Did you ever have one of those days when you couldn't get the flywheel nut off?

Burned out the battery powered 1/2" Dewalt impact? Bent the breaker bar? Had to borrow your neighbor's 3/4"? Ruined your only 54 mm socket?

Not a problem anymore.

Ladies and gentleman, let me introduce Ray's Nut-Be-Gone Flywheel Removal Tool:

 

Does it come with steak knives?

 

Holy crap, Ray! Did you dremel it off? I have a tool you could use to get it off, and you're welcome to barrow it next time.

 

What impresses me is that apparently he got the flywheel off BEFORE the nut, now that takes ingenuity!!!!!

 

Durn... Air hammer it next time for sure!

 

Thanks for the offer on the tool Donnie, but unless it's something special it might not have worked on this one. I tried the socket I've used successfully on a half dozen flywheel nuts before, but this time I couldn't get it to budge. (Yes, I also tried heating it up).

Dremel would have taken all day, I just used my angle grinder to cut off a side of the nut, trying not to take too much of the eshaft with it. I originally thought this approach might damage the shaft (I have extras), but if done carefully there will still be plenty of thread left to hold a new nut, should be fine. Took about 5 minutes.

Robert the photos are for documentation only, there was a flywheel on there before I removed the nut! I actually did two of them this way yesterday on two 12As with the stuck nut and both eshafts should be fine to reuse.

James a heavy duty impact wrench, like you find in the pro shops that costs $800, might have worked (Robert has one, but he's over in Alabama), but I couldn't find one locally and I was getting impatient. This turned out to be cheaper, quicker and easier than hunting for an air hammer.

Remember, you saw it here first!

 

Holy Hell Ray lol

 

Ray you need a 600# impact if your going to keep doing this. It works like a charm.

Now removing the from nut from the eshaft ....

 

i've seen some pretty hacktastic things around here but this ranks pretty high up there. impatience is one thing but i would never take a chunk out of the threads holding the single nut holding a 25lb rotating mass at supersonic speeds near my lower extremeties. try a chisel and hammer, that usually works and is equally as destructive to the nut but not so much to the threads. the flywheel nut is a minor nuisance compared to the front e-shaft main bolt.

 

+2, a big impact gun is one of your best friends in this hobby. I usually have to resort to a huge breaker bar and some heat for the front bolt though...

 

Do u have a flywheel holding tool? Usually with a pipe on a breaker bar before I got the holder it was nightmarish.. I've only done 8-10 but haven't had an issue after the tool...

https://www.mazdatrix.com/toolmisc.htm

 

i guess i'll add a ghetto tip for the day to prevent my face from getting stuck in the shape of a prune when looking at these pictures.

if you have a few spare rear stationary bolts then 2 dowels(medium long bolts, roll pins, dowels, whatever that is sturdy and round that fits in the hole, hah!) placed through the flywheel against the stat gear will work as a ghetto flywheel lock. the bolts will get mangled somewhat but i have never had any shear off.

this works if you happen to have to rebuild your engine in the himalayas and only have a box of basic hand tools or are fighting off a mexican in the pic a part yard for shiny bits of metal that get their attention, when upon leaving your prize for even 15 minutes upon return you find a hollowed out carcass of what used to be something living at one point(in some extremely rare cases you might even find the thing you needed, but very unlikely because the teeth marks usually render anything remaining unusable). the sound of cackling can usually be heard fading off in the distance.

 

Yeah that eshaft is fucked. Garbage.

My ingersoll 2135ti impact gun was about 320 bucks new, 54mm impact was 50 bucks. Takes um off no problem. You can also buy cheaper impact guns that will work.Also im sure most of you know that if theres red loctite on the threads use a bit of heat to melt the threadlocker then hit it with the gun.

It says right on the bottle of loctite that it may require special tools to remove (oxy/acetylene torch)

(Im a technician ive had that gun for 3 years now I expect to get at least another 7 out of it)

 

Out of concern for your safety, and partially the integrity of your RX, Ray please don't use any E-shaft you did this to.

 

No need to buy an impact gun. Just roll up behind a Firestone or some tire-jocky shop, with your engine and socket in the trunk; and they will use their EXPENSIVE Matco 1200#/ft gun to rip the nut right off.


