I just did this job with the engine in the car and was able to get both pins out pretty easily. Sharing my method, hopefully it helps somebody. I used a 5/8 - 11 hex die to cut threads into the OD of the pins. Then I was able to use a regular 5/8 nut and some washers to drive them out. The only difficult part was getting the die to make an initial bite on the pins. After that each pin was out in 5-10 minutes.
im a pontiac guy who knows 2nd gen firebirds. I'm impressed how quick you pick things up and your attention to detail. i have removed these down pins in a less painfull manner. HEAT!.. When working on 50 plus year old stuff. heat is your friend. Some pb blaster/ heat Nd vice grips the came out somewhat easy.. Another trick a friend taught me is to weld a not on it so you can either turn it or have more surface area to use a larger puller on it. Hope the advice might help you in future projects if you dont already know them which im guessing you might. Youve done a awesome job with your Dads GTO...Keep up the great work and the great presentations. I wish i could get you to work on my 74 Trans Am..your attention to detail.... very few people have it.
@FastMonty From what ive seen youve learned more skills to work on that car than most ever will.. my channel is much smaller and I don't do tutorials like you do . I figure I'll leave that up the guys like you that have a great presentation and show how to do it the right way. Mine is more about the choices I make on my car and why I make them with progress updates as I go. I do get a lot of inspiration from yourself and some of the other Pontiac RU-vidrs that just have a passion for it to continue to push forward with my channel. Like I said keep up the great work we need more Pontiac enthusiasts like yourself. You've got me wanting a 69 or 70 gto. LOL
haha this was so satisfying on so many levels... 1) that I'm not the only one 2) that you also struggled immensely 3) that you eventually succeeded :) hope I have the same luck.
This is a great channel. Thanks for doing these videos and putting yourself out there. These will help a lot and motivate people to tackle their dream builds
Ha! Thanks Ryan.. .glad it helped you get through your day. I'll have to leave more of those YSOB's in future videos. Ha, ha... Thanks again for the comment!
Definitely a great video, the pins in an LSX block would NOT budge. Drift & 2lb hammer? Nope. Vice Grips? Nope. Drill, tap and extract - winner. In the video notice that he is using a thick washer, you will need one of these or a couple of washers so they're strong enough that they don't just wad up and pull into the socket.
Ohhh yeah, that'll work. I was trying to approach the solution without welding, because not everyone has a welder. But, totally agree, that's a great way to do it, if you have a welder handy. Thanks for the comment!
Fast Ponty ,You Did A Fine Job ,After You Got Out Of Your Own Way ,That Is The Best Way To Pull A Locator ,Another Idea Is To Weld A Nut To The Locator ,Then Slide Hammer It Out , Thank You For Your Video !!!
Thanks Greg! Yeah, I have a fun time figuring things out... turns out the solution can be done by anyone, without buying specialized tools. Thanks for watching!
Came here looking for confirmation of my thoughts since I hadn’t removed dowels before, but no. Get a propane torch to heat the dowel, and a hammer and punch (or similar) to knock it out from the forward end of the block. It’s not that difficult. Just swapped two from a junk BB Chevrolet to a junk LS for mock up.
It's not quite that easy, on Pontiac Blocks. Hence my comment at the 2:05 mark... it's a BLIND hole, not a through hole like on a Chevy Big Block. So, it can only be pulled, hence the drama. Good luck on your LS swap!
Awesome job. Son and I will try this soon too as we are going from Auto to Manual and need a spacer between block and bellhousing and will need put longer pins in. We were looking at kits to pull them and yeah 100 to 200 bucks for one time use meh and this looks like it will work.
@@FastMonty We sure will. We have an 89 bird did engine swap last year a 70s 400 eng bored to 406 was a 350 in car. also did rear end to the Moser M9 and all hooked up then ugh the 700r trans goes out on us again so son wanted to do the tremec magnum F 6 speed trans swap so fun little project we got going LOL We are into out cars :)
Well it worked ..but omg what a day. Struggled all day trying to make magnetic base not move...had to use a combination of summit racing magnetic base with comp cam arms to hold the dial indicator... and on top of that American powertrain sent me the wrong offset dowels... so 9 hours later ....I have the correct readings but no dowels.... .013 pround on one side so awaiting 7 thou dowels .....
@@Handlehandlebars Ha! The struggle is real! Great job getting through it... ohhhh the joys of modernizing our classics. :) Glad you got there. Continue the updates. Thanks for the comment!
So, I know what did wasn’t the best solution, but a transmission shop recommended this method for me when converting to a Tremec TKO. I do not have the patience to dial indicate, and I wasn’t about to pull the engine out, and working on my back makes doing it in the car even more painful “fun”. He informed me that most new bell housings are made overseas and are not true. So he recommended that I find a real genuine 621 bell housing. I managed to find one that came out of a 67 Corvette, and I bolted the Tremec to it, and it shifts perfectly fine and does not make any noise in gear. So I am calling it good. That was some fast thinking with the nut and bolt trick! Excellent work! Are you on So Cal?
