Midnight observations...

[PhyrraM]

Was on the way home from work in my newly aquired SS. All of a sudden, no PS, no A/C, no alterator. A little quick thinking and I remember that the water pump is turned by the timing belt, so I continue home.

Turns out the balancer wore out and sheared the rubber that holds the pulley part to the hub. I guess 200K miles tend to do things like that. Thursday evening and I have to run this thing at it's inaugural RallyCross on Sunday.

Luck is with me. A year ago I picked up a closed deck shortblock from the local DIY junkyard for my WRX. So, I've got a pulley.

Take off belts, no problem. Loosen crank bolt, big problem. No air tools at home. Fight fo about an hour and it finally gives. Figure lets throw a timing belt on while the pulley is off. Who knows when it was last changed.

Ok, story over..My observations.

1. Do not attempt to loosen timing cover bolts when the plastic cover are hot. The captive nuts will spin right out of the rear cover.

2. The Subaru timing belt is really overbuilt for the application. That's a good thing. It's a bitch to struggle with the first time you change it. I could have used a few extra hands. I finally C-clamped the belt to the cam sprockets to keep them from moving. I'll be better next time.

3. The water pump driven by the timing belt is a nice touch. You can drive as long as your battery lets you without overheating. (Yes, I know that it's not unique, but it is new to me.)

4. The lines printed on the timing belt make timing it a no-brainer.

5. Turns out the belt was on it's last legs anyways.

6. The turbo exhaust pipe should do a decent job of keeping road crap out of my (now exposed) belt untill I can locate replacement covers.

[evolutionmovement]

Those covers just suck - they do it no matter what the temperature. I spray mine down with grease and shit to keep the nuts from corroding, but the plastic itself gets brittle with age and heat anyway.

Steve