Rampage

I have been using rockauto since 2009 and have given them plenty of business on several projects. 

 

Even with shipping their prices meet or beat the local parts stores (in canada) and when things go on closeout, which they often do especially for our defunct models, the prices are unbelieveable.  $30 for a complete clutch kit.  $15 for a piston ring set.  Beck/arnley parts, old boxes sure, but so are our cars!

 

I feel bad for the reputable members having trouble, but I have not had one problem, know what you're ordering, do your research, price compare and 95% of the time rockauto wins.

 

About to give them a couple hundred bucks on closeout parts for a 3G prelude i'm working on.  Over $500 in parts locally for less than half the price!

I'm in this time. Marcus can you pm me what I need to do, I don't come here very often...

Cheers,
Mark

Getting the timing belt dead on can be tricky, especially without air tools.

First, pull all the spark plugs. This will allow you to more easily rotate the crank pulley. You can sling the belt around the pulley and holding both sides tight, gently pull on the left or right side to rotate the crank. Use only your hands for leverage, a little effort will move the crank a lot and getting it dead on can be tedious. There is a line on the crank pulley that lines up with an arrow on the oil pump housing at the 1 o'clock position. Wipe away some dirt and you should be able to see it and the line on the crank pulley behind the belt alignment washer.

Once you've got the crank at TDC you can put the belt on the other pulleys. Follow this order:

Crank pulley
Tensioner
Water Pump
Camshaft


Remember this simple trick to get it right every time:

Put the belt on the three lower pulleys and holding it tight away from the bottom of the motor, slip the belt on from left to right on the camshaft pulley, working in a clockwise direction.

The idea is to keep the left side of the belt taught against the crank and allow the tensioner to take up the slack in the right side.

Rotate the crankshaft counter clockwise three cam pulley teeth to tension the belt, and tighten the tensioner. Rotate the crankshaft two revolutions counter clockwise and re-check your timing marks, including the UP mark on the camshaft pulley.


Cheers,
Mark

^ Agreed.

Whenever i'm faced with a unique setup where a thread chaser won't reach, up to four vertical slots cut into the proper bolt converts it into a tap allowing you to chase the threads.

Soaking it with brake cleaner over night is a good idea too.

A couple of time savers when replacing CV boots:

To quickly and easily remove the CV shaft simply disconnect the upper strut mount nuts under the hood. With the steering unlocked you can turn the wheel to one side, compress the shock and have enough room to squeak the shaft out of the knuckle, No lower ball joint removal necessary!

The outer joint is removable from the driveshaft. Simply clamp the shaft tightly (not too tight on the longer, hollow shafts) in a vice, and with a soft blow hammer or hammer and brass drift firmly hit the inner sprocket of the outer joint. Turning the joint to expose the inner sprocket helps to avoid damage to the fragile ball cage. It can be tricky to get a good hit on it, but be patient, and it will come apart. Accuracy in your hits goes a lot further than brute force here. When re-installing the end, don't bother replacing the c-clip unless it is broken or clearly damaged. I almost always re-use them as the new ones are difficult to install and make re-installing the outer end very difficult. Remember to put some grease on the c-clip and do your best to center it on the shaft before attempting to install the end. Use the same soft tools to hammer it back into place.

You don't have to remove the inner joint to replace an outer joint, but I see where it makes sense if you struggle to remove the outer joint. Since outer joints fail 10:1 vs. the inner joint, replacing only the outer is faster and simpler.

Lastly when removing the inner joint it is not critical to mark everything for alignment but more important to hold the rollers together when you remove the joint from the axle as the rollers simply slip on the inner tripod.

Cheers,
Mark