The A15 timing cover DOES fit an A12. The timing marks even line up. I pulled my replacement timing cover out of the junkyard today. It was half off day.

I have this craftsman ghasket scraper that was perefect for wedging into the gasket area to wedge it apart with a little tap from a mini sledge. A harmonic balancer puller was also necessary.
Taking out the three studs around the water pump with a stud puller was very important to get the cover off without taking off the oil pan, even then i had to hammer the edges of the pan where the studs on the cover poke through to finally get it off. (maybe I was a little impatient). The alignment pins (one under the pump, and one just above the bottom left bolt) are the main sticking point because of their tight fit. Once you get it off those suckers your home free.

Oh yeah one more thing, find one with lots of oil and grease on it, the old rusty ones are sure to be a pain, as I've learned the hard way.

Damn, that was pretty epic as far as bolt removals go. I've definitely been down that road many times. I'm told candle wax makes an awesome penetrating lubricant when the parts are heated with a torch. I need to get me some candles next time.

Did you happen to see me gearbox bolt stuck thread - it was a 3 week epic saga about getting a bolt out.....happens to us all.

Re: Gearbox fill bolt - stuck! VICTORY!

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Thanks for the sympathy. I'm not as dumb as I sound sometimes.

Yikes - that sounds real tough!

You did everything right the cover just wanted to be a biatch.

Any A12 timing cover will do from any 1200, 120Y (Honeybee), 210, 310...

If the studs had broken off before hand that definitely sounds like you were headed for trouble I missed that valuable bit of info.

There is a cheap tool called a stud extractor in Australia (made by Kincrome). I'm sure other companies make them too.

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I read the manual several times.

I took the engine out of the car to make my life easier and even had the oil pan off.

The cover seemed to be corroded/molded onto the water pump studs. A torch and liberal amounts of wd-40 werent enough.

I carefull went around with a small screwdriver and broke the seal all around it before trying to carefully pry it off. It was really quite hopeless because of the way it was stuck onto the studs. The studs were broken off trying to remove them as well.

Now I'm praying i don;t leave the studs broken in the block trying to remove wahst left of them.

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I am going to assume the oil pan is still on.

The timing cover has STUDS on the bottom that pass through the oil pan. You have to remove the oil pan first before you pry. You probably know this by now.
Sorry, no spares.
2 weeks ago there were a pair of B210's w/A14's at Pick N Pull in Newark.

grab a few razor blades and hammer them into the gasket in different areas. Breaks the seal. Never failed me once.

In my own experience, I found that the best way for me to get the timing cover off was to
Remove engine & place on proper engine stand
Remove pulley & water pump.
Remove oil pan
Remove timing cover.

Re assemble in reverse order.

It's actually less work than you might think if you have the gear to do it, & it beats bending over double, trying to work in a confined space. At least it does for me.

I'm guessing that you didn't read the manual before you started this exercise.

Well, I got the cover off, in three pieces. Anyone got another?