Hello everyone, new member here, former Fiat dealer in Central New York. Although I did some wrenching on the Fiats I have never done a 124 spider cam belt and need assistance.

1) Factory service manual I have states the cams are moved with the belt on by moving the vehicle manually in gear. I remember doing this as a lad what isn't clear is whether the cams eventually both align to their respective marks with this method.

2) I do not see any mark on the crank pulley, I seem to remember it aligning with marks on the cam cover is that correct?

3) I did not move anything since dis assembly except the auxiliary shaft which is easily re aligned, one would think the valve timing would be spot on if you are simply changing belts.

Many thanks in advance, I'd shoot ya a photo but I need four more posts.


Any assistance would be greatly appreciated, I'm all too aware what will happen if this process isn't done perfectly.

Wow, 18 of you looked at it and still the ah stugatz' ???

Well, in case anyone else should find themselves in this jam I will take the lead in what to do. The factory manual tells you to align all marks before you start. You are directed to never move the camshafts while they are loose, you must always consider the relationship of the crankshaft and valve timing or a strike will occur. Anyhow, my car was in perfect timing when I began and none of the components have been moved. I plan on replacing the tensioner, and serpentine belt. Then as the service manual suggests, I will make sure the timing points align by moving the car carefully in a high gear, manually turning the engine. Another note in the manual states that all the slack in the belt has to occur after the exhaust cam gear leading to the tensioner. I didn't see that written anywhere else so I thought it might help the next person to dig into their twin cam and change belts.

I hope this works, I will post my results in a few days.

OK I have the answers for everyone. How to align an engine you think is out without damaging it..Using a long screwdriver in each plug hole, find the piston closest to TDC, rotate the crank a small amount slowly in each direction and note the piston direction travel. Rotate the piston down from TDC (top dead center), using the screwdriver in each plug hole verify that all cylinders are below deck, even if one is only slightly below. Now you can adjust the cams without hitting a piston, however the valves can collide with each other too so you must carefully turn the cams slowly, by hand yielding each to one another until you get the cams on their marks. Once they are aligned, rotate the crank carefully and slowly till the crank notch is at the Fiat spec position the high slash mark on either the cam cover or block depending on year. Rotate the auxillary pump to 1 o'clock, feed the belt on ending on the intake cam, rolling the crank clockwise to feed the belt on in the direction of engine travel. Re-tighten tensioner, apply tensioner spring, check timing manually by rotating crank two full revolutions, check timing marks when they align as you manually turn. Then start her up with confidence, and enjoy..


If someone responds, I'll only need a couple more posts to show you all perhaps the sweetest, 100% bone stock, 1971 124 spider with 58K original on the clock.

ghostrider300 said:

Hello everyone, new member here, former Fiat dealer in Central New York. Although I did some wrenching on the Fiats I have never done a 124 spider cam belt and need assistance.

1) Factory service manual I have states the cams are moved with the belt on by moving the vehicle manually in gear. I remember doing this as a lad what isn't clear is whether the cams eventually both align to their respective marks with this method.

2) I do not see any mark on the crank pulley, I seem to remember it aligning with marks on the cam cover is that correct?

3) I did not move anything since dis assembly except the auxiliary shaft which is easily re aligned, one would think the valve timing would be spot on if you are simply changing belts.

Many thanks in advance, I'd shoot ya a photo but I need four more posts.


Any assistance would be greatly appreciated, I'm all too aware what will happen if this process isn't done perfectly.

Click to expand...

You really need at TDC gauge to do this job correctly, as you cant rely on the factory marks,Its the same with old Alfas, you can be ten to twenty degrees out

Alfatwo said:

You really need at TDC gauge to do this job correctly, as you cant rely on the factory marks,Its the same with old Alfas, you can be ten to twenty degrees out

Click to expand...

I have no doubt you are correct but the timing marks were used back in the day, I know because I have an AFST card my own self and worked on Fiats in my teen years, I just never did the twin cam belts, my father did almost all the engines, anyhow it must have worked well as the car runs very strong.

throwdown post

Sweet unit right here...