how do i get it past the e-shaft... Ican only lift the e shaft about half an inch. Everything is removed except the pressed in plate at the end of the e shaft.

 

you got to tilt the housing plate and lit it up. Its tricky but super simple.

 

been messing with it for an hour... How do i get that rear plate with 6 holes in it of the e-shaft?It looks like its pressed on...

 

Let me try to understand what's going on. You removed all the tension bolts, took off the front plate, front rotor and rotor housing, and now you're stuck trying to take off the intermediate plate.

Assuming that is correct, I'm about to give you some bad news. That thing in the back with the six holes that looks like it's pressed on is the rear counterweight. It is indeed on there with a tapered pressed fit. You should have removed it before loosening the first tension bolt. It's going to be hard to take the rear counterweight off now that the shaft has little support. Were you able to take off the 54mm nut yet? Let's assume it's already off.

I've never encountered anything like this before so I can't give any advice for how to proceed. Hmm, I'd say it would be a good idea to use the Mazda counterweight puller here. You probably won't have good results from hitting it with a mini sledge on the outer edge, which usually works on intact engines. Well, it might work for you here, but you may damage something in the process.