How to replace friction gear springs W/O removing the Tbelt

[MrMazda92]

Why 4? Only 2 cams have the friction gear spring. Or you doing two cars?

K8(In the car), KL project in the shop. I wouldn't do the K8, except it's getting worse... I fear it may be covering up other noises too, and I'll be needing that engine for the next few months at least.

[marcdh]

I transfer mine when I change cams, you could just change them on the k8 and swap them over when you do the KL swap. Bit annoying if you want to fully prep the KL for swap though.

[MrMazda92]

That's a good point, and I would be doing the same if I didn't have plans for the K8 as well. I'll be putting it in a clean shell, if I ever find one...

[Ryan]

Putting a K8 BACK INTO an MX-3 is a waste of time IMHO.

Would be a sweet motor for a 323 though.

[MrMazda92]

Putting a K8 BACK INTO an MX-3 is a waste of time IMHO.

Would be a sweet motor for a 323 though.

It depends on the purpose of the car. For this, it's far from a waste.

[BornSticky]

I would just weld it then grind it well so the socket still fits, worst thing happens is it doesnt work and you have to fork out that money anyways...

[Inodoro Pereyra]

I would just weld it then grind it well so the socket still fits, worst thing happens is it doesnt work and you have to fork out that money anyways...

Welding on the spring would weaken the steel. You'd end having to take it all apart again pretty soon...

[MrMazda92]

So... I'm completely unable to loosen the 17mm bolt on the cam sprocket As in two strong guys with lots of leverage won't break the b**ch. Any thoughts guys? I'm thinking impact gun. Also, the cam cap closest to my disty was broken when I pulled the forward VC. Another bonus... I can't drive her until next week at least...

[MrMazda92]

103 ft/lbs is what my Chilton manual says the sprocket bolt should be torqued to... The b**ch was torqued to more than 200 ft/lbs The last person to do a timing belt on this car should be hung.

[Ryan]

Torque on doesn't equal torque off, never. When you're torquing down a bolt you're working against the kinetic friction, when you're taking it off you're working against the static friction, which is always greater. Plus corrosion effects....


But yeah, they're tight bastards.

[MrMazda92]

I'm aware of that Ryan... I broke 2 ratchets using a 4 foot long bar extension, with a 220 lb helper on the bar. I held the crescent wrench on the hex. portion of the camshaft. The 3rd ratchet slipped twice before it FINALLY broke free. I had to lever myself against the underside of the front end to hang on with the torque applied to that 4 foot extension. Trust me, it was tighter than it should have been. The worst part, I couldn't get an angle with an impact gun, so doing it by hand was my only option

[Ryan]

Surprised you didn't break the cam. They're just cast.

[MrMazda92]

Surprised you didn't break the cam. They're just cast.

They're also held very sturdily in place by the caps, as well as the other cam in the head... You make a valid point though, I'm glad it finally gave when it did.

[mx3matt]

Hmm. Point taken, my concern with welding is the possibility of mangling the nut so much that it wouldn't fit in a socket. I just hate that it'd cost me $40 for something so simple! The washer is reasonable(ish), but I need 4. I can grind the nut, but 4 washers at $13/each is overpriced to say the least. I'll figure something out, but if anybody knows an alternative, please let me know!

you shouldnt even bother looking for an alternative, some things you can safely modify and some projects its just safer to spend the money on the RIGHT part. its less then 100 bucks anyways!

like mario(andretti) said in an stp commercial years ago. "you can pay a lil now....or a lot later"

[MrMazda92]

Hmm. Point taken, my concern with welding is the possibility of mangling the nut so much that it wouldn't fit in a socket. I just hate that it'd cost me $40 for something so simple! The washer is reasonable(ish), but I need 4. I can grind the nut, but 4 washers at $13/each is overpriced to say the least. I'll figure something out, but if anybody knows an alternative, please let me know!

you shouldnt even bother looking for an alternative, some things you can safely modify and some projects its just safer to spend the money on the RIGHT part. its less then 100 bucks anyways!

like mario(andretti) said in an stp commercial years ago. "you can pay a lil now....or a lot later"

On certain things I would agree... this I wouldn't
I bought the FGS replacements from the stealership, as they were cost effective at ~$13/each; but I didn't pay $26/piece for the nut, which I modified at home with a grinder in ~5 minutes(counting setup and cleanup)