[Tom Vaught]

Originally Posted by geeteeohguy

I have that special tool that bolts to the front of the engine. My old boss was a mechanic at a CA Pontiac dealership in 1970 and said I could have it if I knew what it was. I told him what it was (don't know how I knew) and he gave it to me. That said, I will never pull a Pontiac oil pan 'in-car'. I know better, and I had 42 years in the auto industry.

It really helped that the dealership had a couple of the In Ground "Double Post" Lifts that were on the same centerline as the driveshaft in a rear axle vehicle.

So now you could position the rear axle on the rear lift and using the special tool, along with two heavy duty frame stands, you could LOWER the front suspension and have a have a 4X4 long timber (attached to the KM special tool) push the front of the engine up after you removed the bolts to the front motor mounts and installed longer bolts in the trans crossmember so that it could "PIVOT" upward without breaking the rear trans mount.

Hardest part sometimes was breaking the oil pan seal at the block gaskets
and the Timing Cover.

You also had to remove the distributor cap and wires, broke one of those the first time I tried to do the job by myself.
So I know a thing or three about working on Pontiacs in spite of being an Engineer.

Tom V.

[25stevem]

Tom your always a good number ladder rungs above us all because your a Engineer!

[TAGTOboy]

Originally Posted by Stan R

My 1971 GTO was a late model year production vehicle with the 400 (shipped in April of '71) and came from the factory with the steel timing gears. Early production vehicles still had the nylon tooth aluminum sprockets.

Reasonably certain you are pretty much on the mark. Worked at a Pontiac dealer service dept. ( warranty claims, dispatch "tower", before going to the parts dept.)
With the old 70K warranty, we saw tons of 70 and older vehicles with the nylon teeth shelled off. The engine repair guys took home good paychecks until the steel gears arrived on our shelves. The hi-perf cars rarely made it to 70k and a few earlier vehicles had two or more trips to the engine techs for t gear sets and a pan clean out. By 72, the folks with the older cars quit coming to the dealer, out of warranty or second (third?) owner.

[TAGTOboy]

Originally Posted by 25stevem

Can anyone who has taken apart a stock 1970 RA4 motor confirm that it too had a nylon gear?

Playing catch up on this. Our PMD dealer rep was driving a Company RA4 T/A in late 70. When he got out of it, we sold it to the first retail customer. Young kid whose mama picked up the tab for anything the boy wanted. Came in a couple of months later, knocking like a drowning man on the inside of a submarine hatch. Warranty rebuild and the service manager who had a bit of NASCAR and NHRA background insisted on steel gears. So, yes, the did come with the molded plastic cam gear, at least that one.