Well, I did it. Changed the timing cover, front crank seal, and put in a new CP3. The oil fill, water pump bypass pipe, and oil pressure relief valve all got new o-rings while I was in there too. I started at about 11am and finished up around 3am. It was a long, hot, tiresome day....but I was too close to being done to stop. Plus, I didn't want to walk a mile back to my house.
There were two cracks in the timing cover from when I wrecked it. They were exactly where I thought they'd be and I feel much better knowing that I was right, but more so because I didn't do all that work for nothing! Having the timing cover off also allowed me to pull the CP3 gear off before removing the pump itself. That let me remove the pump without having to take the Y bridge out.
All in all, it wasn't a terrible job. It was time consuming though and my rib cage is mighty sore. I'm sure tomorrow and Monday will be fuuuun... I'm glad I bought the front seal installer. It made life much easier, but it was pricey for a one time thing.
At least it was a drastic difference once I took it down the road. It'll actually haul ass now!
You can see one of the cracks from the front side in this first picture. It's coming down at an angle under that black headed bolt. You wouldn't believe how much of a mess and aggravation those little bastards have caused!
Below you can see that it's going back together with the new pump. The paint mark is for shits and giggles and in case I want to pull the oil fill tube and make sure it hasn't spun. It shouldn't...it's a tapered fit and I torqued it, but they're not keyed, so you never know!
The crack in this picture, which is the back side of the timing cover, is to the left of that QA stamp. It's pretty much right through the middle of where the webbing meets. You may need to zoom in a hair to see it.
Definitely don't need to zoom to see that cavernous defect. This is the inside of the coveras well and this is the left side, just above where the water pump bolts up to the cover.
The pictures aren't in any particular order. I had to keep reminding myself to take one every now and again just to keep things interesting for my loyal readers. Now I just need to throw a scanner on it again and see how my rail pressure does at wide open. With the LBZ regulator on the pump, it should be able to command 26,000 psi which is about 3,000 more than an LB7 regulator will allow.