar XR7 under Restoration
71 VW Superbeetle Completed Resto 11/07
73 Mustang Mach 1 10 Year old restoration

jrrhdmust · Joined: 19 Mar 2008 Posts: 180 Location: Middle Georgia

Another question: What do the spark plug seals for the Cam Cover look like? I ordered them, but I am not sure if I received them or not. They are checked off the invoice but I don't know what I am looking for.
_________________
67 Mercury Cougar XR7 under Restoration
71 VW Superbeetle Completed Resto 11/07
73 Mustang Mach 1 10 Year old restoration

Rasta Monsta · Joined: 12 Jul 2006 Posts: 11733 Location: PacNW

Are there threads left on the bolt? How about a stud remover?
_________________
Toofah King Bad

WeiBe (1987 924S 2.5t) - 931 S3

jrrhdmust · Joined: 19 Mar 2008 Posts: 180 Location: Middle Georgia

Never heard of a stud extractor...where would I find one?

I am going to try liquid wrench and if that doesn't work, next I will try a torch to heat the block hoping I can get it to loosen a little.

Thanks a lot for all of the responses everything has been Spot On! I am so glad that I listened to everyone here especially about changing the front seals, rollers and waterpump. My waterpump was rusted and trashed - only a matter of time, and the crank shaft seal, and both balance shaft seals were leaking a little. Thanks again for all of the advice!
_________________
67 Mercury Cougar XR7 under Restoration
71 VW Superbeetle Completed Resto 11/07
73 Mustang Mach 1 10 Year old restoration