Well I am 29 and officially ripped into my first motor. Yesterday I dissassembled the motor for the hot cam and roller rockers and today I put the cam in, timing set, water pump, opti and put in new springs. It was easy. The worst thing was using the spring compressor. My hand was hurting from torquing the springs. Tomorrow just need to get everything cleaned up, do rockers, put intake back on, timing cover, and tighen back up the pan.
I was very intimidated by motor work until today. I found out today there was no need to be freaked out. It feels good to do it yourself and not pay. It was nice to have a guy helping me that knew his stuff though
Hopefully within the month it will be in my 95impala ss and running.
Brandon

 

haha yeah i was there last summer when i did my cam and valvetrain swap. basically u said exactly how i felt. Good work hope the car works out for u

 

cool. keep it up. how did you put the waterpump and opti back on, w/o the timing cover already on? you'll need a special tool to install the waterpump driveshaft seal AFTER the cover is on the car. dont put it in before installing the cover. there are two lips on that seal. the real seal will point IN towards the enging, the outer plastic dust seal must point out. it sucks when you get everything back together, and that damn seal leaks. then the waterpump and opti has to come back off. and, dont lube the front crank seal or the waterpump seal or the opti seal. Im 99% sure they need to be dry since they are a special seal. double check the install site's on the internet, but Im pretty sure.
keep plugging away.

 

Just wait until you break the main cap bolts loose on a high milage motor, what a smell!!

 

I don't know how I screwed up typing but I meant to put water pump, opti, and front cover still need to be put on. Thanks for the advice on the seals and everything.
Brandon

 

Got a pic of this special tool Chris?

I always used a socket to drive it....
of course I usually tore 2/3.
Hope all is well
Kevin

 

1 more good reason to go EWP!

 

for real, very good reason to go EWP>

I'll post up a pic of my "tool". oh, you mean the seal tool? I'll dig through my tool box and take a pic, and post it. I made one out of a stock WP driveshaft. the real tool I have at work is basically a plastic tube that slips over the splined shaft, and ends with the same diam. as the smooth part of the shaft the seal rides on. I also have a seal here that is already to go and will show how the seals are supposed to be.

 

I blew out two of the seals that go over the splined shaft and into the recessed part of the t. cover last night using a socket to put it on. Now I have to order more Where can I get that tool?
Brandon

 

the real tool is a kent moore tool. I can get the Jtool # for you tomorrow if you want. or, just check out how I made my own. it worked really well, but took along time to make from the orig. drive shaft. I'll go find it now before I forget again.

 

[IMG][/IMG]


here it is. just taper the end of the shaft until its very smooth and small enough to fit inside the inner diameter of the seal. it will get inside the black seal and expand it instead of fold it over. slide the seal onto the shaft first like below. then put the shaft onto the splines and slide the seal back and onto the gear shaft of the waterpump drive. then tap it home with a socket (obviously bigger then the orange dust seal so you dont mess that up. it would be best if you used some epoxy or something to fill in that groove so the seal doesnt get caught on it. I didnt have any problems, it slipped right over the groove, and onto the drive gear.





see how the seals go both ways.

 

Well I think I got it. I slid it over a socket and then transferred it to the wp shaft and tapped he home. The dust shield got a little torqued but ended up coming out ok. I am still thinking of going to an electric wp now..
Brandon
ps thanks for the help.