TOPIC: Flywheel removal

With the cooler weather my attention has shifted from painting of the 1959 McChesney to getting the 2 1959 Johnson RDS 21 B engines that were originally mounted to it ready for next years boating season. These engines were only used during the summers of '59,60'61 at which time the boat was put in dry storage for over 42 years so they have had little use. When I got them they were both froze up. By taking the cylinder head and the by pass covers off I was able to free up one engine using PB Blaster.I am working on one engine at a time.Amazing how a small rust deposit was able to prevent turning this thing over. The cylinder walls are in like new condition and the rings were free with good tension on them.My plan is to change the impellers,new spark plugs, and new points set which leads me to reason for this post.I will include a photo of my set up for pulling the flywheel that to this point have been fruitless. I have been using PB Blaster and a heat gun to no avail and the other day I pulled the threads on one of the holes that the rope pull ratchet is bolted to the generator pulley and will now either need to heli-coil or tap for a 5/16 bolt. What the heck am I doing wrong, any suggestion would be greatly appreciated. I am thinking of using map gas to heat it. What damage would I cause?

Additional info: The wood block is to prevent bending the puller bolts and direct contact with the flywheel. The manual states not to strike the center bolt of the puller.I've done this with removing steering wheels and harmonic balancers but am reluctant as I am a newbie to outboards.

Heat, vibration, penetrating oil, etc. Try tapping with a rubber mallet or light tapping with a hammer- some vibrations when the puller is under tension should help. Using high quality bolts, grade 8 or better, you shouldn't have to worry about the puller failing. Myself, I wouldn't use the wood spacer as it will compress and reduce effectiveness of the puller. If something does break, replacement parts can be found easily enough:

There are some pretty smart fellows over at the AOMCI site that can give you some flywheel removal help.

Use something to keep the puller from turning as you tighten the center bolt.Use a hefty hammer on the center bolt .----This usually pops them off.

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Never done any damage in 40 + years of wrenching.

Thank you gentlemen. I used the shot gun approach, meaning I used all of the above advice and the flywheel is off engine number one. The points look like they were put in yesterday however the the plastic(?) coating on the coils is all cracked and peeling off so I am guessing they will require replacement. [/spoiler][/size][/color][/size]

Make a careful observation of how the coils line up on the mounting bosses.

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That way you can install the replacements with the correct air gap.

Thanks for the heads up Professor. I have the coils on order and will not remove the old ones until the new ones are in hand.

When you put the flywheel back on make sure there is no oil on the top of the crank shaft that goee into the flywheel and no oil in the center of the flywheel. If those are 40hp the nut is toqurted to 105lb if not its 65lbs. A little over tight won't hurt.
Mike aka pathfinderz1

The torque for a 59 -35 HP flywheel nut is 65 FT-LBS.

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