Please, please, please use a clutch puller and a flywheel puller to remove these components. I would much rather borrow you or sell you a puller than to sell you a flywheel or a clutch. I can make pullers all day long, but we are not making clutches and flywheels anymore.
And please, I'm not trying to insult anybody with this next comment.
I talk to at least a dozen people a year who tell me "Hey Bruce, I just got this Diablo. It's been sitting for 30 years and we got it started yesterday. Just pouring a little gas down the carb or rebuilding the carb and away we went. Wow are we having fun".
When I pull a Diablo in the shop, I may check to see if the engine is free, but I NEVER try and start it. Why you ask? This is what motors look like on the inside after sitting many years.
- DSC04405.JPG (164.43KiB)Viewed 5596 times
For whatever reason, most times the piston is rusty and so is the cylinder. The engine seals are sure to leak and who knows what else is wrong with it. So someone is out there driving all that rust into their lower crankcase and running an engine lean because the crankcase leaks. Believe me, that is a far more expensive motor rebuild down the road compared to if you had just taken it apart and did a little housekeeping. If someone feels otherwise or has an opinion they would share, I'd love to hear it.
So every motor gets stripped down to the crankcase. Flywheel off, ignition plate out (stamp a location mark so you put it back where it was), bearing covers off and piston removed. I clean it up, get some cleaner up into the crankcase and flush it out good. Typically, the crank bearings and rod bearing are ok at this point. If they are not, then you have a more extensive rebuild. But for most, now it's a matter of putting it back together.
I can't explain why, but about 1 motor in 10, I come across a flywheel side of the crankshaft that is rusty. So rusty that a seal would never seal against it.
- DSC04407.JPG (163.91KiB)Viewed 5596 times
Luckily, SKF makes a Speedi Sleeve that repairs the problem. These are very thin sleeves that are very specific in size meant to press easily over the damaged area.
- DSC04408.JPG (165.29KiB)Viewed 5596 times
Just a few light taps with a pipe just big enough to fit over the shaft end and it presses right on and just like that, you have a brand new bearing surface.
- DSC04410.JPG (164.47KiB)Viewed 5596 times
After any repairs needed, start by lubricating the crank bearings and rod bearing with assembly lubricant. Tap the crank seals in to the bearing retainers. Put them in dry, don't try and put permatex or something on the outer surface or they won't seat properly and probably will slide right out as they are not in the retainer with much force. When you pulled the seals out, you may have found one in backwards. This was a Hirth error and when reinstalling them, they should be installed with the springs inward. By now, you have the bearing retainer gaskets off. I clean those up with a little brakecleen and get them dry. Then smear an ever so light skim of permatex on them. These gaskets only go on one way, so get it right.