2.8 12v timing belt tools?

Any special tools I need?  Holding tools?  I like to rig....

a few tools required like a cam locking tool which is the priority I suppose they can be hired or someone has them where you are

Cam locking tool, you mean to hold the cams in place so they dont move?  A sharpie?

Or you mean to hold them to get fasteners off?  The belt wont hold?

unfortunitly is you dont know that much I would let some one else do it ( nothing personal )

Lol.  Pretty rough assumption.  I'm not going to list my years of credentials and working on things far more complicated than a simple automobile.  I suppose you were born knowing how to change a timing belt? Nothing personal.

Since I dont have a shop manual for every car I touch, common sense and experience tells me to ask questions such as this before I start ripping the front end of my car off, so I can get the job done expediently.

I have never changed the timing belt on an overhead cam car.  Should I go to Audi school first?

Or you could just answer my question.  Even if you don't respond, I know you will have checked back on this post, so you would've really saved some time telling me the first time. C'mon man.

Im just taking a guess here, the cam tool holds the cams so they dont move under valve spring pressure.  Couldnt I just mark the cam and the housing before I take the belt off, then re-align?

Good, it seems hard to get good answers on this forum.  I bet if I asked what kind of steering wheel cover to get, I'd get a bunch of replies.

How about a straight answer? Something like, a cam locking tool makes it easy, but you don't really need it if your careful and resourceful.

Perhaps I should make a writeup on how to do your own timing belt for the "simple joe".

You NEED the cam lock bar, its much to hard to do the timing belt without it. It could literally take you days without it just getting the belt on. The sharpie of course is for marking the crank after you take off the crank pulley so you know the crank didn't move. Un-less you wanna buy the crank holder tool which really isn't needed. Its a snap with the cam holder though.

I didn't need any special tools for my 30v. I did touch the right cam pulley and it jumped about 20-30 deg. The cam compresses the valves and makes it sensitive to touch. I rotated it back in line and it was okay. I could not wrap the belt around the pulley, I had to slide it into the teeth of the pulley. Tooth design. I changed the 2 pulleys and the water pump. The pulleys were okay but for how long? The water pump had a little play in the bearing but no leakage so it wasn't long. 130'000 kms. The job worked out okay as the car runs great.  B.

The 12V engine is a lot more touchy then the 30V engine, the cam would want to turn a lot more. Even then i wouldn't do a 30V without the cam lock bar.

That makes sense being more touchy, having less valvesprings. 

Is there nowhere to grab the cam sprocket to turn it easily to line up?  Auditech, if you don't think I'd be able to turn it easily, or rig up something easy, I'll pick up the tool.  Tomorrow I'll go out and look.  I don't have the timing belt covers on anymore.

Beem, I think you should've changed the pulleys, from what I've ever seen and read, its not the belt that fails initially, its the pulley bearings.  When the bearings go south, they will lock up after time, causing the belt to slip, burn, and break.

http://blauparts.com
Has timing belt service kits that include seals, waterpump, thermostat, tensioner, serpentine belt and the timing belt for ~$250.  If you buy their kit you can rent a tool kit with everything you need for $35 ($325 refundable deposit).