I am slowly pulling apart a stuck 8BA motor. I have the timing cover off and want to remove the timing gear, but I cannot figure out how to pull the small distributor gear on the front of the cam. I haven't tried too much with it because I want to avoid breaking it at this point. Can anyone give me any tips on the removal of this gear (hidden setscrews, is it pressed on, etc.)

Thanks for your help.

 

I think the gear has threads in th center hole. You will have to use all thread and make a puller for this gear. I was just told this yesterday when I took my 8rt in .

 

None of my books describe how to remove it. Joblot catalog shows it removed from the cam. The one sitting in my shop appears to be pressed on. I'd try a 3 jaw puller and see what happens.

Out of curiosity, why are you removing it? Won't the cam gear clear the dist gear?

 

I am having some difficulty getting a socket aroud that gear, I also can't seem to get a good bite on the timing gear bolts with a wrench. It doesn't look like the timing gear will slide over it, But I suppose it could just be a very tight fit. I will try again to get a wrench or something in there.

I thought about threads in the center hole but have not been able to get anything that threads in there. I don't think that it is treaded -- but again I could be wrong about that also. I will look again at that.

Yesterday I spent most of the day trying to get valves out -- three are still stuck to the block and I only broke 2 valves and 1 guide

 

I just removed two timing gears the other day. They will fit over the dist. gear no problem. A socket won't work to get the bolts out. I ended up using a boxed end wrech to break them loose. Get one that is thin on the end and it will just fit in there and move just enough so you can break them loose. Then use an open end to get them the rest of the way ou. Took me a while to figure this out. Its a slow go but I think it is easier than pulling the gear and risking damaging it. I believe the gear is just a press fit. good luck.

 

Thanks ol'blue. That helps alot. When I look at the timing gear it really looks like it would be a close fit. I'll have to see if I have a wrench that will work. I don't want to do any grinding on my good ones but I still might have some cheap ones I can modify. My craftsman box end seems to be a little thick.

Since I know that it does work that way, I will definately try a little harder.

Thanks again for the advice everyone.

 

I just took one off today. When I cleaned the grease off the the four bolts, I found lock tabs up against the bolts. Bend them down float and you will be able to get them off with a thin wall socket.

 

ksmith thanks for pointing out the locking tabs. I don't think mine has the tabs up, but I will make sure. All of my sockets, including the 1/4" drive are too tall to fit between the gear for the distributor and the timing gear bolts. It is also very difficult to get in there with my box end wrenches. Along with that since the center of the timing gear retainer looks like it will not go over the distributor gear I believed that I really needed to remove distrib gear. But as ol'blue said it will fit so now I just need to get the right tool to do the job, whether a shorter socket or a thin walled box end. When I get back to this I will put a note up to let you know what I did and how it worked.

I have been spending some time trying to do some cleanup before winter, getting fenders off the boxes so that I can get everything in the new shed before the neighbors complain and I loose all my junk -- err I mean all my priceless jailbar parts.

 

Hey everyone, excellent suggestions. I probably would have swore up a storm had I not known about the locking tangs. The easiest bolt to get to was bent down already so I never would have thought of it. A couple bolts had 2 tangs. The gear retainer was a little smaller than the distributor gear, but is split so that you can get it off and the timing gear just slips over the distributor gear. My wrenches and sockets still did not fit in there so I found a cheap one and did some grinding on it until it fit ok.

Well it wasn't the stuck valves holding up the engine, I was just hoping.I'll just have to keep oiling it until I can get it out of the truck aand can start taking the bottom end apart.

Again thanks for the info on this.