icanfixall
Official GMM hand model
This is a great time to show some pics of the front cover. In the first pic you can see 3 nuts around the crank damper main seal.
Those are there to use the special tool to install the seal. That tool works very well too. Also look at the timing tab. See the short and the tall mag probe tubes. The one we use in timing is the tall skinny one. Now look at pic 2. See those top and bottom flat nuts. Those are the ones that hold the water pump to this cover. they are soft material and can strip out easily. Watch how you tighten these 4 bolts. Also know these require a special short bolt or the bolt will jam the timing gear and rub the hell out of it. There is plenty more but this is the important stuff for now.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-3-IDI-Timing-Cover-1994-F250-F350-6-9-/301690710044?hash=item463e2ae81c
Those are there to use the special tool to install the seal. That tool works very well too. Also look at the timing tab. See the short and the tall mag probe tubes. The one we use in timing is the tall skinny one. Now look at pic 2. See those top and bottom flat nuts. Those are the ones that hold the water pump to this cover. they are soft material and can strip out easily. Watch how you tighten these 4 bolts. Also know these require a special short bolt or the bolt will jam the timing gear and rub the hell out of it. There is plenty more but this is the important stuff for now.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-3-IDI-Timing-Cover-1994-F250-F350-6-9-/301690710044?hash=item463e2ae81c
But leaning to nope. That aluminum gear cover has a special fit built into it. I can see the water pump doing most of the pressure sealing but I still feel the cover needs to be kept as is. But go out there and try this once. If you look at the bottom right corner of the timing gear cover plate you can see a small hole that's about 3/16 diameter. That's an alignment pin location. That front timing gear cover plate is to be lined up using this pin. The factory shop manual tells how its done and what can be worked with as far as being off center to the crank. Remember the seal seals on the damper hub and it needs to be very close to perfect alignment. Otherwise the seal wears out really fast.
