doing the head gasket,

[carltoncrazy]

well how do ya do this,
its being done on a 8v OHC engine,
ive done a old escort,and i know about making sure the bolts r right and all,but the timing belt worrys me,
does this have to be set up again,i mean is the cam in time with the bottom half,
that probley doesnt make sense but please try and understand

[jim sri]

get it all in time before you remove the old head. take belt off,head off etc etc. once head bolted back on, the bottom end will still be in time, as you neva really had need to move it(wortyh checking though), top end also should still be in time cos u wont have turned the cam, cant remember where the cam timing mark is on the 8v, but it'll be in your haynes manual.

[neiloakley]

the haynes manual is really clear on this. If you dont have a timing mark on your top pulley, get the bottom one in line and then make your own top one. Change the cam belt whiles it's off too!!!

[cjz_]

Ive recently changed the belt on mine and its as simple as getting the notches in line then wack the belt, make sure the knotches stay in line tho.

[_JH_]

wack the belt

hmmm :|

one thing that may be worth doin is to loosen the 17mm bolt slightly on the pulley wheel that faces your drivers side wheel (i tried to simplify that and it sounds more complicated now, lol) before doing anything else, as this can be a bugger even if you have someone depressing the foot brake. then line up the timing marks and carry on as it says in the haynes. Just don't loosen too much, only slightly.

and definitely replace the timing belt, even if it looks fine.

[Chris LR]

When you've removed the head, be careful, stand it on it's end if possible. If not put it on something soft.

It'd be a pain in the arse if you decided to drop it and dent/scratch the surface.

Go for a genuine Gasket too, I've learned what happens if you don't. The answer is 30,000 miles!

Also replace the belt at the same time, you don't want to have to do it in the future, so why not do it now while it's in bits anyways.

Just Common Sense really. :roll:

[ollster]

wack the belt

hmmm :|

one thing that may be worth doin is to loosen the 17mm bolt slightly on the pulley wheel that faces your drivers side wheel (i tried to simplify that and it sounds more complicated now, lol) before doing anything else, as this can be a bugger even if you have someone depressing the foot brake. then line up the timing marks and carry on as it says in the haynes. Just don't loosen too much, only slightly.

and definitely replace the timing belt, even if it looks fine.

Best way to get this bolt out is to remove the flywheel cover and find a suitably sized allen key that will fit between the flywheel teeth. The turn the 17 mill bolt slowly (so the engine will turn over) untilll the allen key meets with the side of the gearbox houseing. Then simply undo the bolt, its a lot easier than the other approaches as the putting in gear ting did not work for me