cylinder head removal question

[diendo]

I am trying to change the cylinder head on a 1999 toyota camry.
the problem I am having is removing the bolt on the camshaft gear that is being used by the timing belt. does any one know how to take it off without breaking anything and also
does the bolt come off clockwise or counter clockwise by looking at it. thanks
epi

[Luckynumber5]

use a large wrench or a crescent wrench to old the hex part of the camshaft and use a breker bar to remove the cam bolt, CC to take it off.

[toyomoho]

If an I4, you can make a cheap and fast tool to hold the cam pulley by the large holes on the side. Find a metal bar or piece of wood, etc. Drill a couple of holes in it to install two bolts say 3/8 inch or larger dia and sticking out about 1 inch. Use this tool to grab the holes in the pulley from the front. I used a piece of 1 ½ inch by ½ inch thk bar about 2 feet long from an old garage door hinge. The bolt holes were already installed, I only needed bolts.

[chipsndukes]

Found this thread while doing the same search to get my @#$$%&& camshaft bolt off the sprocket on my 2RZ-FE.
The great ideas in this post led me to another--stick a 1/2" socket extension in one of the camshaft sprocket holes bracing it against the aluminum head on both side.
Wrench like heck with a 2' breaker bar, make sure you put a towel under each end of the trapped extension so as not to damage the nice soft flat surfaces of the head.

A beautiful 'click' and off the bolt came.

This is my $0.02, thanks for the great ideas from this excellent community.

Chipsndukes