Im gonna be swapping a DOHC ZC into my 91 Si next weekend. Im gonna replace the timing belt and water pump before I start the swap so the ZC will be out of the car sitting on the ground when I do this. Do I have to get that crank pully bolt loose to replace the timing belt or is there another way to do it... will I have to get the crank pully bolt loose to replace the water pump? Thx.

 

yup

 

you will have to remove the crank pulley to change the belt (unless you decide to just break off the lower timing cover for some reason) you wont have to remove it to change just the water pump

 

damnit, how on earth am I supposed to do that? From stuff I've skimmed over in the past.. the crank pully bolt is hard as f*ck to get off.. I just hoped I'd never be in a situation where I'd have to get the pully off.

How do most of you do it?

 

I get someone to stand on the brakes in 5th gear, then I get a 3 foot breaker bar and push for all I'm worth...

 

My engine will will be out of a car sitting on the floor.. so its pretty much not gonna happen I guess. Think I should do the swap first and then change the timing belt while its in the car?

 

if you can somehow have access to an air gun it wont be hard at all, you can also get a breaker bar and chain pulley holder and loosen it, Its not hard to change in the car, but its MUCH much easier to do it out of the car.

 

Heh so it'd be easier to do it out of the car? I was thinking it wouldnt only because you'd think if you have a 10ft breaker bar then engine would tip over once you put some force on the breaker bar.. but no I dont have access to air tools. Whats this chain pulley thing?

 

Yeah i dont think it would be easier out of the car, nothing to hold the motor in place when working on it... some cars just seem to be so stubborn. My old hatchback's pulley was such a pain to get off. I borrowed a compressor and air wrench and still no luck. I eventually called one of those stupid home repair guys who had a much more heavy duty compressors who got it off for me.

Other than that i've read on this board about sticking something in the flywheel cover to jam it up, just search i've read alot about it here

 

probly wont work on a ZC but i removed one off a HF. they have some nice size holes in the crank pulley that go all the way threw, so i took a tranny bolt and shuved it in and turned the engine till it hit the oil pan/pump/whatever the hell is right there, and had someone stand on the engine (so it didnt move) and i jumped on the breaker bar a couple times. it worked. did the same thing on a LX to get the flywheel off too...

 

i had to remove mine from my D series and when i tried that(putting a bolt through the hole in the pulley) i just broke a chunk out of the pulley. the engine was out of the car, i tried using a 6 foot breaker bar, but i couldnt hold the engine steady enough(i was by myself) so i just put the socket on with the ratchet and jumped on it and it broke loose like nothing. I did that on the other D series that i took out of the car and it worked as well. But i tried to get that thing off of my GSR a few times never with any luck with the engine in or out of the car.