Humungous offset screwdriver?

[MarkieB]

.. do I need to turn the pulley 'bolt' on a 1972 V8? It feels as though there's a kind of humungous antiburglar screw holding the pulley on, so I suppose I'd need a 2" wide screwdriver to turn the engine.

Equally relevant, how on earth would I ever undo the bolt when needing to remove the pulley?

TIA,

[DEANO3528]

I think you refer to the hand crank dog. The pulley bolt is deep inside there and is around 1" AF. It takes some shifting but can be done by chocking the wheels and putting the car in gear or by removing the bottom bellhousing plate and jamming a screwdriver into the starter ring.

[tomaxcars]

Hi,

Did this last week on a 79 RRC V8 - had to buy a socket for it.

It's about a 33.5mm - so a 34mm socket works (Approx 1 3/8") - make sure it is quite a deep socket to go over the starting pawl.

Also if the pawl is damaged, as our one was, run a file around it's outer edge as it's diameter is almost exactly that of the distance between the flats on the bolt itself, so any damage may prevent the socket fitting over.

If the engine is out of the car and separated from the gbox you can use a plate with two holes to tie the flywheel to the engine casting to prevent the pulley from turning.

Cheers,

Andrew.

[DEANO3528]

Yes, apologies for the incorrect info, the flats are indeed on the outside of the dog and mighty big.

[MarkieB]

Hand cranking, that sounds fun, I may even have to get a handle, as a way of warming up on those cold winter mornings when the electrical power isn't up to much. I suppose the handle is standard, ie the part number would be as for a series handle?

I was working from feel, so cheers for clarifying that for me; who would have guessed, hand cranking on a Rangie, they seem so far in terms of luxury from a series.

[DEANO3528]

Cold be used for recovery I suppose. Bottom gear low box, plugs out and wind it out on the crank handle. Just like in 'Ice Cold in Alex'

Part number is 592126.

[geoffbeaumont]

Equally relevant, how on earth would I ever undo the bolt when needing to remove the pulley?

Do you actually need to remove the whole assembly? You can remove the pulleys from the front of the balance weight by undoing the much smaller bolts (six, I think) around the inside of the pulleys. Much easier, if it'll do the job.

[tomaxcars]

Hi Geoff,

Whilst it is true that the pulley can be removed on its own - six bolts - they are a pain to get access to on the back of the pulley as there is a lip and dust-shield type of affair.

It's quite easy to remove but trying to get it back on and tightened up isn't.

That said I had to buy a socket and 1/2" to 3/4" step-up - all of which cost 25 EUR.

Cheers,

Andrew.

[geoffbeaumont]

Whilst it is true that the pulley can be removed on its own - six bolts - they are a pain to get access to on the back of the pulley as there is a lip and dust-shield type of affair.

It's quite easy to remove but trying to get it back on and tightened up isn't.

Didn't find it too bad, and I've had mine apart a couple of times while messing around with EDIS crank sensor trigger wheels.

[MarkieB]

dingocroft [¾ way down] are selling 32mm deep for the pulley bolt, unless it changed?

Looks as though the way Betty's been hybridised, there's no possibility of getting a handle in there.. plus it'd be worth owning the right tool for when I have to replace the timing chain/camshaft/etc.

I haven't yet invested in a high-torque wrench, in fact even my 120lbft wrench isn't ratchet, so let's hope the pulley on my diesel doesn't fly into the radiator one day

Looks as though I'll be trying a bit of Edis myself in the near future, too; once I make sure it's basically working under normal conditions

[MarkieB]

well good news! the 32MM eventually turned up, allowing me to adjust the points gap, now we're cooking with gas! :D

very funny though, one of the first places I touched, thinking hmm, now I own an Lpg motor, I should make sure the spark's good.. now let's look at the distributor .. I wonder, what does that do? no apparent effect .. of course I didn't connect the misfiring then refusal to start, to such a minimal twiddle of a little screw :lol:

Now that I've replaced spark plugs, put in Magnecor leads, new rotor arm, she must be idling at 1500, I'll even have to slow her a bit, for that distinctive V8 noise :D

happy? you could say so

32MM doesn't seem to fit on all that snugly, although that could be down to the fact it's a bit inaccessible on mine — there feels as though there's a fair bit of corrosion, too. I may order a 34MM for timing chain/camshaft work.

[dirtydiesel]

It's actually 1 5/16" don't know what that is in new money.

[MarkieB]

just under 33MM. Sounds as though I should have had more confidence in the sage advice on this forum than in dingocroft then

the good news wasn't so long-lived though, so it may not have been merely the points. She doesn't seem to tolerate the cold at all, while, now, I think the Lpg level has gone down considerably, more even than a few minutes of high revs should cause, making me think stuck/frozen solenoid/diaphragm. Now the sw conversion is basically complete, that'll be the future tinkering.

My other worry is engine bearings/ tappets/ valves [/timing chain/camshaft], thinking it's possible that the cold makes that worse..

A V8 engine of that kind of age possibly needs a good once-over, even though it's a bit inconvenient.