Notice I said "behind" the shop; this kinda stuff doesn't impress salesmen. And its prefferable to do this on a slow Sunday durring church hours. A $5 incentive helps too.


NOTE: I LOVE that Matco gun.

 

^lol, ide do it just to meet another remaining rare breed of "the rotary enthusiast"

 

 

I'm glad you dudes are finding this post entertaining, even if y'all think I'm a hillbilly.

I actually thought that metal grinder method was a pretty cool idea when I thought it up, kind of like getting back at the Rotary Gods for putting those things on so tight.

And it worked, I got those two pesky 12A's torn down. And, here's the good news, one had two mint 12A rotor housings and the other had irons that are ready for a rebuild.

Not a bad day at all, thanks to Ray's Nut-Be-Gone flywheel removal tool.

I really think the eshafts with the ground threads would be fine in a rebuild, you guys worrying about things blowing up are obviously not engineers, more likely fear mongering Republicans.

I'd bet on the eshaft in a minute.

But eshafts are a dime a dozen, I personally own 6 with intact threads plus the two I recently modified with the grinder and their resale isn't worth shipping.

So why spend $800 on a professional 600 pound air gun when you can use Ray's Easy-Nut?

Now mind you dudes, these nuts were really stuck. I've managed to whack the nuts off 6 other 12A flywheels without any trouble using my custom 54 mm modified subaru CV joint socket, hooked up to a big monkey wrench and a three pound sledge. Works great.

And you don't need any fancy flywheel locking tool, just get yourself a couple of dogs and place them strategically between the wheel and the block:









But these two nuts were really stuck, the subaru unit wouldn't whack them lose and I wanted to see the innards. So I got out the grinder.

As they say, Necessity is the Mother of Invention.

 

6 e-shafts?! Ray... Are you building a secret army of 12A parts we should know about?

Seriously, though ME calling anyone a "hillbilly" or "redneck" is by far the best instance of the pot calling the kettel black. Just saying a hammer/airhammer and chissle works great. And there are a TON of bored out of their minds grease monkeys in January.



EDIT: and off topic... Ray I might have another 12A headed your way here soon. I MIGHT be picking up a 3rd RX7 here in the next few days, and I don't need the engine**.


**Ask me why :P

 

That'll do James, you know how I love to tear down 12A's.

Why don't you stop by the April OGTA meeting, should be a good turnout. I'll buy the beer.

 

After the red FB is up and opperational, a good break in drive on a fresh build is STRONGLY recomended. Hmmm.

I'll have to check my finals calender in May. I'm already planing a mountain trip IMMEDIATLY after them.

 

I have nothing against the unorthodox, it's mostly what I do I never sacrifice quality so damaged threads = lost shaft.

So what technique is best and what is populuar for flywheel torquing? 350 ft lbs is huge.

 

Red loctite and a name brand impact gun set on max. :P

Craftsman, HF, and husky are not name brands... get an IR gun.

 

Ingersoll Rand Air Impact Wrench — 1/2in. Drive, Model# 231C | Air Impact Wrenches| Northern Tool + Equipment


^^^ basic IR 350# gun.... Good reliable lasts a LONG time and there are rebuild kits EVERYWHERE. $150 new (there is always a sale happening though). Used on Ebay or a pawn shop for $25-100. The only problem is that you have to use adaptors to use the "giant 2 & 3/16 socket" so you will loose tourque.


Don't be afraid to buy a used one. If you are planing on rebuilding an engine; rebuilding an impact should be a cake walk.

 

pretty much, even an impact gun rated for 650ft/lbs of torque will realistically only apply about 300ft/lbs to the nut before it craps out. i just hammer on it until that nut stops budging and they still come off relatively easily..

the front hub bolt though usually winds up taking in excess of 350ft/lbs to remove after it has seated itself, which is why i try to only put the maximum 100ft/lbs of torque on it when reinstalling that particular bolt. in some cases it took an oxy/acetylene torch and a 6ft cheater bar to remove, which i would guesstimate would be in the 500-600ft/lb range, i swear sometimes they feel like the front of the shaft is going to shear off. i never have any problem with the flywheel nuts with just an impact gun alone.