Here are my tips.

1. Many old mopars have fan clutches. Remove the fan bolts first. With the belt installed it often provides enough resistance to remove the bolts. If not then wedge a screwdriver between another bolt and the fan shaft to help hold it. If it is a fixed fan it's easy. Take the shroud loose and loosen the bolts.

2. Remove the belts, fan and shroud. Many people remove the radiator at this point but I have another option later.

3. Drain the radiator. Step #10 has a trick so you don't have to remove the radiator. If you remove it use sandwich bags and tape to cap the transmission lines and keep the transmission fluid from draining all over the place. Since this is your first timing chain I suggest you remove the radiator to give you a clear view of your work.

4. Remove crank pulley bolts. (small bolts not the big one in the center. The pulley only goes on one way on later mopars. I think in 1970 they started that. I suggest marking the pulley to the balancer for convenience later.

5. Remove the harmonic balancer bolt. On some cars you can put a breaker bar on it and hit the end of the bar with a big hammer. On others you can put a breaker bar on the harmonic balancer bolt and wedge the end against the ground or a frame rail. DISCONNECT THE COIL WIRE & BUMP the starter to break the bolt loose. Make sure you don't let it rest on or twist the transmission lines. On old mopars the breaker bar should be against the passenger side frame rail or the ground on the drivers side of the bolt. Once it is broke loose stop and remove it by hand/ratchet.

6. Bump the starter or turn the engine to get it at TDC with the rotor in the distributor pointing near the #1 cylinder plug wire.

7. Remove the battery cable, alternator and brackets. Remove the bolts for the AC and power steering brackets. Some will leak antifreeze. It's normal. Keep the bolts in the correct positions. They are different lengths and it makes a difference. You will need to move the AC compressor & Power Steering pump out of the way of the timing cover but usually you do not need to remove them.

8. You can remove the water pump at some point or not. I prefer to remove it and inspect the pump and timing cover. even so remove the upper bypass hose from the water pump to below the thermostat housing.

9. Remove the Fuel pump on small block engines.

10. If you don't want to remove the remove the radiator there is a trick to getting the harmonic balancer off. Most pullers use a long bolt that won't clear the radiator but if you use the bolt from a pitman arm puller it is shorter and will let you remove the balancer often without removing the radiator.

11. Remove the 2 bolts under the timing cover holding it to the oil pan and any bolts along the edges not already removed when you took off the brackets. Gently pull and pry the timing cover off. It is aluminum and can be cracked or deeply scratched if you are not careful.

12. You should be looking at the chain.

Hope it helps. I'll update this if I remember anything else but I have to start class.

* If you use the bump starter method to remove the harmonic balancer bolt remember that the alternator wire is a direct connection to the battery and if shorted will burn the fusible link or worse. That is why I don't remove the alternator or brackets until I bump the bolt loose and disconnect the battery. If you need to get the alternator and brackets out of the way then cover the ring terminal wire of the alternator really well to prevent it from shorting.

Last edited by IMGTX; 03/12/24 01:15 PM.