Get Greasy....348 Major Service

I also re-sprayed my heat shield with some awesome high-temp silver paint to a)help protect it and b) make it look new again.

Additionally, I purchased some new high temp heat sleeves to protect some hoses and to replace the aged and worn out previous ones. I'll be replacing the red oil hose sleeve as well, but it hasn't come it yet.
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That is correct...the zip ties were there just to show what I was doing. I used a velcro type heat sleve to allow me to use it on a few different hoses. But yes...obviously the plastic zip ties will melt if left on

 

No they have not. I did not notice any leaking from them and so I am leaving "well enough" alone. The only seal leaking was/is the crankshaft seal.

 

Two coats...it goes on very smoothly and one can will do your entire (both) heath shields.

 

Finally I feel like I've made it to the downhill portion of this service. The goal is to have the engine back in and running by Saturday (the 5th).

The past few days have been spent finding some replacement hoses for the coolant tanks (3 x 90 degree hoses) and other places where I said "while the engine is out why not." At $8-$10 a hose from NAPA I couldn't refuse the temptation to make everything as perfect as possible. That way I know that I have done all I can to keep the car in tip top shape.

After replacing some hoses I pressed in the seal for the cam phase sensor housing. Again, I used the press on base because I want to have a perfect press. It seated perfectly.

Then I spent an hour or two fixing the brake line that I had to cut. The first thing to note is that our cars use what is referred to as a bubble or a double flare for our connectors. This isn't that cosmic, but if you have to flare a line like I had to it made it tough to round up the tool to do the job as it's just not that common "in these parts."

After I measured the distance the new line would have to go I set out cutting, sanding (roughing up) the line, and then with the help of a friend creating the flare. Do not try to do this alone as you will torque your existing line and crimp it somewhere. If the line is on the car you need two people to do the job correctly.

I was very happy with how the flare turned out and have my fingers crossed that it won't leak .
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Here are some pics of the hoses that I replaced with one of the old ones held up for reference. I replaced all three 90 degree ones that feed to the coolant tanks. It was a "mix and match" kind of job when I went to Napa/Auto Zone...but as long as the inner diameter and the bend radius is correct I simply cut off what I didn't need from the other hoses. This saves you about $800000000000000000 as compared to buying them direct from Ferrari.

The other two pics on this post are of the flare before and after. We practiced about five times before we did it to the actual line to make sure we had a perfect ability to flare and torque the vice how we needed to. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out...especially since it was my first time doing this. I have to give Pete's Otto in Valdosta mad props for lending me their tool and giving me the brake line splice. They were a savior to me.
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For me one of the most daunting tasks was to really understand how to find Top Dead Center (TDC). There are lots of ways to do it--and some are more accurate than others. But for me this was the simplest.

1-BEFORE YOU REMOVE YOUR TIMING BELT align the cams with their marks on the caps. Of course one or multiple may be off depending on how much your timing has changed over the years, but this gets you in a general ballpark. Remember to ONLY ROTATE YOUR ENGINE CLOCKWISE WHILE THE CAMS ARE STILL INSTALLED

2- With the cams out install your degree wheel. I purchased mine from Jegs and it fit perfectly without any need for modifications. I installed it with the TDC marking facing straight up. I screwed on the bolt with the degree wheel and placed the washer behind the wheel for a little extra spacing of the wheel from the other parts still on the car (alternator bracket etc). With the bolt hand tightened I then did one quick blast of the impact wrench to make sure the degree wheel did not move. This must remain perfectly fixed to get an accurate measurement.

3- Install the pointer. I used the water pump housing as my anchor point. It worked out perfectly as it is directly above the degree wheel, was easy to tape my pointer to, and also rotates independently for fine tuned pointer movements. I highly highly encourage you to follow this technique for a very accurate pointer placement/movement.

4- Now with the degree wheel affixed and the pointer pointing at TDC (your initial estimate based off of your referencing the timing marks on the cams) rotate the degree wheel clockwise 15 degrees. Why 15 degrees? Well it is simply a general ballpark movement to ensure that the piston has started to recede into the block.

5- Using a clean and smooth dowel insert it into the number one spark plug hole (yes, you need to remove the spark plug). Press it down until it makes contact with the piston. Then, holding it snug mark the dowel at the exact level point on the cam. Where or how you mark it is irrelevant as long as you can duplicate or re-measure that exact position with accuracy.

6- I also drew a marker above my reference to clue me that I was coming up to my reference.

7- Now Continue to rotate the engine around until the dowel goes down and returns back to the exact same level from where you previously marked it. Then look at the degree wheel and record what degree it is showing. Do not round up but use halves to be more precise (anything more than halves is simply guessing and not worth your time trying to figure out).

