Cam Belt Horror Stories

[hreg240]

Originally Posted by classicswede

Before you start make sure the timing marks line up. The bottom pulley can slip on the rubber. If it has spun then get a new one

B200 non turbo engines have a raised crown that will hit the valves. The turbo pistons are dished and do not have the problem. B230's are all dished. The B230K with 631 is the only B230 that bends valves

Would it be possible to swap the dished pistons from a 230 into a 200?

Just thinking out loud... Obviously it'd be a labour intensive job if someone was to do it.

[BicycleBoy]

88.9mm vs 96.0mm bore, so no, not without a new block.

[hreg240]

Originally Posted by BicycleBoy

88.9mm vs 96.0mm bore, so no, not without a new block.

Ah, fair enough. Thanks for the reply though BB.

I was simply daydreaming.

[classicswede]

You could machine the pistons flat, machine the head down a bit to bring the compression back up

[hreg240]

Originally Posted by classicswede

You could machine the pistons flat, machine the head down a bit to bring the compression back up

I got a friend with a mill and fly cutter... Might have to find a second block and have a go.

[Levonsrealm]

Originally Posted by hreg240

I got a friend with a mill and fly cutter... Might have to find a second block and have a go.

Worth a punt that.

At that stage is not just worth putting in a b230 turbo?

[Levonsrealm]

In other news.

I have changed the seals and belts on this b200f engine.

I found the pulleys are keyed and lining them up is not too much of a pig of a job. Just nerve racking with never doing a timing belt job.

A piece of string should line up between the crank keyed shaft and the dot on the cam pulley.

Once the Crank pulley is put back and the harmonic balancer is reattched there may be two dots on the harmonic balancer like mine. One dot to line up to the cam and one dot for TDC. TDC should sit between two circles on the front of the harmonic balancer.

I have not yet started the car as I am still battling some rusted manifold studs.

I have tried every trick under the sun.

The last trick is welding some nuts on the remaining five studs and turning them out.

Heat has not worked, two nut method stripped the 3 studs and two studs had sheared.

I am looking to post a couple 'how to's' for a novice like myself that may help someone to get up the courage and have a blast. I had a crank locking tool. but not a cam locking tool. The ratchet gun took care of that. You can hold the cam with one hand and buzz it off with the other without it moving 'much'.

I read there may be a timing light I can use to ensure that the timing is correct. I did turn the crank over and it turned all the way back to TDC without it coming to a dead stop at any point so I am thinking the valves are not colliding with any part. There will be some resistance when turning over by the crank as you reach the compression stroke.

[360beast]

Turn the engine over multiple times, if it doesn't come to a stop at any point and the timing marks still align then you've done a good job and can fire it up

[Levonsrealm]

Turned it over a few times by hand and it didn't stop and timing marks all aligned. so all good.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Levonsrealm

In other news.

I have changed the seals and belts on this b200f engine.

I found the pulleys are keyed and lining them up is not too much of a pig of a job. Just nerve racking with never doing a timing belt job.

A piece of string should line up between the crank keyed shaft and the dot on the cam pulley.

Once the Crank pulley is put back and the harmonic balancer is reattched there may be two dots on the harmonic balancer like mine. One dot to line up to the cam and one dot for TDC. TDC should sit between two circles on the front of the harmonic balancer.

I have not yet started the car as I am still battling some rusted manifold studs.

I have tried every trick under the sun.

The last trick is welding some nuts on the remaining five studs and turning them out.

Heat has not worked, two nut method stripped the 3 studs and two studs had sheared.

I am looking to post a couple 'how to's' for a novice like myself that may help someone to get up the courage and have a blast. I had a crank locking tool. but not a cam locking tool. The ratchet gun took care of that. You can hold the cam with one hand and buzz it off with the other without it moving 'much'.

I read there may be a timing light I can use to ensure that the timing is correct. I did turn the crank over and it turned all the way back to TDC without it coming to a dead stop at any point so I am thinking the valves are not colliding with any part. There will be some resistance when turning over by the crank as you reach the compression stroke.

Is this the same motor that got some water into the cylinders when you removed the head (in another thread)? If so I've slightly lost track of what you are trying to do here.

Did you get the stripped studs out? generally a stud extractor works and is pretty inexpensive, one like this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265251662...3ABFBMhOiz3fFh

Why was it that you were changing the seals (I'm guessing you meant the front crank, auxiliary shaft and camshaft seals)? Were they leaking? There is nothing wrong with doing that work, but the whole job (including the cambelt) should have only taken a couple of hours. Why would you have taken the head off to do any of those jobs?