The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Starter/Generator blind bushing removal?

Looking for one of you guys who’s memory hasn’t failed yet. A while back, maybe a couple of years ago, we were talking about replacing the bronze bushings in the closed end starters and generators. I made note that the fix was back in the day to replace the whole endplate if the bushing was bad. Someone came up with a way of removing them that was pretty simple, but I’ll be danged if I can remember what it was now. I think it was to run a tap into the bushing till it bottomed out and let it push the bushing out, does that sound right??

Anyone remember that thread or the method???

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I think a 1/2" fine thread tap will fit like a glove. tap it screw in a stud and do the stack of washers trick.

Hi, Denny, First thing I would try is to heat the outside of cover with a small propane torch and then smack the cover down on a piece of wood and see if the bushing falls out,also try to cool the bushing with cold water. If that fails, try to find a grease fitting that you can tap the bushing for and then pump in grease while heating the outer cover.

Hmmm

Now that idea of using a grease zirc is brilliant!!

Dan Bentler

You could try removing the bush by finding a piece of round bar that's a close but sliding fit in the bush you want to remove. Then fill the bush and the space behind it with heavy grease; try not to leave any air bubbles, put the bar back into the bush and start hitting the end of the bar with a hammer.

The hydraulic action should push the bush out of the housing. I've used this method lots of times to get the manual transmission spigot bushes out of the rear end of crankshafts. It can be a bit messy if the bar isn't a very close fit in the bush, but winding a small amount of PTFE tape around the bar helps to make a good seal.

stuart you hit the nail on the head the
grease and pin trick is also how i get pilot bushings out of cranks

Thanks guys but the deed is done, tap pushed it out, that's the way to go. Not to nuts about hammering on an aluminum die casting anyway, to much chance of damaging it.
Pictures to follow when I find the time.

Merry X-mass to all.

DG

Pix for those that care. 9/16-12 tap and a warm up from the propane torch. http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/engine_electrical
DG

Nice snaps Denny. Thanks! I've used your method to pull crankshaft pilot bushings. It wouldn't work with pilot bearings, though. I haven't personally used the grease and rod method but others have told me it works well. A crankshaft is not fragile like an ancient generator or starter end plate though.

There are also slide hammer pullers that work very well to remove bearings and bushings from blind holes.

Nice job Denny. You do good work pal.