Q: I tried to replace the timing belt on my 944 and I am in a jam. I got everything apart except the top bolt on the camshaft. Not only is it very tight, the “star drive” socket has stripped the head of the bolt and it is down in a hole. I can’t get anything to grab hold of it either. How does that work? — Erik
A: Do it yourself timing belt jobs are sort of like “military intelligence” or “jumbo shrimp”. Something just doesn’t seem right. My opinion is that you can do a lot more damage than what it costs to pay someone who has done it before. But OK, I will get off my soap box. That pesky bolt has a very shallow head to screw it in. It also has Loctite on it to keep it from coming loose. Even pros strip them out.
The trick is to drill the head off the bolt (it is soft metal), remove the ignition rotor sleeve, grab the remains of the bolt with vise grips and remove it. New bolts are about $3.00. They are not worth a lot of struggle. — MC