Finally finishing my mini-me setup, will have last stupid part (EACV) on Friday to finish the install completely. During my setup though i decided to temp. use my old timing belt, its got 83k on it and looked to be in a good shape. Once i got the head on and the belt back on I had issues getting an exact lineup and it looks like I'm almost one tooth off in my timing belt on cam gear alignment. A friend told me it would run, just not very well. Anyway, thoughts on the almost aligned belt? I'm going to replace it completely but my hydraulic jack died on me so i couldnt support the engine to remove the mount. (and the first estimate i got on doing a timing belt was like 200 in labor )

Also, when i got the head cleaned i went ahead and put a Zex(Comp cam) cam into it. What type of break-in time should I keep to for it? Also, tuning the engine after a break-in period, should i just go ahead and get a shop to do that? If there are Philadelphia area people that like to tune engines....... I wouldn't mind the help

Thanks.

 

^bump

could really use some helpful info.

 

first off...DO NOT use the 83K mile t-belt. I don't care how good it looks, the belt won't show any sign of wear, it will just snap. I would wait for a jack, and do it all at once-so you're not tearing back in there again. At least by a 35 dollar Schucks belt, then using an old belt. About the marks seeming off...hmm, get them lined up, and maybe rotate the crank pulley a tad towards the firewall, this way, when you rotate the crank pulley a little to put tension on the belt, it should tighten up the slack on the exhaust side of the belt, and the marks should be good, then tighten the tensioner, and rotate the engine by hand to see if the marks stay good. Also, when your car;'s jacked up and you're looking at it from a horizontal view, remember that the engine is tilted back, and that might throw off your judgement. Go easy on the cam for awhile, just to get it seated, and make sure you use assembly lube all over it. It's not like you're breaking in rings, but it still helps to take it easy and work it in. Getting tuned is good, but with the cam being the only internal mod, there will be very little to tune for full potential. Hopefully I helped out and didn;'t do the tired ramble. Peace