Thankfully not me! Guy I ran into at a car show today. 13b in a VW Bug.

He just had the engine rebuilt by Atkins, but decided to swap out the main pulley himself. Did not know to hold down the clutch, and now can’t get the woodruff key back in the shaft, and a local mechanic is telling most likely the shaft moved and his thrust bearing dropped out of place.

How much of a rebuild is he into? Local guy is saying just the front cover. That true?

 

He would need to remove the engine, point the front in the air and remove the front cover. Then disassemble the front parts off the e-shaft and reset the backlash. The engine itself does not need to have the tension bolts removed. The procedure is in the engine section of the factory service manual.

Forgot to add, he probably needs to a new torrington bearing.

 

The front cover and everything stacked beneath the pulley has to come off. Might be able to do it with the engine in the car, but an engine on a stand facing up is the guaranteed way to make sure they don't fall.
Front stack assembly at 44:20 mark :

 

Dumb question, and I know he is going to ask ‘cause it’s a big deal given that the engine is wedged in the back of a VW Bug…. The engine HAS to come out? Only way to get the e-shaft in the right place is to use gravity?

 

Technically it doesn't, but he runs risks of pinching the bearing again. I'd advise only doing this with the engine out. He would need to set endplay and that requires moving the e-shaft and hence pinching the bearing again.

 

Thank you all. Will pass along the info.

 

my favorite pic