'76 Eldorado timing gear replacement

[shadetree39]

First off let me express my gratitude for this site and experienced advice.
The 42k car had 15 yrs or so of good care and light use and the dry stored since. It was moved a couple of times under its own power until I got it. It had no brakes, ran terrible and the usual problems. Consideral force was needed remove most things.
This  forum convinced me to replace the "problem" before I put it on the road. Amazingly the sprockets showed little wear, just some witness marks on the crank gear and slight cam sprocket wear. The chain had a lot of slack tho. It was overall very clean inside.
I decided to change same with the engine in the car and so far its going well. The timing set is in and torqued. I left the old pan /cover seal in place on the pan as I didn't think I could get that tab on the seal in the adjacent slot back in the pan gasket. I found that if I took filed a bit of the corners of the seal trough off the cover will slide past the  block bosses unto the the seal without twisting a prying and possibly dislodging it. Liberal use of Honda bond is in order.
A question; the oil pump had a .010 metal shim gasket with no sealant. The gasket set came with a .015 thick paper one..any thoughts on which to use?
I've packed the pump with vasolene and will fill the oil filter when assembled. Ive got a chevy pump primer which should work.
Also welded 1/4 20 nuts on the coverper reccomendation.
Is it best to assemble the water pump to the cover to cure before final assembly?
The scariest part was driving those locating pins out. I had visions of busting the casting bosses off. I drilled a slight divot in the end to  locate the punch and that improved my accuracy withshort swings. Yeah the a/c condensor is in place.
Any advice whatsealants to use a where would be most appreciated.

[79 Eldorado]

I've got a completely different engine, 79 with Oldsmobile engine, than you but some of what you was what I did as well (re-use lower seal and welded true 1/4" nuts on the rear of the front cover. I contemplated attaching the water pump to the cover first but I ended-up assembling my cover first. Something at the time made it obvious to me I should do it like that but I don't recall what it was.

Some comments:
-If your paper front cover gasket only seals on 3 sides make certain to seal the lower corners.
-Blue permatex ultra is the recommended sealant around coolant passages.
-Ultra black permatex for areas around oil
-Once I had the front cover in place I used bolts loosely torqued secure it. I then used a smoker through my oil fill tube to check for leaks. You may need to place something in the water pump 1/4" bolt locations as they likely go directly into the front of the engine. I smoked it because there's a ton of work involved repeating if it leaks.

The way my engine mounting brackets, water pump and timing indicator interact may have made me think assembling the front cover made more sense...still cannot recall.

Which dowels are you describing? I had dowels for the front cover and I was able to get the front cover on without doing anything to them. The FSM says to chamfer the ends of the dowels only.

Different engine so not certain I helped but I thought I would try.

Hope the rest goes well,
Scott

[shadetree39]

Thanks for the reply. The 2 dowels referenced are 1.5" above the c/l of the crank and insure that the of the crank seal is centered on the crank shaft. Per other responders those dowel pins must be pounded in at least nearly flush with the cover surface to facilitate the removal and replacement of the cover when the oil pan is in place. I agree with that because when the oil slinger is in place there is little room to maneuver the cover without stressing the gaskets and lower seal. The pin on the left also locates the timing degree indicator.
Smoking it is a cool idea.
Sealant recommendations noted,thanks.
The hub came off easely with a 3 jaw puller. I cobbled up an installer but discarded it afraid I'd mess up that threaded hole in the end of the crank. Local AutoZone store rents the proper tool, you buy the set, 47$, use it and then return it, providing you don't screw it up.

[79 Eldorado]

I also rented the AutoZone install tool. Great resource if the tool you need is one they have.

On the topic of front seals my original balancer to seal area was leaking oil. The balancer was pretty badly worn, where it contacts the seal, so I end-up getting a new one.

If you don't already own a smoker and are interested in getting one the one I bought was made in the USA and very nice unit for a very fair price. They also give you tips for buying appropriate generic oil. The one I have is "AutoLine Pro Automotive Smoke Machine Leak Detector EVAP Vacuum Diagnostic Tester | Shop Series | Made in The USA"

Scott

[shadetree39]

Thanks for the reply. That smoker is my to do list. Iv' added a number of tools tackling this project not the least of which is a 3ton jack, a high pressure fuel pump tester and an oil pump primer. Checked out our local Auto Zone regarding the hub tool and its available, just buy the whole set, 47$, and return it undamaged and you get your money back.
I used a regular 3 jaw puller to remove the hub and was able to remove the crank gear by some gentle prying.Going good so far.
Thanks for the sealant info.
Lou   

[bcroe]

Having the right tools is key to getting the
job done without a lot of fustration.  I made
my own for pulling the timing sprocket off
the crankshaft.  Bruce Roe