I am on the same original cam belt on my 1999 WRX - It has only done circa 75,000 Kms , but its now 22 years old and its time to replace.

I intend replacing myself , by cutting the belt along its length and removing the front section of belt .
The idea is to lock the cams into position with the remaining piece of belt.
The new belt can now be partially fitted into position, before cutting and removing the remaining half of the old belt .
I will then be able to slide the new belt into its final position without the risk of stuffing up the timing.
Anybody tried this ?

 

How do you slide the new belt over the raised guide sections on R/H IN & L/H EX while its all under tension.

 

well you have taken a massive risk by letting the original belt get to 22 years old (a record possibly) so you may aswell take a massive risk in the procedure you mention.

p.s whats this weeks lottery numbers if you dont mind me asking

 

Why dont you just do it the correct way?, the subaru belt is an easy one to do.

 

Just do it the proper way mate. No point risking it and it going wrong

 

Fuzz townsend did that on Car sausage, it wasnt on a scoob iirc.

 

do it the proper way plus you still need to change the tensioner too

 

Seems like more work than just doing it properly. You can get a proper tool to lock the LH (RH from the front of the engine) cams in place for not very much anyway.

 

Well you can't -good call. So this idea out the window.
Will get the cam locking tool as suggested and follow the conventional belt replacement procedure.

 

Some useful and helpful guidance on youtube.. Don't forget you might need to be prepared to change some or all idlers too but you won't know if they're past it till you've removed the belt and spin them to hear if they're noisy or not.

 

After 22 years it would be quite ridiculous not to change the idlers and tensioner anyway.

 

This. And it’s £20 for the tool which makes it a piece of ****. Don’t mess about with a timing belt.

 

and the water pump/front oil seal

 

I'd agree with everything said up to now. You should be changing the belt after 5 years max, irrespective of mileage. 22 is not only a record but lord knows what state the idlers and water pump are at. Other than the fact you have to remove the top hose to get the belt on/off, but if you've left the belt this long, when was the last time you changed the coolant or brake fluid for that matter? I dread to think.

It does appear you've pushed your luck, and congratulations on getting this far. Up to you really. If it was me it would be front oil seal, water pump, all idlers and belt, plus new coolant and probably hoses too. If you are prepared for risk, and the car isn't worth much anyway, then just empty the coolant into a bucket to re-use and only change any idlers that don't spin freely.

Most importantly, you don't need any tools, as you can line up the white markings which come on all new cam belts with those on the pulleys.
The one thing you really must NEVER crimp on, no matter how tight or reckless you fancy being is to not change the tensioner. That's a guarantee of an early bath!

I changed my radiator at the same time and the whole job took an hour.