Spigot/pilot bearing removal

Ok we all know the trick with Escort type spigot bearing removal, whether it be just demolish it and pull the remains out or go the pack it with grease and ram a metal bar thru to push the grease and bearing out (hydraulic method) ,bread, soap, playdough etc can do the same job.
But when your pilot bearing came apart or exploded at some point 200,000-300,000kms ago and is of the wheel bearing type, rx7, falcon, commodore and most modern stuff on the road, mine came out in bits leaving the outer hardened casing seized in the crankshaft without much rear lip to get any purchase on so those mini pullers won't work (they hardly work as intended) .
I needed to swap the gearbox in my Courier 4x4 as it wasn't changing gears nicely and wouldn't let me gear down unless I match the revs so I found another box and got ready to swap them over, the seller threw in the clutch as well which was nice. Once the gearbox was removed using a motorbike hoist to help lower it down, they heavy boxes complete with transfer case etc I checked the boxes and only need to swap the speedo from elec to cable which was simply remove the connector. I got on to removing the clutch, as the truck has done over 330,000km I thought best to do the clutch as well , on removing it, heaps of bearings fell out and a casing and inner bearing case, not good news lol. Anyway I went searching answers on how to remove the outer casing, answers with using a Smoke wrench, to weld a dob and the heat will shrink upon cooling letting it free up...I went the diegrinder method, a bit agricultural but done the trick in less than 5mins, just grind into the casing until it looks nearly thru and chip it with a chisel or screwdriver, mine jumped out without a fight.

Haha, it's prolly been done a few times in it's life, some belhousing bolts are missing and have noticed a seal stamp on the head and block core plugs so it's had a rebuild at least once. This ute will get the Duratec treatment but I need it mobile for getting stuff etc for the conversion ...

Brass/bronze is the way to go with replacing the needle roller type I agree there. The ute has a sealed roller bearing which is commonly used on electric motors etc , at a price of $7.50 it was cheap enough so I bought some needed spanners as well.


Here's a funny bit, I was looking around for a clutch aligning item like a piece of bar or broom handle to line up the plate before I tighten the cover. On the off chance I got an Escort spline tool out thinking it won't fit for some reason but it did fit exact, so now there's 4 models that are the same , Escort (Cortina, Capri etc), Focus 2.0 Zetec , Mazda RX8, Courier/bravo 2.6 .. there's prolly more out there but these are what I have in the shed or parts of..


The spigot hole is also the same..

Finally got the gearbox back in today, not saying it was a walk in the park job but even with my bro helping it was a job I dreaded doing, all add ons were bolted up.. Don't get me started on the starter motor, it was refusing to play, very little room to hold it up and thread a bolt to catch threads.
Started it up and no noises or rev drop when pushing the clutch pedal , every gear works even the 4x4 light on the dash came on when engaged ! Glad it's finally done.... For now..

When I was in my late teens back in the 80z my neighbour who moved in nextdoor with his misses, being a new estate release everyone became friends (still to this day , even when we've moved ) , he was a club rally driver and bought a Renault 12 Gordini with a 16TS motor , all I remember is the motor was rebuilt to rally spec and I repainted the car in factory blue/white with a brush! Never heard him go on about the starter being a prik , maybe it was easier with the 12 box !!