Okay so.. I'm really starting to think you have to have the motor out for this job. I got some "Right Stuff" gasket maker.. and am trying to put my cam towers back on.. but I can't for the life of me figure out how to get those rockers to stay in place. Anyway.. near as I can tell... it would be a good idea to have the motor out, and tip it sideways so the cam towers go on horizontally, thus gravity holding the rockers in place? Tips, Tricks, Suggestions?

 

Edit: 88 RX DOHC 1.8 MPFI Turbo FT4WD DR 5 Speed

You'll want to get some heavy/thick grease. Apply fairly liberaly to the two points the rockers touch the HLA and the valve. That should give you enough time to slip the cam tower on before they fall off.

 

When you put the cam tower on, make sure the cam dot (or key pin) is straight up. In that position, none of the valves are compressed, so the tower should slip on completely. If the key is pointing some other direction, you'll probably have one valve trying to be compressed, allowing another rocker to slip off, etc... big PITA.

 

btw, the rocker is the little piece of metal you're fighting to keep in place, and the lobes are the bumps on the camshaft

Mmmmm grease.. I didn't know if that would be okay to be putting grease in there. Thanks for the terminology

You *should* be using "Engine Assembly Lube" it's specially designed to disolve in oil. Other stuff will work, but may clog up your lifters - especially if you use "disc brake grease" which usually has moly in it. Engine assembly lube is a white lithium based grease.

 

GD

Vaseline.

I personally pull the engine and put it on my rotating engine stand. Having the engine sideways makes it WAY easier!

Vaseline.

 

For the win! Thanks Shawn. I guess you're not familiar with desert heat, or you would have told me to throw the rockers and vaseline in the freezer for 5 minutes before I did it... That stuff is SLICK when it's hot! One more questions.. the spring closest to the front of the car on both sides is compressed.. I had to turn both cams with the dot to the right so the cam lobe holds the rocker in place.. if i move the cam the rocker tries to fall off.. at what point of putting this back together will I be able to get that spring to uncompress so I can move the cams to up and down to put the timing belts on.

On another note.. I set the crank/flywheel to the center of the 3 lines.. left side up, right side down, which way do I point the distributor when I put it in?

Thanks guys!

One more questions.. the spring closest to the front of the car on both sides is compressed.. I had to turn both cams with the dot to the right so the cam lobe holds the rocker in place.. if i move the cam the rocker tries to fall off.. at what point of putting this back together will I be able to get that spring to uncompress so I can move the cams to up and down to put the timing belts on.

 

Once the cam towers are completely bolted down, the rockers shouldn't be able to fall off at all when the cam rotates?

 

On another note.. I set the crank/flywheel to the center of the 3 lines.. left side up, right side down, which way do I point the distributor when I put it in?

Thanks guys!

 

Or is it drivers side down, passenger side up, if you don't want to spin the engine in the middle?

 

Anywho, once the belts are on, the way I prefer to stab the disty: Crank the engine until the passenger side cam dot is pointing due North-West. Now, put the disty in so it's pointing to the #1 plug wire, and has some adjustment in either direction. That should get you close enough to start it and check it with a timing light.

Do the disty after the timing belts are on. Phil showed me a neat trick. Most manuals say to put the flywheel pointing at 0 and the distributor pointing to cyl 1. It makes more sense to set the flywheel to where the timing is to be set (20?).

 

Make sure the driver's side camshaft is pointing down and to the driver's side.

Not that it matters anymore. If those front springs are staying compress does that mean my engine is f'ed and I'm going to have rebuild.. or what?! ARRgg this is getting frustrating. Just to clarify things... when you put the timing belt on.. is it Flywheel in the center of the three lines (not the timing degrees) and passenger side timing dot down drivers side timing dot up? or is passenger side up and drivers side down? or does it matter just as long as they are 180 opposite?

 

Maybe getting some spark on there and getting it to fire a couple times will push that spring out??

 

Edit: Disregard any timing belt questions, I just read a write-up on it.