When I do my plenum, I plan on installing my water pump I have on hand, new from carquest. I read about doing your timing chain while your down that way replacing the t-stat as well.

Ok, well I'm new to this but want this plenum/water pump to be my first hands on experience in the block so I need to know how difficult the timing chain ordeal is. Is it as simple as removing the old one and replacing it with the new one and having to get a new cover and seal? do I have to get this "timed"? Should I leave it to a professional?

Also, the bolts on the plenum. Do they absoultely have to be torqued, or can I do my garage mechanic deal and just tighten it till it "feels right"? That's what I've always done and haven't had a problem yet, but also haven't messed with an engine block to this extent.

I'll be having three days down time to do all this, but I should have 3 full days, so minus 8 hours sleep a day x 3 = 24, i'll have about 40-48 hours (i'll eat while scratching my head, lol) to do this. Possible for a noobie?

 

Anybody

 

f you have patience, and take your time, you can do it. if you have a warm and dry place to work, its a whole lot more enjoyable. read all the diy's, and study the pictures. get the fan and shroud off, and then climb over in there with it. label EVERYTHING. take pictures.

rent/borrow the harmonic balance puller. the big bolt on the end of the crank will be a problem if you don't have an air gun. getting to the flywheel to pin it is also a big job.

once balancer is off, timing chain and sprockets are a piece of cake. remove plugs and rotate engine until timing marks line up, then remove and replace. both sprockets are keyed, so if you just line em up, pull em off, put em on, then it can't go wrong. you don't need to locate #1 tdc or any of that stuff. just line up the marks.

its really better to have a torque wrench. if you have enough experience to just know the difference in 6 pounds, 10, 15, 30, then you don't need one. you can get a "good enough" wrench at most places for $20. see if you can rent/borrow one from autozone/advance.

here's a post with lots of pics.
https://dodgeforum.com/m_735291/tm.htm



[IMG]local://upfiles/38819/08DE40F6B1B34D13A2676107C275586D.jpg[/IMG]

 

Actually I do have a generic Pepboys torque wrench, but I haven't used it but for a breaker bar lol. It's a big sturdy one though. Not too sure on how to use one, though I'm pretty sure I adjust the **** on the bottom of the handle, then keep turnin till I can't turn anymore.

I don't have an air gun, what is hard about it? Angle or tightness?

 

don't use the torque wrench as a breaker bar, its not designed for that and it will damage/uncalibrate it. use a regular ratchet/etc to remove everything, then clean the bolts. use the torque wrench only for installing. the **** at the bottom turns and should have marks on it, something like 10, 20, 30 lbs torque. holding it in a normal position, with one hand, turn it until it clicks. release and pull again to double check. test it in a vise and make sure its working. use you head - 30 pounds of torque is not a whole lot, and your intake is aluminum (soft). caution - your plenum plate will torque very light, something like 6 ft lbs (72 in lbs) 1 ft lb = 12 in lb.

crank bolt is hard because its torqued at something like 140 lbs, and as you try to turn it the engine/crank will spin. you have to either hit it hard and quick (air gun) or put a screwdriver into the flywheel to hold the engine still.

 

Well when I said I used it as a breaker bar I meant I used it to loosen something and used the leverage, didn't really push too hard on it. It does click though so I assume that it still works fine. Haven't torqued anything with yet though.

140lb?? man that's a lot. Is that similiar to the pressure that the ball joints go in with? I had a heck of a time with that, wasnt hard or anything just wasn't easy either, lol. I think we have a pretty big screw driver, and i could soak it over night in some pb blaster. Think that would help? Going back in with it, though, how would I judge the torque? I don't think mine goes that high, nor do I think i'm capable of putting it back in with that kind of torque.

Isn't the flywheel located by the transmission? Don't tell me I have to drop the tranny for all of this!

I would also like a list of all the hoses needed or should be replaced in this process. I read your DIY and will reference it, but would like a quick list of the hoses.

By pass hose
lower/upper radiator hose
heater core hose? is that the technical term for it?

