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Removing Chevy Pilot Busing - Truth or Fiction

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Mrmowerguy, Jul 25, 2012.

  1. Mrmowerguy
    Joined: Jul 1, 2012
    Posts: 16

    Mrmowerguy
    Member

    My first attempt at removing a pilot bushing almost failed. I read where people cut a wooden dowel and hydraulically pushed the bushing out with grease. I cut the end off of a broom handle and used a strip of emory to work the diameter down to where it fit pretty tightly in the hole.
    Here is the handle.
    [​IMG]

    Here is the end of the piece I worked down

    [​IMG]

    It didn't work at first. For some reason I got the idea to pack some greasy pieces of shop rag in the hole. Then it started pushing the bushing out. Here are pieces of the rags.
    [​IMG]

    Here is the bushing out of the crank shaft on the dowel.
    [​IMG]

    It does indeed work, but if you're having trouble, push some greasy bits of rag in the hole to help press the bushing out. I had to put bits of rags in about 3 times to get the bushing all the way out.

    I hope this helps someone in the future.
     
  2. jcmarz
    Joined: Jan 10, 2010
    Posts: 4,631

    jcmarz
    Member
    from Chino, Ca

    Next time use Bread. No joke. I replaced the clutch in my car a few months ago and I used 2 slices of bread (end pieces). Works great without the greasy mess.
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2012
  3. oakmckinley
    Joined: Jan 21, 2012
    Posts: 241

    oakmckinley
    Member

    Harbor freight has a cheap removal tool, about $15. It worked great and I can use it on other projects.
    Took less than a minute and no mess. :)
     
  4. bigorford
    Joined: Dec 26, 2011
    Posts: 13

    bigorford
    Member

    the grease trick has always worked for me, but i use a socket on an extension rather than a broom handle.
     
  5. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,339

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    did that lots of times. Its an old one, but a good one...
     
  6. Once had to use Jif creamy peanut butter... No, I'm not kidding.
     
  7. Don's Hot Rods
    Joined: Oct 7, 2005
    Posts: 8,319

    Don's Hot Rods
    Member
    from florida

    I can't tell you how many times I have tried the grease trick and it has never worked for me once. All I get is grease spraying back out at me, and yes, I do have the dowel or socket in there tight. I know it works for some people, but I must be doing something wrong. :eek:

    Don
     
  8. jcmarz
    Joined: Jan 10, 2010
    Posts: 4,631

    jcmarz
    Member
    from Chino, Ca

    The dowel or socket or ratchet extension does not need to fit tight around the bushing but just slightly under size. And yes,grease is messy which is why I use bread but regardless of what you use, you have to pack the the bushing hole and then hit the dowel. Pack it again and hit again. Repeat this process until the bushing pops out. It will not pop out on the first hit.
     
  9. Minor Problem
    Joined: Jun 24, 2008
    Posts: 36

    Minor Problem
    Member

    A piece of bread works great and no mess!!
     
  10. ffr1222k
    Joined: Nov 5, 2009
    Posts: 1,449

    ffr1222k
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I have never tried this, but I have been told that wet toilet paper works well too.
     
  11. Rusty O'Toole
    Joined: Sep 17, 2006
    Posts: 9,756

    Rusty O'Toole
    Member

    A metal drift works better than wood. If it does not fit tight a rag over the end will help. It has to fit tight or it won't work, but not so tight it won't move of course.

    Fill the hole with grease not rags. You need to use a big hammer and wail on it good and hard. This is not a magic trick it is physics. An example of applied hydraulics using grease as a heavy hydraulic fluid, the drift as a piston and the hammer as the pump. You have to hit just as hard as if you were driving the bushing in.

    Have done this many times, it always works for me. But have seen others have trouble because they used a wooden dowel, too small hammer, not enough grease, used a plastic hammer, no doubt there are other bonehead moves but packing the hole with rags is a new one.
     
  12. Tudor
    Joined: Aug 20, 2003
    Posts: 6,911

    Tudor
    Member
    from GA

    I use a bolt with masking taped wrapped around the end until it is a snug fit. Then grease or whatever incompressible shit you want to stuff in the hole.

    Oh and it the fit is tight - you only have to tap it. Hitting it hard is not a good idea.
     
  13. 41fastback
    Joined: Sep 25, 2005
    Posts: 360

    41fastback
    Member

    Many years ago, before I ever heard of this method, I used the appropriate tap for the bearing ID and ran it in. Screwed in a bolt and pried it out.
     
  14. Boryca
    Joined: Jul 18, 2011
    Posts: 716

    Boryca
    Member
    from Detroit

    Hell, the grease trick is as old as the pilot bushing. Personally I've used the wooden dowel and popped the bushing out with one good rap - just have to make sure you have the cavity full up with grease.
     
