I did a search but didnt find anything. Is there a quick easy way to keep the engine from turning when trying to change the crank pulley if I dont have a piston stop tool ?
While I have not done it myself, I have read on here many times that folks will bust up an old spark plug, tap the inside or weld a nut on, and thread a bolt through it to make a quick easy piston stop tool.
An impact wrench can often loosed such things. If you don't have an impact wrench, you can duplicate the effect by placing a wrench on the nut or bolt you are trying to loosen and give the other end of the wrench a series of fast hits with a hammer. I did this recently. You can basically turn the bolt a little before the crank has a chance to rotate. What motor are you working on?
On a SBF, I have put a socket with a breaker bar on a balancer bolt, put the other end of the breaker bar under the frame rail, disconnected the coil, and turned the ignition key. Balancer bolt came right off.
If the heads are on stuff a bunch of clothes line size cord down a cylinder spark plug hole and turn the piston up against it to stop it "softly" I have done this to hold valves up to replace valve stem seals or broken springs too. then just pull the cord out. Or a wood wedge between the flywheel and trans mount bolt area.
Find a piston coming up on compression. with it well down feed a clean nylon rope through the spark plug hole. Enough so that the piston will contact the rope and have a cushioned stop before TDC. Make sure you leave a long tail hanging out of the plug hole to be used when you remove the rope. Proceed with removing the bolt.
Thanks, that sounds like the easy I was looking for. I tried locking the flywheel but my locking methods kept falling out.
The Jalopy Journal
