Timing gear cover removal questions

Fred K-OR

Fred K-OR

Well-known member
Think I may have to check over my timing gear. Question I have is how to get the 4 pan bolts out of the timing gear cover? On my rig, it seems like the pan is only maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch away from the front cross member. I can't get a wrench in there to remove the middle two bolts.

After taking the front motor mount bolts out, can I jack the front of the engine up enough to get them out without messing up the rear motor mounts? I have original rear mounts. Hate to make this a bigger job that I have to.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I tried to search the barn files to find answers but could not find any.
 
You can take the side cover off if all you want to do is look at the teeth..there is one pan bolt underneath but is easy to get to......the front cover will have to come of if you need to change the gear though..
 

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Usually you can get a 1/2 inch socket on a long extension in there. Sometimes the bad news is that the entire engine and all has moved forward and that places the bolts up under the cross member where you cannot get to them. The only solution I know to that is to remove the engine. Hope someone else has a better solution to that.
 
Fred K-OR said:
Think I may have to check over my timing gear. Question I have is how to get the 4 pan bolts out of the timing gear cover? On my rig, it seems like the pan is only maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch away from the front cross member. I can't get a wrench in there to remove the middle two bolts.

After taking the front motor mount bolts out, can I jack the front of the engine up enough to get them out without messing up the rear motor mounts? I have original rear mounts. Hate to make this a bigger job that I have to.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I tried to search the barn files to find answers but could not find any.
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To remove the 2 center pan bolts I use a 1/4 inch drive ratchet with an extender and a 1/2 inch swivel socket. I would advise first loosening the 4 rear motor mount bolts and then jacking up the engine just barely enough to get a cement block and wood blocks underneath the pan to support the engine. Otherwise you risk cracking the flywheel housing.
 
goodcar said:
To remove the 2 center pan bolts I use a 1/4 inch drive ratchet with an extender and a 1/2 inch swivel socket. I would advise first loosening the 4 rear motor mount bolts and then jacking up the engine just barely enough to get a cement block and wood blocks underneath the pan to support the engine. Otherwise you risk cracking the flywheel housing.
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Do you think I should remove one of the rear engine mount bolts on each side or will loosening them be enough? Hate to take any of them out. They are a pain to get back in.
 
goodcar said:
To remove the 2 center pan bolts I use a 1/4 inch drive ratchet with an extender and a 1/2 inch swivel socket. I would advise first loosening the 4 rear motor mount bolts and then jacking up the engine just barely enough to get a cement block and wood blocks underneath the pan to support the engine. Otherwise you risk cracking the flywheel housing.
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Looks like I will have to go to Harbor Freight to get some new tools!
 
1955cj5 said:
You can take the side cover off if all you want to do is look at the teeth..there is one pan bolt underneath but is easy to get to......the front cover will have to come of if you need to change the gear though..
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I thought about doing this also. So maybe a good first step.
 
If you have to jack the front of your engine up, remove your accelerator linkage assembly from the back of your engine first. Many times this gets bent from a lack of clearance.
 
You will need to take two of the 4 rear engine mounting bolts out and loosen the other two so the engine can swivel. We have a small shop made screw jack that fits between the pulley and crank guide to push the engine back in cases like this.
 
redmodelt said:
You will need to take two of the 4 rear engine mounting bolts out and loosen the other two so the engine can swivel. We have a small shop made screw jack that fits between the pulley and crank guide to push the engine back in cases like this.
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I may have to come up and visit with this rig on a trailer if I can't get this bolt out. Thanks for the info.
 
Thanks guys. I did get a u-joint thing for my 1/4" socket and it looks like I can get them off. But any ideas on how to get them back in when putting things back together? Maybe put some tape on the socket to hold bolt in socket to get it started??? Any other "tricks" to get the bolts back in??
 
Reply #2 above is the easiest way to check the timing gear teeth and possible wobble.Why take the whole cover off if you don't have to ?
 
I have used a long pry bar between the front crossmember and the oil pan rail. There is enough "give" to then insert a 1/4" or 3/8" drive 1/2" socket on a long extension. This works better with two people: one holding the pry bar applying pressure and the other using the ratchet extension and socket. The pry bar works best if there are Float-O-Motor rear mounts.
Be sure to turn the steering wheel all the way to the right or left (I can't remember which!) so that the tie rod no longer blocks access to the front four bolts. You'll see which way works better once you try this. For some reason, I can never remember which way gives more clearance. :) It's a 50-50 chance, but I usually guess wrong 80% of the time on the first attempt.
Marshall
 
Thanks Marshall. Will have to get to this project once I get some gaskets ordered so I can take off the parts. And also maybe a new timing gear.
 
Don't forget to take out the hidden bolt beneath the generator. It's hidden in a deep recess and will require either a deep socket or a regular socket on an extension. The bolt's existence is not obvious, so it's easy to miss your first attempt at changing a timing gear beside the road. The first time I tried to remove the front timing gear cover in 1968, I didn't know about this "hidden" bolt because you can't see it like the others. There weren't many decent "How to Repair Your Model A" books back then like there are now, so I was winging it. I got all the bolts out that I found and supported the engine from underneath the pan. But no matter what I did, I could not get that %$#*^ front cover off, even prying it. Was I stupid! The car was stranded on a side street in Iowa City and sat there for a month while I attended college during the weekdays. I would work on the car to replace the stripped timing gear on the weekends. By the third frustrating weekend without getting that timing gear cover off, I was ready to sell the darned thing. The engine was so greasy and cruddy from the previous owner that I never even noticed the recessed tunnel with the bolt inside. A guy happened to drive by in his nearly completed 1928 Roadster and looked things over after listening to my tirade of frustration. "Did you take out the bolt in here?" he asked, pointing to the recessed hole. "Nope, I didn't know there was a bolt in there", I replied. DUH!!!! After taking that bolt out in his presence, the front cover fairly fell off.
LESSON LEARNED and never forgotten. I now always remind people (newbies) about the presence of this ^%$*& bolt so that they don't go through what I did in 1968. It almost drove me to Chevies!
Marshall
 
The last time I needed to replace a timing gear. I took the car to a Ford Tractor Dealer service center. Two hours later I drove out. New gear in place, $150.00 cost.

I got to watch. Much easier. Enjoy.
 
WHN said:
The last time I needed to replace a timing gear. I took the car to a Ford Tractor Dealer service center. Two hours later I drove out. New gear in place, $150.00 cost.

I got to watch. Much easier. Enjoy.
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That is tempting!!! We do have a good automotive shop close by that does everything.
 
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