ok, another issue
is that splined shaft actually supposed to come out? the sleeve slid off no problem, but the shaft is in there very tight. It actuallyhas about a mm of playsideways and up-&-down, andi wrapped a wet piece ofrag over it and tried vicegrips,it moves about,but does not want to come out.. i dont think i can replace that seal without taking theshaft out completely.... it just never gets any easier...

 

so i just took the intake off, and i can see the other side of the shaft.. should i try to hit it with something?

 

Whoops, my bad.

This top one dont pull out of there.There is a pressed bearing on the other side of this shaft and it will not pull out. I was thinking of the shaft for the non-vented distributor. Sorry.

I will fix it in the other post.

You are going to have to get a small flat blade screw driver and pry out the seal. Wedge it in between the seal and the timing cover. Gently tap the screw driver in. Try to angle it inwards being careful not to damage the aluminum timing cover. You may have to do this in several spots to work it out of there. The seal will no doubt look like its been thru WWII but better the seal than the cover. Clean it all up real good and knock down and nicks you may have made and install the new seal. Try to clean the shaft the best you can while the old seal is off.

 

so, i can indeed change the water pump seal without removing the entire timing cover or the pump shaft??? willthe sealactually have room toslide out??? will it still seal to the timing cover after i jam a screw driver in there???

 

ok, so i got this part done... had to drill a couple tine holes in the water pump seal, right through that slot that is above it... then jammed a screw driver in there and off we go... and even managed to get the two new seals in there, the opti seal went in with a block of 2x4x4, and the water pump seal used a 7/8 socket... and then "just tap it in"...

the intake gasket arrives tomorrow, and then its all just re-assembly hopefully

 

so i got my car all put back together finally... worked my *** off trying to get it done today, and now the piece of **** would not start... turns over, purrs, and back fires a lot, makes air-suction sound sometimes... all the hoses and connectors are in place looks like... i thought maybe has something to do with fuel since i took off the intake, i can hear the fuel pump working and then there is some sort of ping comig from the engine compartment... i let itcycle a few times (howlong does it usually take to refill the lines withgas and let the air out?)...i thought i would be finally driving again today, but no... wtf???

 

Check the spark plug wire routing, also check the air intake snorkel to be sure its fully installed, the snorkels are notorious for not being on all the way on the bottom side. Then check the PCV hose to be sure its connnected. Thats the top 3 on my list from what you discribe.

Dont beat yourself up. A few extra days is well worth it for a job done right.

 

pcv valve is new and checks out, air intake assembly is installed correctly, and i think i tripple checked the wires, but i will again tomorrow...

could it be my new autolite 106 plugs gapped incorrectly at 0.045 ?????

 

if not the plugs, how do i go about testing the Ignition Control Module ???
when i installed it, i just used same silicone grease as inside of wire boots, is that good enough?

 

found one part of the problem by looking at images at shbox.com, apparantly i confused the two vacuum tubes - one for fuel pressure regularor, and the other one for HVAC vacuume check valve... the fuel pressure regulator vacuume is the lower one on the intake... i switched them the way shown at shbox, and cranked it for about 10 seconds... the car backfired and bunch of white smoke came from under the hood - apparantly it blew out the pass-side valve-cover vent tube and oil dipstick... wow...i am done messing with it for the night, opento suggestions for tomorrow