timing belt cover?

[NeedCAforS13]

So after looking at this CA18 picture, I thought to myself, that doesn't look that hard to make, and I love that exposed timing belt/cam gear look.

here's the picture I was using:

and here's a drawing of what I cut:

I have finished 2 of them now, they're kinda time consuming, but its fairly easy to do. The first one is on the car, and it looks sweet I'm going to hold off posting pictures of the second (better) one until I finish painting it and my spare valve covers and put them on the car. I'll do a little photo shoot once my altima fans get here Monday.

What do you guys think?

Sean

[Dattebayo]

Cool!

Will you be getting rid of the other one to a lucky other person?

[NeedCAforS13]

yep, but don't worry, I have 3 covers in the garage that I can still modify

Sean

[float_6969]

Sean, since I went to the SDS, I obviously don't need mine now, and it's just laying around. If you want another one to modify, I'll trade you the cam cover for the coil-pack cover w/screws. Just have each one of us pay for shipping on each of them. My email is in my profile.

[biosehnsucht]

I've often wondered how strong the covers are with that much material removed - how well is it going to hold the CAS in place when its only attatched to the engine from below.

[81na ZX]

I'd be more worried of crap falling in and messing with the belts...

A friend of mine has a lexan cover for his 7MGTE, That seems like a much neater solution.

[fallen180sx]

let us know how well it holds up.. hell you might even have a small business with this i know id be interested..

[NeedCAforS13]

I've often wondered how strong the covers are with that much material removed - how well is it going to hold the CAS in place when its only attatched to the engine from below.

Its pretty thick metal. I can't flex the CAS once its all bolted to the engine. It doesn't visibly move when the engine is revved either. We'll see how it holds up

Sean

[knightrider]

all the front cover is really doing is holding it in the cam and holding if from spinning, so its not that important that it is bomb proof, the cover is thick enough to support the cas even with material removed like in his picture.

[cortina-mk1]

this is what we did with ours

[Dattebayo]

Hmm... I see you went with the "no cam sprockets" option...

[nismoplsr]

i have been running this way for 2 years now and no problems.

i did leave a little bit more material but i think that way shown above will be fine also.

[RedHatchback]

Dude! When your ready to let one of these bad boys go, let me know! I will buy one in a heart beat.

[cortina-mk1]

heheyes wernt fitted at that time

[lifelicksballs]

a little off topic but have any of you guys had any problem removing that hexoganal looking bolts on the upper timing belt cover...i've recently attempted in trying to remove the cover and ended up with one round bolt now

[RedHatchback]

^llWhat he said! Have the same problem and can't seem to get them out. A little assistance please of so great CA gurus....

[DjLiquid]

If these are the 7 screws that hold the outter timing cover on, they need an allan key to come out. If you've stripped it, youre pretty much SOL. They shouldnt be that hard to get off as they should NOT be torqued on there. If they are, they would be pressing against the cam sprockets. Also, what I've noticed was that not only does the timing cover hold the CAS on, it also holds the timing belt in place.

[NeedCAforS13]

I had to drill out 2 of my stock hex bolts... I replaced all of them with regular 10mm bolts and a washer to hold the cover on

Sean

[tyrannix]

got any pics of it installed yet?(if the first pic was, i cant see , its broken)

[originalsin]

meh looks good but not worth the rish of ****in **** up to me

[sideways danny]

If these are the 7 screws that hold the outter timing cover on, they need an allan key to come out. If you've stripped it, youre pretty much SOL. They shouldnt be that hard to get off as they should NOT be torqued on there. If they are, they would be pressing against the cam sprockets. Also, what I've noticed was that not only does the timing cover hold the CAS on, it also holds the timing belt in place.

the cover does not hold the belt on, FACT

if you've rounded one of the allen bolts use a torx (star) bit and hammer it in, I've had to do this lots of times

[Nowhere]

the cover does not hold the belt on, FACT

if you've rounded one of the allen bolts use a torx (star) bit and hammer it in, I've had to do this lots of times

Correct, the lower crankshaft pulley keeps the belt on the pullies (there's a lip/washer on the the bottom timing cogg/gear to keep the belt away from the block..).

[NeedCAforS13]

I'll go take some more pictures in a minute... took that one last night, and didn't think to take a closer picture

Sean

[NeedCAforS13]

allright here's the pictures of the second one I made. The first one is the black one on the car now...

With fresh baby blue paint



and if you want to cover the belt for whatever reason, throw this on:

the two together:



Sean

[float_6969]

bad place to host the picture Sean. Geocities sucks as far as bandwidth is concerned. Put it up on the NICO memebers ride section and link to that. If you email me the pic, I can do it if you'd like.

[NeedCAforS13]

yeah yeah. my ca18det.org hosting was full, so I used a backup geocities account... its on Nico now

Sean

[float_6969]

[offtopic]Did the KOYO/cooling panel resolve your overheating issues?[/offtopic]

[NeedCAforS13]

nah, thats always been there. Picked up the cooling panel and the koyo back when I first put the motor in (see the picture of the car on the dyno in my sig). the altima fans with an electronic thermostat solved the cooling issues though

[CA19DET]

i always wondered if the RB and CA covers were interchangable, if so then the GReddy/Trust transparent plexi covers would be a nice mod, i dont know bout ya'll but a socket or bolt dropping into the lower cover would eb a *****, more so if the engine was ON,,



i too want to sport my big TOMEI cam gears.. btu concerned bout damage to the belt and/or stones/bolts/sockets getting into the lower cover, between the belt and pullies/gears etc etc..

[tyrannix]

*offtopic*speaking of clear covers, anyone ever seen clear valve covers?would have to be lexan or acrylic or something.... hmmm......

edit> and did you use a dremel to make the cuts?