Timing belt / water pump replacement

[klweimer]

There's a New Jersey fiat club, http://www.njfiats.org I don't know them but they may be able to offer you some help or at least guidance to a good mechanic.
Kirk

[htchevyii]

I guess that I'm not the only one on here with a Chevy II and a Spider! unless the fuel pump lobe has been removed, the connecting rod can it and break the block when the belt breaks. The belt is really not a hard job, sometimes bleeding the cooling system is the hardest part and still no big deal if you add the flush tee to the heater hose. Just give it a weekend and take your time. I too used the breaker bar, starter motor method to loosen the crank bolt.

[KandJinmaine]

Update:
Well my "spider sense" was tingling when I went out to the barn this morning and thought I would try a chain wrench or strap wrench and then mostl likely the starter method to loosen the crank pulley bolt. I had not yet removed the water pump and thought that with the trans in 5th, wheels blocked and the chain wrench handle up against the water pump snout, I'd give it another go. Well I moved the bolt about 1/6 th of a turn and it wasn't getting any easier. I went back to the house and looked up the bolt on A/R's website and confirmed what I had suspected but forgot. As I previously mentioned we got a new block for this car a number of years ago. How many I don't recall right now, but it's in the archives. This block was new, and therefore had a bolt not a nut to hold the crank pulley in place, and looking at the website confirmed it was LEFT HAND THREAD!!!
So, it's really tight now , but clearly I narrowly avoided an "oh sh*t" moment. We have had this car long enough now that it is easy to forget the sequence of events and how that might change parts and procedures necessary to work on it. I must be getting old.....
So, although I too could probably replace a timing belt and water pump in under two hours if it had been less than a decade in between attempts, that's not the point. The point is doing it yourself and not outsmarting yourself in the process. We love this car and have for over 20 years, lots of stuff has happened along the way.
Thanks for all the help,
Jeff