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This weekend I worked on a tool to remove the crankshaft pulley bolt from the crankshaft. I rebuilt an N54 a few months ago and that bolt was unbelievably tight. My DeWalt 20V 1/2" electric impact gun couldn't get it out, and it's supposedly good to 1,000 ft-lb. Last time around, I bent the crankshaft trying to extract the bolt because I didn't have the right tool for the job.
This time around, I wanted to fabricate the right tool. I hunted around work for a piece of scrap steel approximately the right dimensions. I settled on a steel plate roughly 3" x 6" x 1/2". Then I machined the appropriate bolt pattern for the holding screws, as well as a precision bore for the center hub. Finally I had my friend weld the plate onto a piece of steel tube I bought at a local metal shop's scrap bin for a couple bucks.
Happily the tool worked! I have no way of knowing for sure, but I estimate it took about 400 ft-lb to remove the bolt. I had to use a cheater pipe on the breaker bar in order to get enough torque. You could visibly see the pin-hole on the breaker bar elongating under the load.
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