8- Now rotate the engine back the opposite direction (counter clockwise in this case) until your dowel rises up to the exact same spot where you marked it. Remember parallax can be an issue so look at it from the exact same spot every time.

9- Now look at the degree wheel and record the number.

10- Take your first reading (which will be in the black or Left of the TDC marking) and add it to your second (which was right of the TDC marking in the yellow) and then divide by two. From the pics that I have up it was 16.5 (black) and 20.5 (yellow) = 37/2 = 18.5. So with the degree wheel still in place move ONLY YOUR POINTER to the 18.5 degree marking.

11- Now re-do steps 7-9. If you measured everything correctly you black and yellow number should be identical. One thing I found useful was to watch the dowel as I sat on the ground move into position without ever looking at the degree wheel. This prevented me from subconsciously "making things match up" as the degree wheel came around.

12- Re-verify two or three times your findings to make 100% that you are spot on (aka you get the exact same number in the black as you do in the yellow). Then and only then should you rotate your engine to place the degree wheel under the pointer (essentially splitting the difference between the ATDC and the BTDC numbers. You are now complete

13- When you remove the degree wheel make sure that your crank does not move at all from where you have it, and finally when you replace the belt make sure that all the cam marks align perfectly with the cam caps. Then you timing will be perfect!
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The last thing I did was remove the leaky crank seal. I pulled it using my handy dandy puller and ordered a new one from Ricambi. I began to install it and was noticing that it wasn't seating just right. I pulled it out and inspected the seal an noticed that it was missing the metal spring. I have never seen this before. Of course I could re-use the one from my old seal but that is not what I want to do ....especially since the seal costs $60!

Only bummer is that Ricambi was closed on the weekend so the project has come to a halt until I get a new one sent to me. Frustrating...but it is what it is. Ricambi has fast shipping so shouldn't be too bad .

In the mean time I'll re-install the cams and clean up the cam cover one last time in preparation for the "buttoning" up of the project. Wahooooo the end is in sight!
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I started putting my cams back in this evening. As you replace them make sure you use some kind of engine lubricant so you don't destroy your engine since all the oil has probably seeped its way out.

A couple things to remember:
1-Tighten your cams uniformly as possible. That means going slow and rotating from cap to cap as you press the whole cam down into place.

2- Make sure the cam is properly seated in the block. There is a noticeable "clunk" sound as well as a feeling when you know the cam is perfectly in place.

3- Don't worry about aligning your cams and your cap when you initially tighten your cam down. It will most likely be off by a few degrees when it initially gets placed. Simply rotate the cam into proper alignment once it has been torqued down (78 inch/pounds).

Finally with it all torqued down you can align the timing marks perfectly in preparation for the timing belt.
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I decided to paint the timing belt covers with VHT Wrinkle Plus. I think it really classes up the engine look and was so easy to apply. I used one whole can on the entire timing belt covers.

I also ordered new engine lid struts as my old ones were not holding my lid up properly. It was a super easy fix. You know...doing the things that you say "while you have the engine out"...

I'm happy with how it's all turning out. I'm just waiting on my package from Ricambi with my new crank shaft seal. I'm worried because it's coming from NC and, well, you know, there is a hurricane a coming.
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Now it was time to get my belt tensioner prepped for the car. I knew that it needed to be compressed and that it's not easy to do so I took it on base to use the press. My original plan was to use zip ties to hold it down but that proved to be really impossible to get it on and have all of those plastic parts everywhere. Not wanting to struggle with this for hours on end I said I'm copying Ernie's design and drilling a tap for a set screw.

I went to Lowes and got myself a $5 tap set and drilled the hole then threaded it. I used a 10-24 thread tap and it worked amazing. I didn't use any fancy drills or the such, but just used my corded drill and made sure there was plenty of WD-40 on the bit for lubrication. I also did the whole process with the mounting bracket on the car. It prevented it from moving around to ensure a nice clean drill. I am so happy about this. It will make future service so much easier.
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These pics show the hole being drilled and the tap being cut. This was my first time doing this and I had no idea it was so easy. I'll have to do more just for the fun of it .

