pscott

Rab, done this a few weeks ago. Long job for me cos I clean and lube every bolt etc. Put a new seal in "Dizzy" and crankshaft pulley. Fit new belts while you are at it. You need the cam covers off to cut the new gasket correctly so you can do the clearances while you're at it. Biggest headache it the 36mm AF pulley nut which is "Loctited" and loads of ft lbs of torque. The ring gear teeth won't hold it without bending, so lock the flexplate up with a bit of 1" strip bolted onto the torque convertor bolts and the bellhousing (or do it the Professional way with an air wrench). While youv'e got all that stuff off the front give the rads a real good clean. The B28 gasket won't fit the B280E. I put a new set of Volvo hoses on while I was at it 'cos the thing that kills them is when they lose the water and warp the heads. Get a real good look at the oil cooler hoses; undo the nut under the oil filter and pull it off, the hoses can't really be seen otherwise and they will be in a poor state; £195 for the complete set of hoses but I think it's worth it. My '89 has got 170 psi compression at 209000 miles. The tappets click a little, but if you keep that V6 cooled and oiled it will love you for ever. (I think it's still £25000 quids worth cos it still does everything like it should.)
Paul.