Just discovered the "reply with quote" feature of this page.
I like it.

Tried the hanger. Tried a super long needlenose. Tried a small prybar.
UH - UH !
It's last resort time. She's really jammed in there.

Jim

Just got in from work.

I dropped off the head today at lunchtime and based on my reading here I'll phone tomorrow and tell him to put a bit of a hold on things for now.

It's sounding like I better bite the bullet and pull off the oil pan or pans ? . . if for no other reason than to check for debris.
Besides, I really doubt that I'll free up that chain any other way.
I'm veering back and forth from optimism to pessimism these days and the sooner I get an idea of the state of the bottom end, the better. I'd really like it if I can avoid pulling the whole engine but I guess we'll see.

The head shop asked me today about the ridges at the tops of the cylinders. I can definately feel them with my fingertips but wonder how much ridge is too much.

I hope others are reading these posts carefully 'cause I'd sure hate to think I'm the only one benefitting from this advice.

Back later,

Jim

I've been keeping up with this post as I find it interesting, especially the thought of how often I am going to check my t-chain stretch!!

Anyways, I was going to say that I think you are doing an excellent job, pulling motor parts at home is a huge pain in the rear. I'm thinking that if you can't get the chain looksened up that there is a good chance that it is jammed up tight against the upper oil pan and the block itself. So pulling at least the lower oil pan is probably an excellent idea, it doesn't take that long and you can see the bottom half of the chain from there.

I was wondering one thing, have you tried turning the engine backwards to see if it will unravel the chain a little bit, maybe just enough to allow you to pull it out???

Yes, I did try but the crankshaft nut just started backing off instead of turning the engine.
Also now, with dire predictions floating in the air, I think that at the least I willl have to take off the bottom pan to carefully look at the sprocket and to look for nasty metal bits.
Can't do it today though, I'm on my way to work.

Jim

Haven't had much time for posting or anything else for that matter but here's an update.
I pulled the motor and tranny about two weeks ago.
Very Heavy, but not too difficult.
Now it was possible to get the upper oilpan off and with a bit of a fight to pull out the timing chain. It was jammed in tightly but came out with a bit of struggle.
Now I was able to turn the engine over.
I tried removing the front pulley again with the advantage of easier access. No luck. I later learned from a rebuild shop that these bolts are known for being a pain. The allen key head on them strips out. The shop itself had a miserable time with them. I decided to let the shop do the diagnosis for me as they already had my head and I knew that I would be needing a new upper oil pan at the very least. It took them about a week just to remove the bolts as they did it in spare shop time so as not to have to charge me too much.
They have now told me to look at getting a used engine. The reason being that when the chain broke it did a lot of damage to the guides and more importantly to the guide pin holes. They are worried that installing new pins in out of round holes will not be a repair to trust.
I've now put a deposit down on a used engine at a MB wreckers.
The guy there said that they run the engines before pulling them, do a compression test and pull the valve covers to check the cams and the oil flow up top. It's going to cost me CDN $1200.

Now that the tranny's out as well, what do I do ? It wasn't shifting properly before and I had tried a few things but had no success. I guess diagnosis on it is now impossible without having a shop open it and start the rebuild process.

Boy I'm learning a lot.