by Preston Brown
I've got the C engine torn down to a shortblock, with the heads, pistons, and cylinders removed. I took the shortblock to Millersport to get the flywheel gland nut removed. We took a meaty Snap-On 1/2" impact wrench to it, and the gland nut didn't even think about budging. Then we got a long pipe and put it on the end of a breaker bar, and while someone sat on the engine case, we really leaned on the bar. The engine was going to flip over before that nut was going to budge!
I was frustrated, but Tim suggested I take the engine to a truck repair shop and ask them to use a 3/4" impact wrench on the nut. He told me about one where he knew the owner, right near our house. I stuck the engine back into the car (easy to pick up by myself in this form) and drove over.
Pancho, the truck mechanic, was sitting at his desk doing paperwork. I asked if he had a 3/4" impact. "What for?" he asked. "Flywheel nut," I replied. "Uh. Volkswagen?" I didn't want to confuse the situation, so I confirmed. We went out to the car and I lifted up the tail gate. He sort of looked at the motor for a moment, and then said, "back up." (The car, he meant). I backed it up parallel to his wrecker, and then he jumped on the back and fired up a large gas-powered compressor. While the tank was filling, he walked around the side and started looking at big impact sockets, searching for one that would fit. I suggested we just use the regular S*K socket I had, which was a 3/4" one already, and well made. I hoped it could hold up to a big impact gun. He didn't say anything but took my socket and stuck it on the end of a 1" to 3/4" adapter. Oh. Then he opened up the side of the truck cabinet to pull out the impact wrench.
Forget calling this thing the Big Gun. This was the friggin' canon. It was a 1" impact wrench about as long as my arm and bigger around than a pineapple. He hefted it and stuck the socket on the end, then brought it over to the engine.
I held the engine steady while he applied the first few blows of the impact gun. The nut didn't move, but little chips and pieces of steel flew off with each blow. "It's really in there, huh?" he muttered. A few more, and it finally started to move. Just as soon as we had started, it was off. What a great tool!
So in all, I spent about three hours this morning just trying to get the stupid gland nut off. Now I can proceed with splitting the case.
I'll do a further write-up in a little while as to the condition of what I have found so far on the motor. So far, (pretty much) so good.