Any tips for removing bellhousing alignment dowels?

[chuckbrandt]

My lakewood is off by .021". I need to remove the original block alignment dowels to put their longer ones in. Any tips on how to do that? They are HARD, I can't drill them. Should I heat the block or the dowel or both? Or freeze them? Do you think one of those slide hammer dowel removal tools would work? I have a feeling this isn't going to be fun...

Thanks, Chuck

[mr0077]

Chuck,
if you don't plan to reuse them, and you have an arc welder, weld a short piece (1 1/2 inch or so) of same sized all-thread to the end of each of the alignment dowels, slide a short piece of pipe over it for a spacer, leaving 3/4" of all-thread exposed. Put a washer and nut on the all-thread. Tightening the nut will pull it out of the block.

[chuckbrandt]

what if I cut threads in them? Probably not long enough to get enough of the die down there. Hmm... might be worth a try.

Thanks, Chuck

[chuckbrandt]

No way I can cut threads in them, I tried on my "practice block".

What really irks me is that my crusty old cast iron truck bell housing is within .004" and that is not from misalignment it's from out of round of the hole.

Why can't they manufacture these lakewood bell housings more accurately than that?

Chuck

[Rick Parker]

Can you grip them from the side with Vise Grips and rotate them while exerting some force to remove them. Maybe a little penetrating oil too. Threading the replacements is a good idea but will probably ned to be done prior to installation.

Rick

[joea]

Been there! I tried threaded rod and a slide hammer without luck. I ended up using a Bolt-Out kit from Craftsman to turn the dowel loose then I pulled it with the slide hammer.

[Steve R]

I welded a glob of metal on the side and grunted away with the biggest friggen pair of vice grips I coud find.
Perhaps you could grind flats on the pin to match the vice grip jaws and work it out.
Steve

[joea]

The Bolt-Outs will "bite" into the metal of the dowel. Then you can spin it with a impact wrench if you have one. A regular wrench will work too. Once you spin it a few times I bet vise-grips will work. The Bolt-Outs are a great addition to your tool box.

http://www.sears.com/sr/craftsman/wh...OOL&Tool_Id=75

[chuckbrandt]

Thanks Joe,
I think your idea is brilliant. Just got back from the store with a set, I'll let you know how it turns out.

Chuck

[chuckbrandt]

I got one out with the bolt out, but shelled out 3 of the bolt outs on the other. I guess I'll have to go buy another set, it's still the most promising of things I've tried. I bet they aren't guaranteed.

THanks, Chuck

[joea]

Craftsman should be guaranteed. Did you use an impact wrench? They make a set of Bolt-outs specifically for an impact wrench which might be stronger.

[HI Cobra]

Lucky you live on the Mainland! Those bolt-outs
looked like a nice addition to my collection. Tried
to get the set on the 'net but was told the nearest
store was in California if I wanted to pick them up.
Long wet drive, huh?
(We have three Sears here on Oahu). Then I put
the set in the cart to see about the shipping costs.
It said "Sorry, we don't ship to Alaska, Hawaii,
Puerto Rico, etc. Go figure - they do have three
stores here- guess I'll have to go visit and see if
they have them. (From prior experience, I doubt it).

[Shawn C]

Flip,
Check out the Sears at Windward Mall in Kaneohe. I just bought the impact and standard sets from them about a month ago. Good stuff, but my SnapOn set is better (the Craftsman sets were for work).
Ciao,
Shawn C

[ted]

For those pesky block dowels, I like using the tube holding end of a flairing tool set to clamp around the dowel. Most of the time, I can twist the tool back and forth and walk the dowel out its hole but in really tight situations, I can tap on the tool with a hammer and move the dowel out that way. Rather than use my really nice double flairing set for this, I've got the cheapo Harbor Freight Salvage special that I don't feel bad about using a 2 lb. hammer on. This method allows me to salvage the dowels so they can be reused.

[HI Cobra]

Shawn,

I just got back from Sears at Windward mall and they
had several different Bolt-Out sets - I got the $30.99
set as it had a good variety of sizes and was only
1$ more than California and it was here. (No shipping,
even if they would). Thanks for the suggestion but -
great minds think alike and I had already gone.

[chuckbrandt]

Sears took my first set back, he said because it was the same day, and I think asking questions about their toolboxes helped .

This time I got a set that looks deeper but doesn't say impact. I was just using a breaker bar.

Ted - another great idea with the flaring tool. I'll try that too!

Thanks, Chuck

[joea]

If you own an impact wrench try it with the BoltOut. The breaker bar is using 100% torque. Plus with the impact wrench you are pushing staight into the BoltOut...giving the "teeth" better bite.

[chuckbrandt]

At first I couldn't turn it with the impact, but after working it for a while now I can.

So now I can turn it with the impact although slowly, the deep boltout is holding good.

I tried heating the block but that just seemed to make it tighter.

Now I have it packed with ice, we'll see what that does to it.

I tried the flare tool but it won't hold tight enough to give it much lift, probably because it's boggered by the boltout. No way it could turn it.

I'm worried that I'm wearing it into spinning but not coming out.

I couldn't find any place that sells the slide hammer dowel pullers... Anyone have any leads. The dowels are half inch which I think rules out snap on.

Thanks, Chuck

[chuckbrandt]

Phew got it out. The impact wrench while kind of leaning and lifting did the trick.

Hey, thanks to one and all (especially JoeA) for helping with this, I quite literally could not have done it without you!

Thanks, Chuck