Well I got my clutch installed today. Car pulls like a new one now. I just got one gripe/question. How in the hell do you pull the pilot bearing out...( Properly ). I had to chisol the bastard out of there. Took longer to get the bearing out than it did to tear down everything esle. Onlything left is to adjust the clutch pedal.

 

You take it out with a pilot bearing puller.

 

The pilot bearing puller is the ideal way, but what happens a lot of times is that the inner race of the bear will come out and the outer race stays in the shaft. What I do if I can't get the tool to get a good grasp on the outer race is use a dremel and carefully cut it at the 6 and 12 o'clock positions so it looks like this ( ) instead of O, then pull out the 2 halves.

 

I wouldnt risk using a dremel on the inside of the e-shaft. If you screw it up and the new pilot bearing doesnt fit snug then you are screwed. Just use a pilot bearing puller, never had a problem with them. Even if you pull the inside of it out and the outer park stays in, just put the puller back in and try to grab the outer part, always worked for me and I've done dozens of clutches when I worked at a shop.

You can also rent a pilot bearing puller at an auto store for cheap. I rented mine at schucks, might be called something else where your at.

 

If you are careful the Dremel is the best way to get the outer race out. I must emphasize that you go slow and use a very light touch. It would be very easy to go right through the outer race and gouge the inside of the eccentric shaft.

 

I bought a pilot bearing puller from Harbor Freight tools. I used a bench grinder to grind the "feet" down so it would fit the tiny bearing in a rotary. It works great now.
My experience has been the tools that you rent are usually too big for our cars. But, you might get lucky.

 

I tried renting one from Checkers (same chain as Shucks and Kragen) but it was too big. There is a local place that rents out tools and their pilot bearing puller doesn't seem to fit between the outer race and the back of the e-shaft where the bearing seats. It pulls just the inner race out. If I worked in a shop or changed those bearings out frequently enough, I'd invest in the right tool for it. A dremel works good and at a low power setting, you have to grind on the shaft on purpose to cause damage to it.

 

When I rented mine they had different sizes. It's not just a "rotary" engine size but there are a lot of cars that actually do need the smaller ones. I know from personal expierence working at a shop.