Ha! Yup, sometimes you just gotta do whatcha gotta do. Great to hear you got lucky with the old bell trick. For anyone else reading, old bells have a larger tolerance range for the M20/21/22 transmissions. So, even if you have an old bell, it's always a good idea to dial it in further for the modern tolerances needed for a Tremec. Thanks for the comment, Phoenix. And yes, I'm in San Diego. You?
Re-installing my 2004 transmission to engine block, discovered one dowel pin is out of alignment; possible because I am using the transmission with a similar block but not the one that came with the car; just ordered the dowel pin puller from amazon but then saw your video; here, really cool to do in a pinch but I will wait for the tool to come Sunday ended up expending $189.00 total for it but keep thinking if I should just do this, problem is the dowel pin would have to be replaced, by the way it is beyond me why manufacturers don't produce them already tapered for easy removal; after all they only serve for alignment purposes and do not need to be all solid!
@@FastMonty Worked out really well, so much I decided to keep it, it is not necessary and I will probably wont use it more than this once but if I ever need to use it it is really nice to have it around or just for the rare items collectors sake, AKA a holder!
You should have been able to go from the other side of the dowel pin and used to a bolt and hammer to "push" out... LOL I have been beating my head trying to get my bellhousing parallel alignment within spec. Good luck with your build.
Actually, on a Pontiac block the dowel pin hole is blind and can only be pulled out. Some other blocks have through holes, where you can push it out, like you said. For alignment, just follow what I did for measuring, but with Silver Sports dial indicator, and you'll be golden. Thanks for the comment, and good luck on your build too!
so i did this with engine in car. got under and was a peace of cake. there is a so much easier way. take a very long rode that can fit from the back and slightly tilt tape with a hammer and it will pop out. did mine in like 1 min each while engine in the car.
So I watched your video and thought about something easier. If you take a C clamp and stick a smaller bolt in the hole behind the pin and a socket that the pin can go into while you tighten the clamp you can do the job in about 5 min under the car.
I’m getting ready to do this and was looking for a alternate idea to drilling and tapping because the tunnel is in the way of drilling straight in. (Would have to drill at a angle) this seems like a viable option! Thank you for the idea
@@darinandalinahouse9596 Hey Darin! Been a minute, hasn't it? Good point about trying to do it while in the car. If it were me, and they didn't pull out easily with a wrench, I'd use a 90 degree drill, with a short bit. If that doesn't work, You're gonna have to weld something onto the end of the pin, to pry it out. Good luck, and let us know what works for you!
@@FastMonty so I was planning on trying the c-clamp from behind method, but before I went there I decided to try to twist them out with vice grips. Man! I had to put some muscle in it and make sure I had maximum clamping force on what little bit of pin there was to clamp on to but when it first started moving I got pretty excited. Both sides came out with just vice grips! But I still don’t want to do that again soon! Got .007 offsets on the way!
I'll put a pretty big nut over the dowel and weld it on. You want a nice big nut so you can comfortably weld in the center hole and fill it all in. Once it is mostly cool, start turning it in both directions. Once it moves freely spin it out with an impact. You can do both sides in the car in 20 minutes, easy. The ones in the cylinder deck can sometimes suck. I do those the same way but place an old head gasket over it and cover everything up.
@@FastMonty Just run an impact on it and pull back towards you while buzzing on it. It comes out. Either direction, but counter clockwise usually. The heat and spinning it helps wear it out a bit and it loosens a lot. the impact gun and having a big nut welded to it gives you plenty of leverage. If you want, you can grab that nut with an attachment that they make that goes into a slide hammer and just yank it. I just use and impact and lean back on it.
Could you have used the right sized die (tap and die) and used it as a puller? By threading the dowel and bottoming out against the block would it have pulled it out?? Just a thought 🤔
I'm doing this now with my 400 mated to an m21 and found its off .030 from center. My pins are stuck stuck and I drilled and tapped them as you did and I actually broke the bolt and the pins are still in the block... any other advice to give? Motor is still in the car
Ohhhh mannn... I feel your pain. I saw someone posted that they welded bolts to the dowel pins and did the same thing. If it were me, I would do it again, with a slightly bigger bolt, and soak the heck out of the pin with rust penetrating oil. OR, heat up the area around the pin with a torch, before pulling. Keep me posted!
@@FastMonty got them out! Had the 3/8 bolt as you did but had to gently tap the head of the bolt till it moved under pressure then used the nut to extrude it. Took a while but they are out!
Hi Monte, are you by chance a fan of a rock band RUSH ! . the reason I am asking their guitarist had a whole bit on bla ba bla , bla bla. Which you did at the end of your dowel pin removal video.
Jesse, great question, in episode 1, I determined the bell housing run out was too great to install as is. So, offset dowel pins need to be installed to get the runout to Tremec Spec. Sooo, the stock pins need to be pulled. I do know a couple of folks that did NOT have to pull their pins. They got lucky. :) Thanks for the comment!
