I have a Flex (sold at Lowe's) impact wrench. Rated at 1150 ft/lbs. When I switched to my 3ft long breaker bar it still took some serious force to get that bolt to break loose.

 

Jamnar, that's quite the project! It makes my project feel a bit less daunting.

I have a Central Pneumatic 1/2" air impact for large jobs and a 3/8" air ratchet for small jobs. If I have the space, I have a 32 year old Craftsman electric impact that's fairly tired. I use that when I don't want to snap bolts/studs and have the time to let it do its job. I also have a few breaker bars and a couple pipes when I just don't care. My next project is doing a full exhaust on my '05 Grand Marquis. I am going to use the 3/8" air ratchet for that as I have been told the exhaust manifold studs are easily broken.

 

My cornwell dealer is my enemy. Lmao matco is next in line.
matco generally gives me free stuff on larger purchases to give to my girl. Lmao he knows

 

Checked the crank slot yesterday, looks fine.
Pulled the 1st main cap so I could get the old, leaking front seal out without scratching the crank (the seal is sandwiched between the block and the cap). The main bearing looks great so I feel I can keep running the existing bearings. I do need to find out if the the cap bolts can be reused before I tighten it back up.
Meanwhile I grabbed the NOS oil pan to cover things up and discovered some of the bolt holes are out of alignment. Not hard to fix at this stage but annoying just the same.
Went to install the new oil pump and discovered my tube of sealant that I just bought last month is missing. Guess I'll have to get more.

 

Is there a thrust bearing on the crank, Jam? If so, I'd take a look at that one too. If it's okay then you should be good to go with the rest.

 

I just picked up a dial indicator at the flea market today so I'll be able to check that thrust bearing. Thanks for the suggestion Rube.

 

You're welcome, man. Sometimes I get a flashback in this old damaged brain! LOL

 

I checked the thrust bearing end play and it's still tight so that's good.
Got the new water pump, the new timing belt and tensioner installed.
Also got my new crank pulley and put it on but didn't tighten the bolt yet just so I have a way of rotating things as needed.


Looks nice I think.

I discovered the existing dust gasket on the timing cover was trashed and the grommets were all missing so I ordered those and got them today.
Today I tried to replace the cam seal before putting the cover on and discovered some interesting things.
First of all when I removed the cam pulley bolt there was some kind of plastic filler behind it.
Almost like someone tried to glue the pulley onto the camshaft.
After wrestling with the pulley for a while I got it off and discovered why.
Apparently the previous owner lost not only the crank key but also the cam key.
A piece of random metal had been cut and filed to roughly fit the slot and from the looks of it hammered in and filed down flush with the pulley face.
Additionally the pulley fits quite loosely on the camshaft now that the filler is gone.
I don't know if either the pulley or the cam is salvageable.



All I wanted to do was stop the leaks. What else am I going to find?!
I hate to think I might have to replace the cam but the pulley fits so loose I can wobble it out of line at least 3 or 4 degrees.

 

Man, someone did a real hack job on that Honda. If I were in your shoes, I'd get another cam and pulley from a salvage yard. They'd have to be better than those!

 

Yeah, unfortunately there have been zero compatible hondas in the local yards since I bought the car. I check every week and there has never been even one.
I'll have to buy something online with all the risk, delay and expense that entails (vs buying local where I can examine it in person before I put my money down).