Alignment Dowel Removal

[oletrux4evr]

OK, not much room to maneuver with the engine in the car.
Heat the block, freeze the pins?
Removal tool (collet with puller)?
Drill, tap, insert bolt, use slide hammer? (not really room for this one.)
Other ideas?
Thx.

[fatguyzinc]

ive gotten them out with vice grips (twisting back and forth while pulling)
and in an extreme case by welding a nut to the end that allowed us to
break it lose with a ratchet, then pry under it while ratcheting......

[oletrux4evr]

They're out.
Shot them with penetrating oil last night, then used a pipe wrench to break them loose this morning. Once they were loose, attached some vice grips and pried them out while twisting the pliers back and forth. Worked pretty slick. I was pleasantly surprised.
Thx.

[Eric]

I gotta Ask, why are you removing them in the car? What is the need to pull them?

[oletrux4evr]

I'm replacing the Muncie 4-speed with a TKO-600 5-speed. Indexing the bell housing revealed it's out of tolerance for centerline, so offset alignment dowels must be installed to align the transmission input shaft with the crankshaft once the transmission is installed.

[cstmwgn]

I'm replacing the Muncie 4-speed with a TKO-600 5-speed. Indexing the bell housing revealed it's out of tolerance for centerline, so offset alignment dowels must be installed to align the transmission input shaft with the crankshaft once the transmission is installed.

Is that for the Vista Cruiser?

[oletrux4evr]

Is that for the Vista Cruiser?

Yes. Should make is cruise a little better. With the Muncie it was turning 2500 @ 60 mph...........this should put it around 74 mph @ 2000 rpm.

[cstmwgn]

Yes. Should make is cruise a little better. With the Muncie it was turning 2500 @ 60 mph...........this should put it around 74 mph @ 2000 rpm.

Kool - so is it plan A for this year?

[oletrux4evr]

Yes. It won't have Earl's performance, (I know that term is debatable......) but I think we'll enjoy it anyway.

[cstmwgn]

Yes. It won't have Earl's performance, (I know that term is debatable......) but I think we'll enjoy it anyway.

Well the lake truck is just sitting there - perhaps it is time to move it to the donor status and get that hunk of iron heart to the machine shop.

[oletrux4evr]

Actually, there's an Olds 455 sitting in the shop waiting it's turn.......
The lake truck's 454 is second in line for......something.......no plans for it yet.

[Eric]

Is it common to need the offset dowels ? are the bell housings and block mounting machining tolerances when stacked always that far out of spec?
Or is it just and aftermarket part issue?

[oletrux4evr]

I really can't make that determination.
So far, with two after-market transmission swaps I'm batting .500. The truck was within the .005 tolerance, but the wagon was not.
An interesting factor that could make the difference might be that the aftermarket transmissions require a pilot shaft bearing, not a bushing........the bushing would allow for the excess runout. The input shaft hole in the one I removed from the wagon was egg-shaped.