The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Flywheel housing

Hello Dudes!!,,,I have a problem,i wonder if anyone has an answer to,,I have a "froze-up" 48 chevy engine,and i want to get the Flywheel or Bell housing off,,The tranny's off the engine too,,Problem is How in the world do you get the pressure plate bolts off when you can't turn the crank,,Do i have to go the long route???,,,Take the head off,take the caps off(oilpan cover is off)and shove the pistons through(where the head was)So i then can possibly turn the crank and get the pressure plate off the flywheel(i'm wanting to save the Bellhousing),,,Dave :confused: :confused: :confused:

Try soaking each of the pistons with lots of PB Blaster overnight, then use a crowbar to turn the flywheel. You could also try regular motor oil.

I ran into the same problem tring to get a bellhousing off of a motor at a junkyard,all you need is a swivel socket.

If you are persistant, you can get these out with a small ratchet with a swivel head. If you are lucky there is an inspection plate at the top of the bellhousing that comes off with two screws that might just line up with one or two of the bolts.

Hello!!!,,well i got the bell housing off,,,I took the caps off,the nuts below them and the U parts with the big bolts on them,,sprayed PB blaster down by the shims and around there,got the crank free,,pounded on the crank,with big hammer,,got crank loose,Used big steel bar,pryed up crankshaft,and clutch parts,,,took last 3 bolts off clutch assembly,,took off clutch parts,bolts off flywheel w/clips pounded off flywheel,then i got to the last 4 bolts bolted onto bell housing,took bell housing off,,SO if your trying to take the bellhousing off a 216 or 235 Chevy engine,there's 4 bolts on the bellhousing,connected to the back of the engine,,So i hope this helps anyone attempting to do what i did.... :p :p :p :p :p

I hope there's something left to rebuild after all that hammering! It's not uncommon to bend rods, or damage the crankshaft with a lot of brute-force disassembly. Have all the parts checked for straightness/alignment by a good machine shop. It's slower, but a lot less stressful, to soak everything with a good penetrant like Kroil, and carefully break the parts loose with a pry bar at the flywheel and a hardwood block and a big hammer on top of the pistons, freeing up the rust bond between the rings and the cylinder walls.
Jerry

Hotrod: I did save some of the engine parts,pushrods,flywheel,clutch cover(the plate with the "fingers")and the screws that tighten the pushrods,,The pistons were rusted tight in the block,,,,Anyone need a good anchor?????