355 Cambelt drive pulley bearing replacement

Hi. My first contact. I have a 1995 f355 and am doing an engine out service. I want to replace the cambelt drive pulley bearings and associated seals. I believe I must drop the oil sump and then remove the front cover. Or is there a special bearing puller that would allow me to avoid dropping the sump and removing the front cover?
If I must remove the front cover, does it easily separate from the drive pulley shafts?

 

Thanks for the info. Once the pan is off, does the front cover slide easily off the pulley shafts? Are there any other pitfalls?

 

I already removed the ring nut with a borrowed tool. Was easy with an impact driver. Why a ring nut? What is the matter with an old fashioned hexnut?!! If I understand correctly, once the woodruff key is out, the front cover should slide off the cam drive shafts with the inner and outer races of the bearing.
The pump drive pulley you are referring to is the drive sprocket for the chain?

 

Thanks for the help and guidance. The engine is out so I will have to lift it to gain access to the oil pan. Not a problem because I inherited a nice fork lift truck a few years ago. I have a nice Canadian Tire hydraulic press for the bearing and shaft removal. I will start to attack it today and will let you know how it goes.

 

Thanks for the heads up but I wasn't going to change the bearings in the block. They reside in a well lubricated domain. I am changing the outer bearings because one of them was leaking oil which indicated that the grease seals were faulty and allowed oil to find its way past it. I opened the bearing and there was only a trace of grease remaining. I managed to remove the front cover this morning and press the old bearings out. Thanks for your help.

 

I managed to remove the front cover this morning. I backed off the nut securing the chain sprocket to the oil pump and then slowly pried the cover. The RH shaft stayed with the block and the LH shaft and gear stayed with the cover. As such, there is interference between the gear and the chain drive sprocket on the crankshaft so it is essential that the drive sprocket slides forward on the crankshaft as the cover moves forward. Once the cover is far enough forward, the pump pulley can slide off the pump shaft. The RH shaft that stayed with the block did need a little persuasion to slide out of the inside of the bearing. As the cover moved forward, I placed some wooden shims in the space created between the cover and the block. I then gently tapped the shaft back with a bronze drift. In hind sight I should have done the same thing with the LH shaft. All appears to be fine. I not sure what is the best way to assemble, but I'm sure I'll figure that out. I am in no hurry as winter will soon be upon me here in Montreal.

 

I managed to remove the front cover this morning. I backed off the nut securing the chain sprocket to the oil pump and then slowly pried the cover. The RH shaft stayed with the block and the LH shaft and gear stayed with the cover. As such, there is interference between the gear and the chain drive sprocket on the crankshaft so it is essential that the drive sprocket slides forward on the crankshaft as the cover moves forward. Once the cover is far enough forward, the pump pulley can slide off the pump shaft. The RH shaft that stayed with the block did need a little persuasion to slide out of the inside of the bearing. As the cover moved forward, I placed some wooden shims in the space created between the cover and the block. I then gently tapped the shaft back with a bronze drift. In hind sight I should have done the same thing with the LH shaft. All appears to be fine. I not sure what is the best way to assemble, but I'm sure I'll figure that out. I am in no hurry as winter will soon be upon me here in Montrea

 

Do you know if the pad for the oil pump chain tensioner is available? My pad looks OK but it is 25 years old. The whole tensioner is quite expensive.

 

I contacted Scuderia Rampante and Kriss Helms informed me that they are still working on it. Did he provide the entire tensioning unit to you?

 

I have ordered the bearings. What is the rick to pulling the drive gears from the crankcase bearings?

 

BTW I bought the drive pulley bearings P/N 170787 from my local Ferrari dealer (Ferrari Quebec). I don't know if they made a error in pricing, but I paid CAD$78.00 each (US$60.00) as opposed to $US139.00 or CAD$182,00 They are OEM sourced.

 

I have done some more research and I believe the bearings I received from the local dealer are rebuilt units. I will attempt to return them and purchase the Hill Engineering bearings. I did manage to remove the driver gears using a simple puller I constructed. I had to modify the blind bearing puller to remove the crankcase bearings. Th ID of the bearings was slightly smaller than the closest mandrel. After grinding about 1/16 inch off the OD of the mandrel it pulley the bearing out very nicely. BTW my first attempt at making a puller for the drive gears was to use a hexnut that would screw onto the end of the shaft in place of the ringnut. It turns out that the thread of the ringnut and shaft falls between M16 and M18. It appears M17 is not readily available if at all. Everything is ready for reassembly once I have all the parts.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I will see if the dealer will take the bearings in exchange for Hill Engineering bearings. I appreciate your feedback very much.