JoeliusZ28

grease trick worked like a charm for me.

your other option is not changing it. the mechanic who was helping me said that if the grease trick doesnt work, i should just leave it in because he has reused several that had 80k or more at the time and has never had a problem.

SantaCruz163

You can use what they call a 'pilot bearing puller'. I thing they are suppose to pull out your pilot bearing. That is the method I used and it couldn't have been easier. I wasn't about to mess with filling the hole with grease/wet paper towel and then finding a dowel the right size.

BTW: replace it with a brash bushing. Not the roller bearing.

Meccadeth

That's what I was talking about and it didn't work...it broke the arms on the puller.

Meccadeth

Anybody know the diameter of the pilot bearing?

Meccadeth

ttt...this is ridiculous. I've gone through 3 more pilot bearing pullers and I think Advanced Auto is starting to get pissed off at me for it Nobody else around here has a pilot bearing puller et al. I couldn't figure out how to drill it out without hitting the crank shaft wall.

GreenDemon

It may also help (if you have the resources) to try and cool the pilot bearing down some to make it contract a little bit. You probably don't have any nitrogen bottles just lying around but you could turn a can of electronics duster (air) upside down and try it. If all else fails you'll have to try to cut it out, it's always possible that there's some corrosion somewhere that's making it sticking. I remember how hard mine was to install when I did my trans swap, I don't want to even think about getting it back out. It'll probably be one of those all day jobs.

Josh'95Z28conv

I used autozones puller the other day with no problems. It was a little bigger than the bushing, but i hammered it in, then spread it out. Pulled out with a slide hammer no problem.

The last time I did it, I used a pipe tap, 3/8 or 1/2" I think, and tapped the bushing. I installed a pipe fitting, and reduced it to put in a grease zirk. I got a grease gun and pumped it full. It comes right out!

Meccadeth

Well I finally got a slide hammer to try and get it out...this was suppose to be the end all to be all and guess what, IT'S NOT FAWKING WORKING! I guess the only thing left to do now is to blow the car up...I can't do sh*t with the car with a bad pilot bearing, mine as well shoot the crap out of it with my neighbors guns and maybe a few explosives. This is the last POS f-body I'll ever own...

Victory Racing

It is .593 Inner Diameter and 1.095" Outside Diameter.

Josh'95Z28conv

Its not an fbody problem. All manuals have pilot bearings. Their not that bad I could get them out many, many different ways. Read my above post about using grease. There is no reason that wont work. There are also many different kinds of pullers you could use.

Meccadeth

I've tried grease...my friend and I kept switching taking turns at it until our arms got tired. I even tried toilet paper too. I tried a pilot bearing puller tool...3 times...broke all 3 of them. I tried drilling it but every mechanic I know has been telling me I shouldn't do it because I could really fawk something up. I've tried penetration oil...I'm trying the slide hammer and that's not working.... Someone told me I could use a propane torch to heat it up and that might provide some movement, anyone else recommend in favor or against this?

Josh'95Z28conv

Did you use the grease gun though. It works. Every time. Unless you've alreaty drilled it out too much. I wouldnt recomend doing that at all. If you have, you might as well get a dremmel and just carefully grind it away. Just dont grind into the crankshaft. If you've alreaty drilled very much, thats probably your whole problem.

Meccadeth

Well the pilot bearing finally came out...My neighbor came over and worked on it for a few hours while I was at school and managed to get it out with the slide hammer eventually. So now I'm finally readdy to start peicing this stuff back together... I have a question first... Before I took out the pilot bearing there were 3 little metal "shim" type things that came out...do I have to put those back in? They appear to be slightly different in diameter and pretty beat up. I have no clue what they're used for though.

Meccadeth

Wow...nevermind. I think you guys should check this out. It shows my new pilot bearing next to my old one with those three little peices of metal I was talking about. Apparently it just got chewed up and those metal peices are some of the remains. I think this might account for a lot of the reason why the tricks and tools I used didn't work on getting it out

96TurboTA

I think that was the problem. The tips you've been given work better on a pilot bushing. That thing looks like a pilot "bearing". I'd ditch that new bearing and put in a bushing instead.