I'm trying to figure out how to take off these bolts on a shortblock, wondering if its possible without power tools or any kind of special tools (not sure if i have a big enough socket for flywheel bolt.

My main questions are -

1. which bolt should be taken off first or does it not matter ?

2. Do both bolts loosen to the left (lefty loosey). Someone told me sometimes bolts have to be taken off in reverse for the crank.

3. I did try taking off the crank bolt , but no luck, tried both directions, hoping i didnt mess anything up internally, but i really didnt get a ton of torque on it (really didnt wanna put more torque to take it off being so unsure)

it should be fine right ? im just paranoid >.<

All that being said, if theres anything else anyone wants to add feel free.

I am just trying to get this block disassembled so i can see the condition of the internals (i got it at a junkyard),

the way i see it, if the internals arent in good condition, i still have some good parts to practice with putting back together so i can learn how to rebuild/disassemble.

 

I dont think it matters. You doing a rebuild? I take the flywheel bolt off first myself. Its NOT revserse THREADS. I forgot on the Front Pully bolt. I am doing a rebuild now. I could go check.

I used an Electric power tool. YES it can be done wtihout. YOu will need a long wrench and someone on the other end.

 

thanks bro, once i get this thing somewhere i can disassemble it i plan on doing that as well as degreasing everything.

 

I bought a torque multiplier at H-F and it worked really well. I loosened the hub bolt first but did not remove and then did the flywheel nut/

 

Keep in mind, all cars will be different. On my front pulley bolt, I destroyed a Snap-on impact socket powered by a 1000ft/lb impact. Turns out, Mazda uses loctite on the threads for that bolt. Heat it with a cheap plumber's torch before applying any torque. And it is not reverse threaded. Once the hub comes off, don't lose the woodruff key that can fall out if you're not careful. The flywheel comes off with a huge socket (54mm?) and a lot of ***. I used a flywheel turning tool that can be bought at most parts stores, and a large breaker bar with a cheater pipe. The flywheel tool looks like this:

 

i was in your shoes about two weeks ago, find a way to lock the fly wheel then impact it if you have the resources to acquire an impact gun, youll need a lot of air pressure and torch to melt the lock tite, on the main pulley bolt i just impacted it and it came off, and the bolt size for the flywheel nut is a 54mm

 

If you use one of the pressure plate bolts and an eyelet on the engine,and a small piece of chain,you can stop the Flywheel from moving.Did that before.works good.
I went to the scrap yard and bought a piece of flat stock,about 3 feet long,drilled some holes and attached it to the flywheel by the pressure plate bolts.
I let the bar hit the ground and it stopped the flywheel from turning.Then I used a 42 inch 3/4 drive breaker bar with a 54 mm socket and stepped on the breaker bar..Voila.off!

 

i never heard of needing a torch to take it off, i just ordered a haynes manual for 4.45$ shipped on amazon, i'll probably wait until i get that to start the whole disassembly.

if anyone needs a repair manual, amazon.com has used ones really cheap, mine was only 45 cents plus shipping

 

heat breaks locitite, and if the guy who assemble it put it on, chances are you will need some heat to take it off. ask me how I know.

 

Won't enough torque break the loctite ? I just don't remember seeing my last engine have a torch used on it when I watched the guy take it apart (kevin landers/rotary resurrection)

he used an impact gun on it , and everything came right apart from what i remember

 

IMO, that's about $4.44 more than a Haynes manual is worth.
One of the rebuild videos or Aaron Cake's info are much more useful and not as generic.
YMMV, of course.

 

I'm going to be getting the rebuild video as well, and in my opinion every rx7 owner should have some kind of manual.

Engine rebuild video only covers rebuilding the engine, the book basically covers everything to some degree.

 

Dang so i'm going to need a torch? Are all engines assembled with this loctite ?

Also what is this woodruff key, ive heard people talking about it, but i really have no clue what its for , or what it looks like.

 

You'll need a large (4 foot) breaker bar.

Use a clutch bolt and a piece of chain to lock the flywheel in place to one of the transmission mounting bolt holes.

Heat the front hub bolt thoroughly with a torch and then use the breaker bar on it. Bounce up and down on the bar, and it will break free. Leave it in place, just snug it back up.

Now do the same to the flywheel. Heat, bounce up and down, and then it wll break free. Now you are free to remove the flywheel and begin engine teardown by removing the front hub.

Flywheel removal somewhere around 2 - 3 minutes and front hub bolt removal shortly after:

 

thanks Aaron, the only problem i have is my engine didnt come with a clutch on it so i guess i'll have to get a bolt to put in there, aside from that i'll just have to figure out exactly what you mean by using a piece of chain on the bolt.

 

is this your first rebuild?

 

yep it will be, so the way i see it is even if my engine parts arent reusable i can still practice taking the engine apart and putting it back together.

i believe if you've got some intelligence and common sense, you can do anything if you put your mind to it.

 

I got a flywheel lock tool from mazdatrix (i think, maybe pineappleracing). That thing has proven itself invaluable!

10ft pipe on a 2ft breaker bar, lots of weight and jumping.

I've actually ended up cutting off the flywheel nuts and ordering new.

Had zero issues with front hub bolts.

Same here. However, common sense doesn't seem so common anymore. Good luck with the rebuild. Aaron's vids were a huge help to me doing mine.

 

I just torn down my project car's engine yesterday and something that may be coincidental or not.... I could not for the life of me get the front bolt out... Until I took the pulleys off [my theory being that they were dissipating the heat from the propane torch], next try after removing them it came off.

Always use locktite where you should, always apply heat when removing the flywheel nut and front bolt.
Also my DeWalt 1/2" electric impact has always managed to get the flywheel nut and the front bolt off..

Oh... One more thing, don't jump on an extended breaker bar if you're using a 1/2"-3/8" adapter [impact or chrome...] >_> This is what I went through before removing those pulleys...

 

how much would one of those electric impact guns go for , is it worth getting one ? i need to pickup a torch, and a flywheel lock tool if i need it or maybe i can go the cheaper route with a bolt and chain , im just trying to figure out everything i need to do before i start.

i really need to take some pills for my a.d.d. , i always end up having tools all over the place and losing track of stuff, but i know for sure this time im going to try keeping everything more organized with the exception of the bolts i removed and put into a bag from the block to fit it in my car.

It's easy to figure out what bolt is for the spot you're putting it in, but the process is much faster if you have everything seperated into labeled bags so you can easily get to the bolts/nuts/washers you're looking for.

 

The electric impact guns are generally under $100 and absolutely worth getting. You'll want it to put the flywheel nut back on.

As for the clutch bolts, they are M8 x 1.0. Just bolt one end of a chain to the flywheel, then bolt the other end to one of the transmission bolts. Stops the flywheel from moving. Also handy when tightening up the front hub bolt if you don't have the wicked tool that I showed in my rebuild video.

 

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

Halfway down the page is the flywheel stopper that I used. I've put ~800ft/lbs against that thing trying to get flywheel nuts off. That thing is worth every penny.

 

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=woodruff+key

 

Just like Aaron says to do, I always just grab the chain.

My DeWalt 1/2" was $60 off craigslist.. So pretty cheap ^_^

 

Id want an.electric not a rechargable one right? I'm assuming the rechargable one doesn't have as much torque because its battery powered, the rechargable one I saw was 18v