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Thread: 1988 White T-bar

  1. #51
    MR2 Fan
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    Thanks chaps. I have a few little goodies turning up this weekend so I can keep playing with the car. A new belt (replaced the alternator but the website I ordered the belt from sent a 4 tooth not a 5 so had the put the old one back on for a few weeks), wipers and oil filter ready to give her a service in a few weeks.

    How hard is it to do the cambelt on one of these? I did my Land Cruiser a few months ago and that was fairly straight forward but the access is probably much better under that massive bonnet! It looks a bit tighter in the MR2.

  2. #52
    MR2 Obsessive Sweetpea's Avatar
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    Cam belt's not terrible in my opinion. The bottom pulley can be a git to get off. There isn't a lot of room between the engine and the body. And it goes round the engine mount so that has to come apart. I think I just took mine off to get it out of the way.

    Good luck!
    There's no rust on my car. But there are some sizable holes where the rust fell out.

  3. #53
    MR2 Obsessive Martin42006's Avatar
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    Cam belt is doable in an afternoon.
    Engine mount has to be removed and you will need a deep 10mm splined socket for the tensioner bolt.
    The bottom pulley can be stuck but please for the love of whoever you regard as holy don't use a 3 jaw puller.
    The pulley lip will break, it's done very often and really gets on my nips.
    You want a "plate" style puller. It bolts in the middle of the pulley and a bolt through the middle to wind the pulley off.

    I cobbled one out of a spare bit of 10mm plate.
    Yes i talk to myself, sometimes i need a professional opinion

  4. #54
    MR2 Fan julianw's Avatar
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    Iirc I made something similar when i was doing the cambelt repeatedly (issues with oil leaks from the gasket on the covers and the oil seals on the ends of the cams). But I made mine much longer and it sits on the face of the pulley, not inside it. The end of this tool would then brace against the inner wing/engine bay wall and meant I didn't need to lock the flywheel to undo the crank bolt. I'll try to get a pic when the archaeological dig reaches that part of my garage.

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  5. #55
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    Thanks everyone. After doing a bit of reading last night as well, I am confident I can tackle this one over the summer.

    Thanks for the tip on not using a 3 jaw puller - typically I have about 6 different sizes of those, but don't have any plate style pullers! I bought a bunch when I needed to remove a broken driveshaft from a diff on my old Lotus. I will try and cobble one together from a few parts when I get to that and give myself plenty of time in case I need to order any special tools.

    Many thanks

    Rich

  6. #56
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    OK chaps, I need to keep myself busy, and seeing as we aren't really allowed to use our cars at the moment (side from a quick trip to the garage to get some paracetamol for the elderly neighbour over the weekend) I have decided to tackle my cam covers.

    Firstly, as they look in situ - they really are the worst bit of my engine bay:

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    Next up I employed my 15 year old daughter to help remove them - she did all the work and I just directed. She did a great job and aside from getting the old seal washers off (which were a pain) the covers actually came off really easily.

    I managed to retain this sticker which look pretty original to me, so hopefully I can reapply it. Surprised to see french on there!

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    Next was paint stripper left for an hour or so and a copper brush to get all the paint off. That worked really well. Then I rubbed one of them down with 500grit wet and dry to get a nicer finish - furthest one done, nearest one not yet done:

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    After finishing rubbing down - mine weren't that pitted at all so shouldn't take long - the plan is to clean thoroughly in a sink, then use thinners to clean the main surface before allowing to dry and applying paint in the following order - let me know if you disagree!

    - seal all holes
    - etch primer
    - UHT silver paint - a good few coats so not too thick each time
    - hand paint the letter black and red - I only have humbrol paint pots - that will be ok won't it?
    - UHT lacquer - a good couple of coats

    I have new seals and seal washers ready to go back on afterwards and will use some gunk in the corners where they are prone to leak (I saw the previous owner had the same as there was still some evidence).

    Any other tips welcome.

    I want to check the valve clearances while I am in there, and have read the BGB but having never done this before I am in new territory! I will try and fine TDC first (guess I need to get under it turn the main crank?) and see how I get on.

    All the best
    Rich

  7. #57
    MR2 Obsessive jimi's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rich135 View Post
    How hard is it to do the cambelt on one of these? I did my Land Cruiser a few months ago and that was fairly straight forward but the access is probably much better under that massive bonnet! It looks a bit tighter in the MR2.
    Many years ago Paul Woods used to charge £50 for a cambelt change, which included the belt. IIRC his record time for the change was 39 minutes
    Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour

  8. #58
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    Quote Originally Posted by jimi View Post
    Many years ago Paul Woods used to charge £50 for a cambelt change, which included the belt. IIRC his record time for the change was 39 minutes
    I saw that during my reading about it Jimi - crazy! Recently he said he still does them but there isn't as much call for it these days so he is out of practice. It's a shame he is hours away from me.

  9. #59
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    OK the etch primer, silver and lettering has been done, just the lacquer to go now.

    PS bath towel will be available for sale after the event, please keep an eye on ebay and bid generously

    Click image for larger version. 

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  10. #60
    MR2 Fan
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    OK, cam covers are back on, with VERY brief test drive to get the engine up to temp and check for leaks - all seems good (I did apply a bit of gunk in the corners before putting them back on).

    Very pleased with the look, such a big improvement in the engine bay.

    Before:
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    After:
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