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Old 01-18-2005, 10:51 PM
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Strife Strife is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: KY USA
Posts: 2,238
Depending on how much your time is worth and/or how much ingenuity you have, having the "right" tools is very helpful. With the idea that I might sell these later on eBay used (or maybe rent them out), I bought:

Valve stem seal installers, 9 and 11 mm (like $30 each; this was probably overkill)

Valve stem pliers (not very expensive, $15)

A pin removal tool (for the tensioning arm and guides ($60))

A valve compressor (no way around it, this is expensive and you need it; I've heard that some people have managed with valve compressors not meant for this engine, but the way I looked at it, I can't afford to screw up ($150)).

A sort of "cap/guide" for the chain that screws over the front cam bearing and cages the chain in place so it can't fall off. Supposedly, this tool turns this into a one-man operation. The way I look at it, if the chain falls off, the car would go on a flatbed to a shop, and I would go to the hospital with a stroke, so it was insurance ($50)

I plan to rent a compressor and buy the spark plug adapter locally. I might have a friend actually weld-up this adapter for me.
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