Tool to press on crankshaft pulley for Super A

I am getting close to reassembling the front end of my Super A and need to press the crankshaft pulley back on. For removal I fabricated up a plate to go behind pulley and pulled off with a hydraulic jack. I have read several posts about pressing back on. In one post gene bender described a bracket that mounted to bell housing bosses. I can't visualize this and am not sure what the bosses are. Does anyone have a picture or diagram? I feel this is the way to go but can't quite visualize the tool. Thanks, Jim

Is there a half moon (wood-ruff) key in the shaft? If there is keep checking it to make sure that it has remained proper seated. I have had some slide out of position and then they prevent the proper movement of the pulley on the shaft. I think that you said that the end of the crankshaft was threaded. I would think that you could slide it back on by threading a bolt in to the end of the shaft with a home made fixture against the pulley.
SDE

. Yes, it is threaded so that is my plan B. If I can figure out logistics for pressing on though I would go that route.

Use a hunk of all-thread. Screw it in full depth into the crankshaft. Use a heavy washer and/or flat plate with a nut to pull it on. Block the engine so the crankshaft can't turn. Heat the pulley so it will go on easily. Best way to heat it is in an old toaster oven set for about 250 and let it thoroughly heat soak.

Jim's got it. I did mine by putting it in the kitchen oven on the lowest setting for about an hour.

200-250 degrees isn't going to hurt the seal one bit. If you think about it your coolant runs 190+ degrees when the thermostat opens, and the block is even hotter (or else there would be no heat transfer to the coolant), so the seal sees those kinds of temperatures all the time.

If you wanted to build/fabricate a "hoop" with a "crossbar" and use your jack, you'd need to choose something on the engine block that's close to the centerline of the crank, as viewed from each side. And, I should mention stout enough to resist the pressure. I'd want to go with something like a 1/2" to 5/8" bolt.

You could use flat bar, drilled, or even a rod welded to a flat-pad. Similar arrangement on both sides.

For the crossbar, this needs more bending strength due to having to span from one side to the other. I would either use a piece of channel or a piece of square/box tube.

Also some quick measurements would help, need to have enough room for the bottle jack's closed height to get between the crank nose and the end of the pulley.

I would also use a disk or heavy washer as a pad to distribute the load of the jack and prevent any scarring on the bore. If you had a lathe you could turn a little pilot/shoulder to help center this part in the bore for the start of the presswork, turn over at the end to finish.

You probably need a helper as there's a lot to hold onto...a hot part, a horizontal jack, a steel disk, someone has to align this carefully, and then pump the jack, going slowly to get it aligned and not cocked. Definitely use your welding gloves.

The threaded rod down the center is a bit high-stakes in the fact that if it were to pull out or strip the threads in the crank nose it is going to be a very bad day and *all* the reassembly work on the bottom end of the motor is going to have to come back apart and wait.... Obviously people have done it successfully without horror stories but the potential for trouble would keep me awake at night.

Just to add some ideas, if you had an old fire extinguisher you wanted to get rid of, you could discharge it on the crank nose, the cooling effect is pretty powerful. Also you could build a special box and pack the crank nose in dry ice for an hour before. Anything to widen the temperature differential between parts aids to open clearance in the "fit" between the parts. It wont take long for them to equalize once they touch though.

(quoted from post at 12:02:22 08/22/17) You probably need a helper as there's a lot to hold onto...

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hich is one of the reasons I prefer the all-thread method. You need one hand for the pulley and one for the plate/washer/nut.

(quoted from post at 12:02:22 08/22/17)
The threaded rod down the center is a bit high-stakes in the fact that if it were to pull out or strip the threads in the crank nose it is going to be a very bad day and *all* the reassembly work on the bottom end of the motor is going to have to come back apart and wait.... Obviously people have done it successfully without horror stories but the potential for trouble would keep me awake at night.

Click to expand...

'm sure a lot of them have been pulled on with a bolt threaded into the crankshaft. But this concern is one of the reasons I said to use all-thread and why I said to screw it in full depth. You are using all the threads all the time, not just the ones engaged by a bolt.

Pulling the pulley on is really the only reason those threads are there. Once the pulley is in place, they are not used. If the threads get messed up, you can still use the bottle jack method, no need to go back and do any rework.

Thanks guys for all the feedback. I am now leaning to threaded rod method. It is definitely logistically easier. Also, pre-heat of pulley to 250 degrees will also help.

Jim Becker,

You said nearly what I was thinking. Use a fully threaded-in rod and use a nut/washer combo to "pull" the pulley on. I have seen stripped crankshaft snout threads due to the bolt method.

D.