Some of you may notice that I do not have the Hill Tensioners. That was a conscious decision. I understand that Hill makes a great product, but in the end the most important part is to make sure that the ball bearings are the best. An interesting fact is that while Hill Engineering does make their own housing they obviously outsource their ball bearings like any other company. They do not guarantee the brand of the ball bearing in their tensioner. That being said, I went with the non Hill set and have no worries at all that it will last. I mean seriously....if something can't last 5-6 years and about 5k miles of use then it's a whole new can of worms. But to each their own and you obviously can't go wrong with Hill.
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Installing the timing belt is a PITA. Why do you ask...because it requires you to move all of your timing belt sprockets to align with your new belt. You will see many people mark their old belt and cams with paint etc before they are removed. While this is a great reference if you intend to find TDC then that is not necessary. However, and more importantly, those marks will only get you in a general ballpark when installing a new belt. Why....because those marks come from an old, stretched belt. Your new belt will not be stretched out like your old one and you will find that your markings will be off by about a 1/4 of a tooth or so with the new belt.

I also recommend starting the belt installation from the cam drive gear and working counter clockwise from there. Why? Because that will ensure that you have all of the slack accounted for and placed on the side of the tensioner where it should be. You want it to be as tight as possible between your cams/water pump etc. All of the slack in the belt should be compensated for at the tensioner.

Finally, I used a combination of zip ties and vice grip pliers to make sure nothing moved while I routed the belt. I highly recommend having someone help you during this part....it will make your life much easier.
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As I replaced the belt I left about 1 mm between the belt and the followers. I wanted to make sure that it could catch the belt and avoid a mishap should it need to, but also guarantee that it would not rub in any way on the belt--and I also accounted for a small degree of swelling and belt wear in my 1mm. Essentially I used my feeler gauge to make set the proper distance.

I mentioned this earlier, but I marked my cam cover bolts in sequence to help me put them back on as there are varying length bolts. I also used anti seize on all of them to avoid them from getting stuck and leaving a time bomb for the next guy (hopefully myself) who services her next .

 

Yes. What I did was time the car without the cams in. Leave it at TDC, replace the cams, and then lock them in place. As you route the belt make sure you go counter clockwise so that all the slack is left where the tensioner will be. As you route the belt you will need to move each cam pulley so that it matches up with your belt. As you move the cam pulleys you will see that the offset holes drilled in the cam allow you to make fine tuned adjustments to compensate for the belt. As you go from the 5/8 Exhaust to the 5/8 Intake use zip ties to make sure that your belt tension stays where you want it. Then, with all the pulleys adjusted you can install the tensioner.

After I got the belt on and tensioned properly I actually re-checked the timing and made sure that all my marks lined up to where they should. I'm probably off by about 1 degree but I simply can't justify redoing the entire process for that small of a deviation.

Sooooo....long story short, yes, you can fine tune each cam pulley by removing them, adjusting them, re-inserting the dowel in the offset drilled holes, and then re-tightening everything back up.

 

Yesterday I painted my cam covers to freshen them up. I used the VHT Wrinke paint again for the cam covers as I love the textured look that it gives. Spray them lay upon layer for the best result. I used about 3 layers to get it where I liked it. FYI...they don't sell the Red VHT pain anywhere that I could find so I had to order it online (Amazon). No biggie but just a heads up about that.

Then it was time to put the cam covers back on. I went through one last time and cleaned every surface with carb cleaner just to make sure no grease etc had gotten on the gasket surfaces. Then I applied my Red High Temp Permatex on the gasket (make sure you put a larger quantities in the corners or where there are any curves as those are the areas most prone to leak. Then with the help of my wife I put the covers back on.

Torque everything to spec and the sit back and look to make sure that everything is connected properly. Then, look again...this is the time to catch your mistakes not after you turn the key.
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I love the offsetting red and black colors. It really looks good. Even my wife gave me a "good job honey!"

The only thing that is a "gotch ya" is the cam phase sensor. You will see that there is only one way that it should go back on properly. There are two recessed holes that need to line up with the two nipples protruding from the cam cover. You will know what I'm talking about when you see it. Just make sure it goes on correctly or I'm sure it will send some crazy error signal to the Motronics and blow up the whole engine LOL JK...but seriously...
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I purchased some extra brake line clips to replace a few that I saw were broken etc. They are easy to install...just unscrew the old one and twist on the new one. I hate knowing that things are broken etc so why not fix it while you can.

Here is a shot of the repaired brake line. It should be a perfect fit, but I also allowed myself a bit of room to move it should that be the case once it's all put back together. I hope that the next time I, or someone, does this service that she separates from the reducer properly. What a PITA to have to do that.

Then I filled up the gear oil as I had drained it for the service. I had to run to Harbor Freight to get a smaller funnel as the opening is smaller than I had anticipated. I filled it up about 90% and am going to wait till after I have her all started up etc and driven a bit before I top it of completely.
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That is an excellent point....one which I thought of after I filled her up . But yes...a much better idea.