I plan on doing the timing chain, water pump, tstat, plenum, replace hoses, tune up (wires, cap, rotor, serpentine belt), coolant flush, fill oil with high mileage blend, adding the 8 cylinder restore and add the mr gasket open air cleaner.

hopefully with my studying the DIY and reading my haynes will be able to accomplish this in 40 hours over 3 days, probably in the next 3-5 weeks, once my funds are in order and the parts are here. Also will be posting various questions and do appreciate the links to the DIY like vaughn the georgia bulldog posted (lol).

OH YEAH, also, I need to replace my cat and was going to replace the stock muffler with a glasspack for added free flow. Should I change the cat before doing engine work? I don't think there is enough back pressure to cause any problems, as I do have exhaust flow out of my rear pipe. They will both coincide with each other within weeks, and I won't be driving much for the next few months (1.5 miles to work and back and that's it). using this down time to work on my truck.

 

Sooo, should cat be replaced before I start tearing into the block?

 

don't use the torque wrench to remove stuff. its not good for it. just find a short piece of pipe to put over the ratchet, or get a cheap breaker bar, or use a beefy 1/2" ratchet and step down to 3/8 as needed.

crank bolt - pb blaster won't help. 140 lb is 140 lb. it won't be rusted, which is what pb blaster helps to loosen up. its not the high torque that is the problem, its the fact that the engine rotates, so you can't get any leverage. what's really a pain is the flywheel/flexplate/starter ring is behind the dust cover, and to get to it you have to remove the starter, which can be another pain. no, you don't pull the trans. some people say they put a screwdriver through the balancer and pin it against the engine, but i'm not sure i'd do that. you'd need to be real careful what you'd be prying against. you don't want to break the aluminum timing cover or something else that might be expensive to fix. easiest solution is borrow an air gun or short electric impact and let it bang away. it'll take it right off with no sweat or effort. putting it back on is the same thing - let the impact bang on it for about 3-5 seconds. i call that about 140 lbs. having the spark plugs in will help slightly to brake the engine.

hoses -
upper radiator
lower radiator
water pump bypass.
2 heater hoses. 3/4" i think ? one on each side of engine, both going to heater core. i took my old ones to local auto parts store and bought 2 that were very close. passenger side had a 90* on one end and straight on the other. driver side had a 90* on one end and a 45* on the other. these were a lot cheaper than the exact perfect ones from the dealer.

unless the cat is completely stopped up, i wouldn't worry too much about it. it'll be fairly expensive to replace, will require a trip to the muffler shop, and in my opinion, has little effect on the operation of the engine. unless its broke, i'd leave it for later and use the $$ on the engine.

any repair can turn bad in an instant with a broken bolt, missing part, bad weather, etc. if you can, have some alternative transportation lined up in case you need it. that way if something goes wrong, take your time and deal with it. even if it does take 20 trips to the parts store.

 

My dad's dakota will probably be my 2nd transportation. He has a friend behind us that use to build big blocks in the 70's and race them. It's funny because now he drives Geo Metros for his paper route job he has. The dude had 396 in. blocks, now he has like a 96 in block. Weird. lol.

Anyway, he might lend me a tool to get that off. Seems like that is the toughest part. I need to be a bit more cautious of my torque wrench though, like you said. I really don't want to tear more off the block than I have too. Might scare me off the timing chain if that's the case lol. For now anyway.

I looked it up on summit and they have decent prices on their hoses, so i'll order the radiator and bypass from them, but the heater hoses are like 8 bucks. Is that the price of the one's you matched up?

The cat just rattles, but for the driving i'll be doing I don't see why it would affect anything.

Hey, now you mentioned a battery powered impact wrench. Those things really work? I thought about buying one but was kind of skeptical.

 

my heater hoses were about $10 or so each. make sure the ones you buy are 'formed'. if not, just take your old ones to the local parts store and match up something similar.

on electric impact, i was talking 120 volt. i've got a monster electric Bosch brand 3/4 inch that will either take something off, put it on, or break the crap out of it. but, it was too long to use between the radiator and the crank bolt, so i had to use the air gun which is shorter.

an expensive battery powered impact wrench is good, but a cheap one is probably not any good. you can buy a complete air set for less money that a battery powered. the air will last a long time. the battery on the rechargable will not last near as long. unless your really loaded with $, i'd avoid one of these.