I finally found time to pull the bearing yesterday after dealing with other demands on my time, including taking a cat with cystitis to the vet. The bearing puller uses a 24mm nut, but my wrench set only went up to 18mm. Once again, a big metric crescent wrench saved the day. It required considerable force to remove the factory dual-row bearing, as Jake Raby warned. I was expecting to hear a gunshotlike **crack!** when the puller overcame the wire lock, but a soft metallic sigh was the only sound it made. What a gyp!
A couple ounces of oil seeped out of the hole when the bearing came out. I was prepared and caught it with an improvised catch basin. I'm going to send an oil sample to SPEEDynamix to be analyzed. It doesn't cost all that much and should be informative. An analysis can reveal an engine's entire history, according to oil expert Lake Speed, Jr., the man behind SPEEDynamix.
As expected, the bearing looked, sounded, and felt perfect. The bearing's wire lock did not break but remained intact.
Now I need to order the IMS Supplemental Toolkit from LN Engineering, necessary to install the Solution's bushing. (I've stopped calling it a bearing. It's a bushing, folks.) Renting the kit from LN is free for Solution buyers with a hefty deposit, $509.95 worth of hefty. (Which is interesting, in view of the Supplemental kit's list price of $299.) While I'm waiting for it to arrive I'll be busy, carefully measuring and marking the cutout for the notch, and then grinding, filing, and otherwise machining the notch itself. Photos to come. The next installment will also feature my patent-pending method for sealing the IMS opening to ensure that absolutely zero aluminum particles get in there while grinding. Stay tuned.
Threaded Mode
