1995 Prelude SE timing belt

It's time for timing belt service on my 1995 Prelude SE (H23A 2.3 liter
engine). The belts/water pump, etc. were last replaced in early 2000, about
60k miles ago. This time around, I'd like to do it myself. I have the
factory manual from Helm, but I'm wondering if anyone here has any tips or
tricks that might save time and frustration. I know I need to replace the
timing belt, balancer belt and water pump. In addition, I know there is at
least one seal behind the timing cover that is slowly leaking oil, so I'll
need to replace that as well. The local shop would charge around $500 for
all of this, and while that's not a bad price per se, I love to save money
when I can.

Any tips or suggestions are welcome and appreciated (especially concerning
the seals), including "just take it to the shop anyway."

 

How much hands on mechanical experience have you? If none,
this job is probably not for you. If

I suggest figuring out how you are going to free the
crankshaft pulley bolt, and then spending one day freeing
it, first. This is probably the biggest hurdle. The site
http://tegger.com/hondafaq/cranktool/index.html#easiest
reviews all the options I've seen, though its author and I
disagree on several points made there. My site at
http://home.earthlink.net/~honda.lioness/id6.html also
discusses some of the tools one can make or purchase.

Of course, if you haven't time to fool with this your best
bet is your local mechanic freeing the bolt for you,
snugging it up just enough for the drive home, and then you
tipping him/her ten bucks or more.

Two shaft seals are typically replaced simultaneous to
replacing the timing belt:

The camshaft oil seal, item 36, at
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/auto/jsp/mws/prddisplay.jsp?inputstate=5&catcgry1=Prelude&catcgry2=1995&catcgry3=2DR+SI&catcgry4=KA5MT&catcgry5=CAMSHAFT-TIMING+BELT+%282%29

The front crankshaft seal (also known as the oil pump seal),
item 29, at
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/auto/jsp/mws/prddisplay.jsp?inputstate=5&catcgry1=Prelude&catcgry2=1995&catcgry3=2DR+SI&catcgry4=KA5MT&catcgry5=OIL+PUMP-OIL+STRAINER

I used an ordinary corkscrew to remove these, though the
first time was a bit tricky.

This group's regulars has much experience with this job. If
you get stuck, you can ask here, and someone will probably
chime in with a solution.

 

Due to some work delays, I haven't been able to get started on this job
until now. In going through the Helm manual, one of the steps is to (I'm
paraphrasing here), "remove two rear bolts from center beam to allow engine
to drop and allow clearance to remove lower cover." In the illustrations,
it does not show what the "center beam" is. I know under the car is a
structural member than runs fore-to-aft, but I don't recall that it supports
the engine. In any event, does anyone know what the "center beam" is?
Thanks in advance for the assist.

 

Item 1 in the drawing at the link below:

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/auto/jsp/mws/prddisplay.jsp?inputstate=5&catcgry1=Prelude&catcgry2=1995&catcgry3=2DR+SI&catcgry4=KL4AT&catcgry5=CROSS+BEAM

 

Exactly the piece I was thinking of. Thanks for the help, as well as the
previous explanations.