get the engine to TDC and index the cams and the crank

the cams only move about one tooth if even that, so there is no need for the bar

I dont know if i agree with palcing a piece of 3/16 barvstock in the groovs at the back of the cams is the way to go as something could brake, like the camshaft. I suggest that you fabricate a tool instead. Use tow lengths of steel strip 1"-11/2" one peice approximately 23.5" long & the other about 8" long & three bolts with nut & washers one nut & bolt forming the pivot of a forked tool with the remaining nuts & bolts at the tip of the fork. I fabricated on & it worked extremely well. Good luck
Regards

I used the angle iron twice now and no problems.

I have that specialty tool, I can take pics/messurments of it so you all can reproduce it. It looks to be very simple of a tool.....

I used the metal in the end of the cams and then pried the timing belt with a long board as we loosened the bolt. Ghetto but it worked.

Originally posted by pdqford:

---

Working on a '97 Mystique 2.0 - How can we time the cams (i.e, when installing the timing belt) without the special tool?

Thanks in advance. . . ..

---

You could time it by sight. I know it sounds dumb, but I set the timing twice on my Zetec this morning. Once I used the tool I made (out of an L bracket I picked up at Home Depot) and the second time just by sight.

Make sure cylinder 1 is at TDC. There are hashmarks on the crank pulley, but if your car is like mine they're almost impossible to see and weren't 100% accurate to begin with. Place something like a long screwdriver into cylinder 1 (or 4, they're on the same stroke) and rotate the crank pulley w/ a ratchet (should be a 3/4" bolt, BTW) until the screwdriver stops moving up. I'd suggest rotating the pulley back and forth slightly to be as spot on as possible.

Next, use a large wrench, like a crescent, to rotate each cam so that the guides on the end are level. The guides are keyed, so you can't insert the tool into them if they're 180 degrees off. The bottom of the guides will have to be flush with the surface of the cylinder head.

Now here's where it gets tricky. Without the tool, the cams are going to try and rotate when you put on the belt. Best thing to do is put some of the teeth on the belt around the outsides of the gears and work your way to the center. This way if anything tries to rotate, it all rotates together and your timing isn't affected. VOILA!!

If you're wondering why I set the timing twice, I just finished rebuilding the motor and had to get to the VCT bolts/journals in order to make sure they weren't the cause of the leak I have.