Cautious Rebuilder (archive)

Greetings. Over the past year my 1991 BMW 735iL developed a substantial head gasket leak. I was using nearly a gallon of Anti-freeze per day, most of which was dumping into my oil. I removed the valve cover and inspected the top end and noted lots of wear on the cam shaft -- so I opted to replace the head with a rebuilt one. Thanks to a posting here, I was able to locate one for $750 with a $200 cover charge. After several false starts (like finding out you have to use NEW head bolts), I was finally ready to reassemble her.

I noticed that the timing chain had moved, so I have done by best to realign the cam with the bottom end using the picture in the service manual which places the cam sprocket bolts at 12-3-6-9 clock positions and the locator pin between 6 and 9 with #1 is TDC. I then put the head on and torqued it twice. I have rotated the engine to be sure the valves aren't hitting the engine but... is there any way to be sure that I have aligned the cam and bottom end properly?

I'm about ready to hit the start button, but I'm scared to death I may have done it wrong, and by starting her I'll ruin everything.

I opted not to do anything with the bottom end (ie. rebuild). I did replace the water pump though.

So... just one questions here:

1. How do I make sure camshaft is aligned properly on the timing chain?

Thanks.

Steve

Follow Ups:

Re: Cautious Rebuilder Bob 19:31 2/17/2002 (1)
- yes, absolutely, my mistake alex lynch 21:51 2/17/2002 (0)
Re: Cautious Rebuilder alex lynch 19:26 2/17/2002 (0)

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