Well, I'm back home in good old chi-town to work on the Z. Last night I bolted the heads on and put the cam in. I should have a running engine in another day or two.

I've got the LT4 XTreme duty timing kit, and one of the gears that it comes with is the water pump drive gear. I already used a mallet to tap out the assembly from the block. The question is, what's the right way to get the gear out? I don't want to mess up the ball bearing thing.

I tried pounding the gear out going towards the bearing, but the gear, bearing, and retainer plate are all flush now and I can't get it any further. Should I just pound the shaft out, or did I mess this up?


Thanks!

 

When I did mine, I used a press to remove and install the bearing and the gear. I wouldn't recommend hammering the bearing out since you can really screw it up. If your careful, you might be able to do it if you don't have access to a press, but that thing is on there pretty good. Make sure it comes out even, the shaft or the bearing can be easily scored. Might be better off to take it to a shop that has a press. Good luck