Ford Flathead Clutch Installation. Please Help!!

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brandonstc

Member
I have just rebuilt the engine in my 1949 Ford truck. This is my first engine rebuild and the engine is a 226 flathead 6. When I went to install the clutch, I noticed that my alignment tool was too loose. I then ordered a new pilot bearing. The new bearing fits both my alignment tool and the shaft on the transmission. The flywheel on the engine looks like it has some type of bushing in it instead of a bearing. Will it come out with a bearing puller or is there some special trick to removing it? Any help will be greatly appreciated. I have included some pictures of the flywheel and the new bearing.
 

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Piece of cake. Stuff the hole with grease. Find a piece of round stock about the size of the hole. place tha round stock against the hole with a rag wrapped around the place they meet. Firmly smack the round stock (drift) with a two lb hammer and the bushing will pop right out.
Its a hydrolic principal.
 
or you can get a pilot bearing puller that installs on the inside and has a slide hammer to pull the bushing-some local auto parts stores have them to borrow--but both work equally as well
 
sometimes you have to add more grease if it doesn't come out the first time. keep stuffing grease in and hit it again and it will come out..
 
That is a bronze pilot bushing.You have a choice here bearing or pilot bushing. Your choice. OMO bearings will seize up bushings will not.You pick. LOL. ken ct.
 
As Ken CT mentioned, the type of pilot bushing/bearing used is dependent on how the vehicle is used. For long term, the bearing grease will deteriorate but it will work for daily drivers until you replace the clutch again and replace the bearing as well. If the car will be driven infrequently, the bushing will last the test of time fairly well. It should also be checked any time the clutch is worked on and replaced if necessary.
 
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Somewhere on the HAMB I read that peanut butter works better than grease for this. Then again, I read a lot of crazy stuff on the HAMB.
 
Mike51Merc said:
Somewhere on the HAMB I read that peanut butter works better than grease for this.
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As in: "...have it out in a JIFFY" ? Couldn't resist! Grease works just fine. Some say wet bread works, too. I've gotten more than a few out with plain ol' grease. DD
 
Some times the bearing goes in flywheel. The other day guy said he couldn't get bearing out he tried to use a tape and broke it off. When I got there to look at it found was just a hole in end of crankshaft. I think just put it back together the way it was.
 
If grease don't move it, wet paper stuffed in till it's full then use the good fitting drift will have out fairly quickly. You can really belt the drift with some anger too. This is normally for the ball bearing type that can rust in, they phozzy bronze bushes normally pop out fair easy. These are the ways I do it. Of coarse if it fits in a blind hole and you ain't got the puller, it's the only way.
Martin.
 
I want to know is that smooth or crunchy peanut butter? Also if I use bread,do I use wheat, rye or just plain white? Take care be happy.E.P.W.
 
The bearing is in the flywheel. Remove the flywheel and tap the old bearing out. Install the new bearing into it. Now put the flywheel back on. Done.
 
Thanks to everyone for the comments. I tried the grease method and the bushing would not come out. I will now get a pilot bearing puller and try that.
 
So, this is what works for me- Put a 3/8" bolt head first through the center of the bearing (might have to grind a bit, I forgit). push it to one side with a piece of steel-maybe a 1/4" bolt, so that the head of the bolt hooks the other side of the bearing...

Find a 1 1/2" pipe coupler, a short piece of pipe or such, a stack of washers that go over the bolt, nut it. When you tighten up the nut the bolt pulls the bearing into the coupler ...

(Vise grips on the bolt is an option)

Flatout has a real good plan too...

Karl
 
Update: I welded a 3/4" tap to a steel rod and put a slide hammer on it. I threaded thr tap into the old bushing. That took it right out and i have installed the new one, along with a new clutch. Now i am ready to reinstall the engine.
 
Question on reinstall of trans (last time I did this I was 13, 75 now) any grease in the pilot bushing or is it left dry? An old mind is a terrible thing...
 
surfgeezer said:
Question on reinstall of trans (last time I did this I was 13, 75 now) any grease in the pilot bushing or is it left dry? An old mind is a terrible thing...
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You will not see a gob of grease on an oil-lite pilot bushing. They are inpreginated with heavy oil and the oil forms a thin film between the shaft and bushing plus there is no or very little side load on the pilot, just the spinning motion. Every time the bushing gets warm the oil has the ability to come out of the bushing. Due to the close clearance the oil don't "run out" of the bushing and just enough stays in the gap to form a film for the shaft to run on. Don't know the clearance of a pilot shaft to bushing but I would say being about the same size as a water pump bushing should be about .0015 The clearance of a bushing is basically determined by the OD of the shaft. A king pin bushing is not like an oil-lite bushing, they look like solid material and are NOT lubricated by the oil in the bushing. These are lubricated by grease forced between the king pin and bushing. There is a slightly irregular surface on the ID of the king pin bushing to hold some grease and needs to be greased on a time and use basis. I have seen water pump bushings in use over 60 years with no wear on the 1937 to 1948 pumps. The shaft never touches or comes in contact with the bushing. I have seen pump bushing warn oval shaped with the oval on both pump aimed toward the generator. This is from the fan belt tightened with a large bar. This squeezes the oil from between the shaft and bushing and allows the shaft to run on the bushing surface. These (37-48) pumps are lubricated by a drip system of oil available to the OD of the pump bushings at all times and not dependent on a person to add oil or grease. G.M.
 
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