v6 Tools

["Obie Fayth" <bibendum59@domain.elided>]

Joe,
	I'm catching up on my reading, so this may have already been answered, but 
if not...
	Some people take a piece of the old timing belt, wrap it around the cam 
pulley and then grip the pulley with some large vice-grips. I never had any 
luck using that technique so I made my own generic pulley holder instead. 
You can make the tool to hold the cam pulleys pretty easily. I made 
something that looks like the tool that is used to rotate the cams in 4-cyl 
engines. I bought a 3'x1"x1/4" flat steel bar from the local hardware store 
and cut it in half. Then I drilled a hole in one end of each bar and bolted 
the two sections together. Now you have an adjustable v-shaped tool (like a 
giant set of dividers). You can drill a hole in the end of each leg and put 
a bolt thru it (or weld it if you have a welder) to serve as the pins that 
will engage the cam pulley. If you get small enough bolts you can also use 
this tool to remove the distributor drive pulley. I used a couple of pieces 
of 1/4" round steel bar, put them in the holes and welded them in place. If 
I were to do it again I would get larger bolts (1/2"+) and put them through 
one side for use with the cams and put the smaller bolts through the 
opposite side for use with the distributor drive pulley.
	You can buy a c-shaped valve spring compressor pretty cheap (<$30) or you 
can rent one from an auto parts store, but you will need an adaptor to make 
it fit the alfa's deeply recessed valves. VWs have similar heads so if you 
call some of the vw places in your area they might be able to get you an 
adaptor. You can make one out of black pipe and washers if you have access 
to a welder, but it is precission work. I tried making my own, but it didn't 
come out perfectly straight, so I ended up taking the heads to a machine 
shop for disassembly.
	If you can't get the adaptor and don't want to make one you *might* try 
looking for a VW valve spring compressor. I am not sure if it will work for 
Alfas, but it looks almost identical to the factory tool (long metal rod 
that bolts to the cam journals and a lever with a hook on one end that 
engages the rod). Anyone on the list try one of these?
	You will need some kind of puller to remove the cam pulleys from the 
tapered ends of the camshafts. A harmonic ballancer puller works well for 
this, provided you can come up with some long 7mm bolts.
	If all else fails you can insert a wedge between the two halfs of the 
pulley and gently work your way around it until the thing pops loose. I just 
went throught the process of adjusting the valves on my 164 and spent days 
making a copy of the factory cam pulley puller tool only to find out that 
there just wasn't enough room between the rear bank and the strut tower to 
fit the tool in there (does the factory tool even fit? There is not much 
room back there!). I finally tried using a large cold chisel (gently!) as a 
wedge and pulley popped right off.

good luck,
-Obie
Tacoma, Wa.
164S
gtv6x2
alfetta GT


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