Moving in circles

Maintenance time. Replaced the timing belt and water pump.

I used to run a valve cover that had the cam gear section cut out for a long time. Thus making the outer part of the timing belt look used and abused. But the teeth where still in good shape. (Around 60k miles)

This cam gear lock tool comes in handy

I wanted to zoom in on the PHYSICAL difference between the GSR and Type R water pumps. Here is a GSR pump, notice the dowel pins:

Type R/ B16 have no dowel pins:

So if you’re stuck from choosing between a GSR or Type R/B16 pump, either will work fine, dowel pins or not. They all perform the same way.

Also, if you have a been using the hanger/flat head method, especially if you have a shaved head or decked block, keep using that method!

And invest on an AUX pulley. I vouche for the Endyn tensioner pulley.

Extra peace of mind.

✌️