72MachOne99GT

Well, both actually. If you're taking the head off, then yea, you would absolutely have to find TDC of #1 so that you can safely set and reset the timing when you take off the timing chain cover and the chains themselves.

However, when you're messing with the helicoil process, the tap is tapered, meaning it gets a bit wider at the top, and this is the part that you want to clear the threads the whole way down.

Now, imagine you have a pencil, that gets fatter at the end of the eraser. Now, slowly insert it through a fist you've made in your hand. As the end with the eraser gets near the bottom part of your fist, the smaller end is STILL moving downward into the space beneath your hand. In the car, this would be traveling slightly downward into the cylinder and toward the piston head.

Now, if you don't crank the engine by hand, you MIGHT get lucky, and the piston will be near the bottom of its stroke, and you won't knick it or grind into it. However, it's more likely that it's near the middle or the top, and you're going to end up hitting it.

Remedy: Turning the engine by hand. 3rd easiest thing to do in the world....Well, maybe not, but it's easier than putting spark plugs BACK in.

After removing all the plugs, have someone with a small light *again, something like a flashlight might work, but it's alot easier if you have a tiny exposed bulb on a wire that you can feed down into the head at least, so that you can see the piston coming up and back down.

Place a breaker bar, or even just a socket wrench *the big one* onto the crank pulley and turn. I went clock wise, but I'm not sure if you're supposed to go one way or the other, and if you go the wrong way, I don't really know if there is anythign wrong with that or not, probably something you should look into. But really all you have to do is crank it, and the person watching the piston will be able to see when it's at it's highest, or lowest point. Just have them tell you to stop somewhere in the middle.

Does that analagy I attempted at least make sense?

timeformiller44

u dont have to do anything with the crank at all when doing the pulley...the only thing we have to do is put that cylinder with the blow plug at top dead center so we can get all the shavings we can easily...as far as the pulleys u pull themm off put them on thats it...ive done them at work for mine.....minus the water pump bc it didnt fit.....so ya

timeformiller44

72machone ur right...but george aint doing it...he helping...i am doing it lol....ive dont this kind of work many of timesss...thank u tho

GStam66

72, i got it lol the analogy made sense, but like miller said, hes the certified, experienced mechanic lol, not me. Ill basically be watching, helping, and learning.

timeformiller44

but the extra advice never hurt anyone....like how u put things

GStam66

well, helicoiling it went pretty well, a little too well lol. The coil went in too deep, so now we gotta take the head off to back the coil out a bit..

We got the hardest part down easy, threaded the head perfectly, but something sooo simple...

GStam66

anyone have a diagram or any really detailed thing on how to do the timing? just to be sure.

72MachOne99GT

Elaborate on how you went in too far? There should have came a point in which the tap wouldnt go any further, and that's where you set the helicoil/insert.

If I remember correctly *and i might now* you put the helicoil on the spark plug, then the plug in your socket, and go from there correct?

Details would be nice. ANd let me know how that head removal goes

*if i were you, i'd look into a new head*

GStam66

the insert went in too far, we could see threads above the insert when we looked into the hole. The actual tapping went fine, threads are nice and clean. The spark plug fit into the coil perfectly, and the coil and plug together fit in the hole fine. It was all goin smoothly till miller stopped to check to see how far down the coil was. Saw that the coil might have gone too deep cause he could see the threads of the head, above the coil.

Before we take off the head and do all teh work with the timing, we wanna make sure of whats happening.

Millers account:

the helicoil kit made new threads for the helicoil to sit on..the the spark plug sits on the helicoil right......k the helicoil was the same length as the length of the threas on the spark plug..therefor assumed spark plug threads (on head) would be same length as threads on helicoil and spark plug...after putting helicoil in..noticed it seem way to far down in the hold bc u can see the new threads on the head when u look down and it just looks like its way to far down[/align]

72MachOne99GT

Honestly, I think that the threads are going to be well above the coil. Or else the coil wouldnt thread down all the way.

I think that's hard to describe the way I look at it. Let's see...

If I hvae a pop can, and I'm 'threading' the inside of it with a tap, I start at the top, and go all the way to the bottom.

The insert would then thread down into the pop can starting at the top, and continue down torward the bottom. Since the insert is not as tall as the pop can, threads on the pop can, above the insert, are still going to be visible.

Did you stop once you got to this point, and not yet hit the expander to sink the coil into the wall? That's what I'm under the impression of right now.

It just seems to me that there would HAVE to be threads visible above the insert, because you obviously sent the tap down that far.