I have been doing some searching on here about replacing the fiber cam gear on my 84 2.5 with the Melling 2524. I found a method here by, who suggests dropping the rear cradle a bit to gain access to the cam cover and think that is the way to proceed.
I also need to do a tranny repair (3rd gear syncs bad) and am curious if that can be done with the cradle in this position. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
I think you have to drop or swing the cradle to get the tranny out. I assume you are removing the tranny? If so, lower the engine a little to get to the timing gear. I wrote up the tech tip on the Michigan Fiero Club website, and I changed the gear while keeping the engine in place.
Unbolt the rear part of the cradle and it will swing down on the front mounts. Of course, you have other items connected to the cradle before you can do this.
I've dropped the rear of the cradle to do a timing gear and I've dropped the rear of the cradle and also removed the driver side front cradle bolt to do a clutch. BUT....If I had to do both a timing gear and a trans removal, I would have just dropped the cradle completely. To drop the cradle in the rear enough to do the timing gear or the trans, you have to remove the throttle linkages or else they will hit the rear bulkhead in front of the trunk. I am assuming that the transmission is manual, if it's an auto I would definitely drop the entire cradle.
It's a 5-speed. A complete drop means losing my coolant, air conditioning, pulling the center console apart, etc. I am, of course, trying to avoid those messes.....
I understand and you can do a partial drop of the cradle. I found the hardest part was lining the trans back up to the clutch, you need a couple of floor jacks and a helper to get that done easily.
Will there be room to slide the cam out completely? It would require removing the distributor, oil pump and lifters, but sounds like it may be easier than just the pulley removal/install laying under the car.
