I did my cam swap and valvetrain upgrade Fri nite, no problem. When I went to put my new March UD pulley on it was just soooo tight. I tried the longer bolt but it just won't go. Got tired of screwing with it because I want to here this thing run, so I decide to put the stock one back on. Well the bolt I was using was a stock one with 1" added below the head via cutting/welding. The March pulley was so tight it had twisted the "added" part which is smaller diameter, to the extent it broke after barely starting the stock pulley on. There is about 1/4" sticking out of the crank and it is stuck!!! I am going to haul the car to my shop tomorrow and weld a wrench to it and try that. Are the pulleys that hard to seat back on??? What am I doing wrong?? A buddy and me have spent countless hours on what should have been one of the most simplest parts of the install. Someone please help as I am about to find the tallest bridge around and jump!!!!

 

I always take a propane torch and heat the inside of the pulley, usually it will slide right on.

 

I stuck mine in the oven at 250 for 5>10 min so it expends.

 

I've done the heat the carrier, freeze the bearing deal and it does work, but I was concerned about the fluid dampened March pulley. Would heating it be okay? Also when you say "slide" on, do you mean by hand or with the bolt. Hopefully I can get that bolt out, right now that has me worried

 

No with the bolt, on a cold engine with a little bit of lube on the crank area.

 

Even standard crank pulleys are a PITA to do.

Especially in the cold winter months here in Aus, today it took me about 1/2 hour to get the pulley on, once lined up I had 2 rubber mallets and kept hitting it around and even until I could get the bolt just enough til it held force on the pulley so it would bounce back and kept hitting with rubber mallets slowly and nipping up the bolt bit by bit.

I think next time I will use the torch and heat it up.

Lucky the engine was on the stand, in the car forget about it.

 

I'll vouch for the March pulley being tighter than the rest. It was an MFer. I used a threaded rod, a really big washer and a nut to push it on. I was so worried I was going to strip the threads out of the crank because it was tight as heck.

 

I'm fixin to take it to my shop and try to get the bolt out, if I do I'm definately gonna heat the pulley. Thanks for everyones responses.

 

My ATI pulley was tight as hell, I was able to get it on by heating the hub in boiling water for a few minutes, using some antiseize lube and using the ARP bolt with no washer until I could get enough threads in to use the washer. Even still I had to use a shitload of force to get it on there.


Goot luck getting the bolt out for the pulley and lets us know how it goes.

 

Putting them in the oven works! Just feels weird and takes awhile to explain to the wife what the hell your doing in her kitchen.

 

I installed new timing chain gears so I placed the old crank gear against the pulley and wailed on it with a hammer to get it started enough to use the bolt

 

So it is ok to put them in the oven @ 250* F with the fluid? I need to put a March on soon.

 

I put the end only in boiling water...no good. When you are going to put it on you should cover the crank snout in anti-sieze. Supposedly better than oil...I guess it helped. I hate that stuff because it gets on everything and never wants to come off.

 

That is a good way to ruin the thrust bearing for the crank.

 

What are the symptoms of a ruined thrust bearing?

 

I just did heads n cam for a freind. He had the march pulley. I Used a brass tipped hammer and tapped (not wailed) on it untill I could get about 4 turns on the crank bolt. It took a long time to get it that far.

When I do mine I will put it in the oven and put some ice on the crank snout.
Dont worry about getting the pulley hot. How hot do you think it gets when its on the motor? Over 200 degrees I would be willing to bet!

Brad

 

Well the beast is alive again, I started it up around 5:00 sun afternoon. I wound up going and getting my welder and bringing it to the house and welding a wrench to the broken bolt. The Miller welder did the trick and I popped her loose. I then heated the pulley in a toaster oven outside the house, and got it on the crank. It was all down hill from there. Suprisingly the car fired right up without even turning over a complete revolution. It idled fine for a minute or two and then it wanted to die unless I kept it alive. I have driven it 100 miles or so and it still won't idle. When I come to a light or a stop sign I have to throw it in N and pedal it to keep it from dieing. My appointment at TEA for a tune on Aug 2nd is going to be a long wait.

 

Glad the oven trick worked for you.

 

maybe "wailed" was too strong of a word I would say I tapped around to the perimeter of the gear as evenly as I could. I don't know if that's still bad for the thrust bearing though

 

I wanted to hammer my pulley on so bad. But I resisted. Don't do it!