dangers of not using a pilot bearing

[zm830101]

ok so here is the situation. i am in the middlle of my t5 swap and i can't get the pilot bushing out of my old 289 crank. i will be swapping in a 351 next month and it will have a new pilot bearing then. so i don't want to waste any more time with the 289. i need to drive the stang just a short distance with the 289 in it. will i wreck the t5 with no pilot bearing? will the old bushing eat the end of the input shaft?

 

[Hack]

DON'T DO IT!!!

I highly recommend you buy a roller bearing for it rather than use a bushing.

In order to remove the bushing if you must go that way, pack the hole in the bushing with grease and use a punch sized as closely to the hole as possible. Give the punch a good whack and the grease will force the bushing out. Beware of possible mess.

 

[krash kendall]

How did you try to remove it? Is it apparent that you damaged it? I would not use a damaged pilot bearing. There are a couple of ways to remove them.

 

[302 coupe]

the bushing is made of a real soft powdery metal. What you can do is get a drill bit roughly the same size as the wall thickness of the bushing and drill 2 holes in it. Be careful not to drill into the crank, or otherwise damage it. The drill bit bit prefers to cut thru the bushing, since its softer, so its not hard to control. Drill 2 holes in it, one at the 3 o'clock position, the other at 9 o'clock, the bushing will break into 2 pieces and just about fall out on its own.

 

[krash kendall]

The first easy way of doing it is to fill the void behind the bearing with grease, then drive a piece of round stock, or a bolt shank into it with a mallet and it will hydraulic out with little effort if it is not too out of round. Another way that works well is to tap a bolt slightly larger than the ID of the bearing (7/16?) in with a hammer to start it and then ratchet it in untill it bottoms out and the bearing seems to magicly start to come out.

 

[zm830101]

tried the hydraulic method

iut didn't work. it was making great pressure behind the drift and none of the grease was forcing itself out. the bushing has been in there for 40 years now so it doesn't want to go anywhere. tried the cold chisel and hammer with no success. does anybody know where i can buy a 1-1/2 inch pipe tap and try that?

 

[LMan]

I have used a Dremel with a cutting wheel and carefully cut old stubborn bushings at the 3 and 9 oclock positions before.....make several partial cuts and then it will fall to your chisel.

Ive tried the grease method also, but thats never worked well for me. Perhaps Im allergic to grease.

 

[krash kendall]

Don't use a pipe tap - they are tapered. You shouldn't even need a tap. Just get a bolt started with a hammer then drive it with a ratchet. The bolt will cut right through the oil-lite bushing so long as it is not too large.

 

[BullittFB]

Try wet newspaper instead of the grease, same result minus the mess. Pack the hole with the wet paper and hit the punch until it won´t go any deeper, take the punch out and pack more paper into the hole, repeat as needed until the sucker slides out.

 

[D.Hearne]

What will happen without a pilot bushing/bearing? You'll break the input bearing in the transmission for sure, possibly the input shaft also.Ask me how I know. Same thing happens when you use a bell housing that's too deep for the input shaft length. Been there, done that