Questionthanks bill for the tip how to free stuck piston. when i pulled the head thetiming chain fell in bottom end what next?im putting the 2 banger back together.what do i need to do?also how to set timing- cam to crank? thks/joel
AnswerJoel, once you fish out the chain put a piece of safety wire or something similar on the ends so you can keep track of it.
Get a long thin magnet, like those found in auto parts stores so you can reach down and catch an end of the chain.
With the oil drained and the cyls off, you can get close enough to the crankshaft to be able to thread the chain back over the middle crankshaft sprocket and then feed it back through, using the wire/magnet combo.
If you already put the cyls back on you can try to invert the whole engine to see if it will shift back to where you can find it again, otherwise, you may have to pull the cylinders again. Be careful not to damage the rings during the install. Be sure to stagger the ring openings at 120 degree from each other. You will have to work carefully when lowering the cyls so you don't break the rings. Loop the camchain together and feed it through the center of the cyls and put a screwdriver through it to help keep the chain out of the way, as you lower the cylinders. The cyls have a chamfer underneath to help compress the rings, but it is easy for them to get snagged and jump out of the ring grooves and break off, so lots of patience is required. You may need some fine tipped tool to help ease them into the grooves, as you allow the cyls to drop down over the ring sets. You can rock the cyls a little, side to side to help get both sides down together.
Once the cyls and head are on. rotate the crankshaft so the pistons are both up. Rotate the camshaft so that the round O punch mark is at 12 o'clock and then attach the timing chain. Adjust the valves to .002" unless you did a valve job and then add another thousandth to that.
With the cyls off, it is a good time to loosen the camchain tensioner bolt enough so you can put the tensioner arm downwards, releasing any tension on the tensioner and chain during installation.
Once you have the crank/cam timing secured, install the chain with the master link opening facing the rear of the engine. You can then release the tensioner which will put some tension on the camchain, but the final check for that will be after you have torqued down the cylinder head.
Bill Silver