  15. The whole idea is based on hydraulics as already mentioned.It's all about displacement and works very well.Loaded with grease a short,sharp tap should be all thats needed.
     
  16. chubbie
    Joined: Jan 14, 2009
    Posts: 2,361

    chubbie
    Member

    i use a hook on a slide hammer. any thing else is a MESS
     
  17. bobss396
    Joined: Aug 27, 2008
    Posts: 18,687

    bobss396
    Member

    I've had it work most of the time using a clutch alignment dowel. The amount of grease is critical, too little and it does nothing. Too much and it has no squish factor that blows the bushing out. Cock the tool a bit too much and it goes porn star right in your face.

    Any stubborn ones, I drill & tap a hole in the face of the bushing and use the slide hammer.

    Bob

    Bob
     
  18. 56don
    Joined: Dec 11, 2005
    Posts: 10,329

    56don
    Member

    This is the way I did it when I was a kid. Then I heard of using KY jelly....oh wait, that was for something else:cool:.
     
  19. monkeyspunk79
    Joined: Jan 2, 2011
    Posts: 553

    monkeyspunk79
    Member

    Lisle tool #55600. Best $11 you'll ever spend and no gooey mess.

    [​IMG]
     
  20. DirtyJoe
    Joined: Dec 1, 2011
    Posts: 268

    DirtyJoe
    Member

    I always used grease and a metal drift. A couple of hits from the hammer and done.
     
  21. Great little tool there.
     
  22. spooler41
    Joined: Feb 25, 2007
    Posts: 1,099

    spooler41
    Member

    More than once, I've used a large bolt,just a little larger than the whole the pilot bushing.
    Just thread the bolt through the bushing until it bottoms in the crank then keep turning until the bushing is lifted out of the crank end.

    ....................Jack
     
  23. CB_Chief
    Joined: Aug 17, 2006
    Posts: 775

    CB_Chief
    Member
    from Oklahoma

    I just tap the old bearing and then thread a long bolt in using it to push against the crank which pushes the bearing out. No mess, muss or fuss...

    I had a O/T Ford pickup one time that had a roller pilot bearing from the factory though that I had the machine shop remove while they reworked the crank.
     
  24. MrMowerguy,
    I have heard of people doing that all my life and never had any luck. No one ever mentioned using rags before.

    I have cut them with a hack saw blade (filed to fit in the hole) and took them out in pieces and even threaded them and pulled them out with a bolt and a piece of chain but I have never been able to do it hydraulicly like you have done. The greasy rag must be what I have been missing all these years.

    good tech my friend.
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2012
  25. 49ratfink
    Joined: Feb 8, 2004
    Posts: 24,195

    49ratfink
    Member
    from California

    guess I'm the only one with a slide hammer pilot bushing removal tool.
     
  26. CB_Chief
    Joined: Aug 17, 2006
    Posts: 775

    CB_Chief
    Member
    from Oklahoma

    I have one now, but for years I didn't hence the tap/bolt solution. I will be installing a new clutch assembly in the next 6-8 weeks and will try the puller. Last time I had to change a clutch in was 1999.
     
  27. Mrmowerguy
    Joined: Jul 1, 2012
    Posts: 16

    Mrmowerguy
    Member

    If I thought I'd be doing this again I'd buy either the slide hammer or that neat Lisle tool. It was late at night, it was hot and I just wanted to get it done. I didn't even know it was brass until I got it out. Live and learn.
     
  28. VoodooTwin
    Joined: Jul 13, 2011
    Posts: 3,453

    VoodooTwin
    Member
    from Noo Yawk

    I use a very custom and high-tech tool to remove them......an old screw driver with it's tip heated and bent into an L. Insert into center hole and pry around the circumference to pop the bushing out. Hasn't failed me yet.

    The peanut butter and bread methods are interesting, but making me hungry.
     
  29. 56sedandelivery
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 6,694

    56sedandelivery
    Member Emeritus

    I've always used a 3/8" Craftsman extension as a drift; the "female" end is the same size as the trans input shaft pilot (GM anyway). BUT, I also use a brass hammer so as not to damage the extension, and the same brass hammer to tap the new bushing in. Clutchwork is always messy/dirty, so a little added grease is'nt a big deal. Butch/56sedandelivery.
     
  30. isky1843
    Joined: Feb 3, 2011
    Posts: 157

    isky1843
    Member

    I have an air blow nozzle with a rubber conical tip that I put in the pilot hole. Quick blast of air will usually pop it right out. If that doesn't work, I stick the grease gun in there and fill it up. Then use the pilot tool to hydraulic it out. As it works it's way out you might have to add a little more grease. It's nice when the air works the first way though. A little anti seize on the pilot bushing before install can make it easier the next time around.
     

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