congratulations! you're in the final stretch. you should feel proud.

i've got the Sears ratchet and socket and they have been worth every penny. check out Ray Green's Nut-Be-Gone thread and you can get some simple ideas on how to lock the flywheel and also keep the engine itself from moving as you torque it. you will need something to extend the ratchet handle - i have a length of exhaust tubing for that. you should get it done, no problem.

 

For a flywheel stopper, I just came across this vid:

The socket I found at Tractor Supply (Northern Tool may have it) for less than half of what a Craftsman sells for.

 

Already have the flywheel stopper from Mazadtrix (could have saved some money along the way but water under the bridge now).

Went shopping at Sears yesterday. 2 1/4 socket and breaker bar. Off to Lowes on the way home for a pipe. The only thing in the garage are some old extension vacuum cleaner tubes which I don't think will take the strain. I do have some steel 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 rails from the previous garage door opener which may come in handy.

And yes, once I got all 17 tension bolts down that was a milestone moment.

 

And tonight I have a new and deeper appreciation of the amount of force required for 350 ft-lbs.

I kept thinking "Something's gonna break." But it really did work.

(The twine was to hold the wrench in place until force was applied. It kept wanting to jump off.)

 

The Mazdatrix flywheel stopper is a good thing to have. So is an impact wrench. Anyway, congrats!

 

Thanks.
The drawback on the gravity method is its necessary to keep resetting the weights, as in my setup, once the blocks hit the ground.

 

Did you put the rear oil pressure regulator on before you assembled the stack? If so, you're smarter than me.

I just put together my 12A on Saturday. When I did my 13B a few years ago there was no problem, but the 12A is positioned close to the rotor housing leg. I ground down the 26mm socket to get it to fit, then I was able to screw it in an 1/8 turn at a time. There's also a rib sticking out from the iron that prevented my beam torque wrench from fitting. So I just leaned on the extension bar like I was tightening a lug nut, probably a little more than 70 ft/lb.

 

Yes. And after it was assembled I was glad I did.