Can anyone provide advice on how to tighten the timing belt after reinstallation? I've been reading a lot of DIYs and I'm a bit confused. Thanks for any clarification.

 

I've only done it on a 93 LX (D15B7, IIRC) many years ago and even the factory manual was a little unclear or inaccurate. Have you checked youtube or other vids? You could ask a mechanc in your area;he'll either help you or tell you to take a hike...worth a try maybe.

 

The best I've seen is in this video:

Honda Civic Timing Belt Replacement, Quick Look (1998) - YouTube

The engine looks really similar to the engine in my car. Around 7:15, he puts his hand on top of the cam pulley and wrenches on the crank pulley in a counter-clockwise direction. I can't tell if he's pulling on the bolt, or if he's pulling on the pulley. I guess either way, it doesn't really matter, so long as the bolt doesn't come loose. Can anyone confirm?

 

Maybe that's all you need to do though, hold the cam pulley, yank on the crank pulley until there's much tension between the two (specifically, tension on the belt towards the front of the car), and once that's tight, lock the tensioner down.

 

Skip to about 7:00 in the video to see the tensioning procedure. That is about it, pull all the slack out of the front side then tighten the tensioner bolt. Don't push on the tensioner, let the spring do it, it's calibrated with the proper force (the only reason the spring is there; it does nothing in normal operation with the tensioner locked down). There is such a thing as too tight. The tensioner bolt needs to be rather tight to make sure it won't move. Do not use the starter with the bolt loose. Rotate the engine only by hand.

You can also do it with the pulley and covers off by putting the crank bolt back in temporarily (moderately tight) and then using a wrench on it to turn the crank by hand. After setting the tension, before completing assembly and attempting to start, turn the crank all the way around (counterclockwise) a couple of times to make sure the valves aren't going to crash.

 

Will do. Thank you kindly for the sagely advice!