It looks like i am going to have to replace the gasket for the timing chain cover. I am not that knowledgeable, so if you real mechanics could give me a few tips it would certainly be appreciated. I have a 390 engine, and there is a power steering unit, an alt., water pump and the fan on the engine that i will be dealing with . Any insight to this job will be a blessing .
Thanking you in advance, Newwavedave

P.S. I would like to thank, and give a salute to the guys who put this website together, you should get a medal for humanitarianism!

 

I have just done that so I may be fresher on what not to do , but here goes.loosen and remove the alt. and power steering belts leaving the brackets attached to them, unbolt the oower steering and alt. brackets from the engine ,leaving them attached to the components , after disconnecting the battery, of course . hang them off to the side usding bungee cords. disconnect the fuel pump to carb line at the carb, ' you may have to remove the oil preassure guage to do this,'and then unbolt it from the timing cover ,leaving the line attached to it if possible, bunge it off to the side also..take the radiator hose and heater hoses off of the water pump after having first drained the water/antifreez into a suitable container , a five gallon bucket works fine . this next step can be done two ways . either unbolt the water pump with the fan attached ,or unbolt the fan and then the water pump, there is a alt bracket bolt behind the water pump pully so it may be eisier to remove the pully or leave the alt. bracket attaached to the pump, either way works.next remove the harmonic ballencer pully, three bolts. and remove the harmonic ballencer bolt . with a harmonic ballancer puller remove the ballencer. remove the 4 bolts from the front bottom of the oil pan that screw into the timing cover . remove the timing cover bolts from the front of the engine and remove the timing cover.clean everything and reverse rhe proceddure to install . depending on the milage on your engine , now would be an excellent time to also replace the timing chain and front crank seal, making sure to lightly oil the crank seal to prevent a dry start up, prior to installing the timing cover , an extra bead of rtv at the corners of the oil pan, where it meets the timing cover , will keep it from leaking , also use rtv on both sides of the timing cover gasket .installation is doing everything in reverse. something that I learned here is to install studs w/nuts, in the fuel pump bolt holes to make it easier to reinstall the fuel pump. with out that step ,you can spend as much time on reinstalling the fuel pump as the whole job took.double coat the fuel pump gasket also. the difference in weather you remove the fan or leave it attached to the water pomp depends a lot on weather you have a fan shroud or not. with a shroud , remove it,good luck,bob

 

Thank you Bob, i am just about ready to start, but i wanted to say thanks for taking the time to help me out. I will post again when i am finished to let you know how it went, but i don't see how i could go wrong with your easy to understand instructions.
Thanks again, Newwavedave

P.S. Have you ever thought of writing a how to manual for fords? You got a knack for explaining things!

 

the 4 bolts or whatever in the bottom of the cover is key or you will break the housing prying on it.