^ pm sent. thanks!

 

It was nice chattin via phone today with your husband! Let me know how things turn out!

Thanks again for choosing the ALTA pulley!

 

Ah - there's the problem. If the central bolt from the puller is actually allowed to thread into the end of the supercharger shaft, it will bind up and break off when it reaches the bottom of the threaded hole in the shaft.

You're supposed to screw a sacrificial bolt into the end of the supercharger shaft before you attach the pulley, so the central bolt from the puller will spin/grind against the head of the sacrificial bolt, rather than threading into the supercharger shaft and snapping off. (BTW, the 13mm bolt attaching the passenger-side ground strap makes an *excellent* sacrificial.)

You'll never need the threaded hole in the supercharger shaft for anything, unless you have to have the supercharger rebuilt sometime in the future (and possibly not even then), so I wouldn't worry about trying to get the bolt fragment out. The fragment sounds like it's not going to come out on its own, and since it only weighs a few grams and is perfectly aligned with the centerline of the supercharger shaft, you're not going to get any weight/balance issues. Basically, the situation you have now is exactly as if the supercharger shaft never had a threaded hole to begin with.

 

Its nice to know that others have felt my pain. I tore the heck out of mine using tools ranging from a 3-arm puller to a crow-bar (in retrospect I'm lucky i didn't bend the shaft) and finaly had to break down and order the Alta coller (good tool though).

 

I am so glad I drove my car down to Fresno and had someone else install my pulley. Apparently, my car was another one of those "1 in 30" cars - getting my pulley off was a nightmare, even with an experienced mechanic (Steve at Custom Mini Shop) using the right tools (the one from Alta). Steve said he'd done about 20 pullies (I think that's what he said) and he said mine was one of the worst he'd seen. I'm sure the MiniMania style puller wouldn't have worked.

 

Of course mine would also be one of the 1 in 30 cars. The mechanic in Illinois couldn't get mine to budge. He very carefully cut it, and used a puller to finally get it to come off. Too scarey for me!

 

I just helped someone with a very stuck pulley. The MINI pulley tool was warping and we ended up bending the pulley quite a bit. So we were committed at that point.
I was scared to use a drill and drill into the shaft bearing/gasket, so we ground it off using a disk grinder. Everything seems ok now... but we took off a fair bit of the shaft (1-2 mm on one side) when we thought we were just grinding the pulley.

Anything to be worried?

 

this thread is making me second guess getting a pulley!!

 

Dont let it.

I did the pulley by myself and it came off VERY easy. Also, any of the well known MINI shops have piles/boxes of stock pullies that still look brand new.

The above is a decently rare occurrence.

 

Agreed - I've done nine or ten pulley swaps so far and have never had trouble getting the factory ones off the supercharger shaft.

The type of puller you use makes a big difference as well. If you're using a two- or three-arm gear puller to remove the stock pulley, you're asking for trouble. I'm using the Alta puller, and it fully engages the grooves in the pulley, not the lip, so there's no way you could bend the pulley even if you tried.

 

My own pulley came off fine and it was so easy that I decided to do it for another MINI owner. He was sort of in shock when things turned south, but we got the car put back together. Now that he's convinced the car is not going to blow up, he's glad he did it. Everyone says the same thing - a pulley replacement makes it feel like you just bought a new car.

I was using a clamshell type puller (like the Mini Mania or Way Motor Works puller). Even though it was specially designed for the MINI, it still slipped. You're asking for trouble if you try to use a regular gear puller. I can see that the Alta puller is probably more of a sure thing. We might want to pick one of these up for our regional MINI club.

 

I've swapped 20 plus pulleys and only had one that was on tight. It was on a late 06 and we simply cut it off.

 

Don't let it, I've done over 400 pullies and never had to cut one off. The reason this guy had problems is cause he didn't use the specific MINI pulley puller, you can see the generic tool in his picks.

 

I had no problems getting my pulley off, even though it was 2 am, and i had never done anything like it before (the first time i had jacked up my engine was earlier that day to install powerflex gearbox bushings). The tool i got with the pulley i bought on the marketplace was damaged, so the bolt wouldn't work. I cleaned up the threads and the craven tool worked great for me. My biggest 'OH *****' moment was when the sacrifical bolt got stuck to the s/c shaft. After much frustration, swearing, and troubleshooting, i finally, reluctantly used a pair of vise grips on the shaft. the whole install was pretty easy really, even though i was using a makeshift belt tensioner tool. It just takes a lot of tedious hours. But it was kinda fun, and well worth it!

 

I sheared the bolt on the pulley-puller tool (36" breaker bar + pipe). Couldn't get the pulley to move.
Solution - We welded a nut to the pulley (1/2" x 20 or a 7/16, can't remember exactly). by threading the bolt through, it would push on the shaft and counter-pull on the pulley. Worked better than the tool, came off with a 3/8" ratchet (also a bit of heat from the welder probably helped).
This was 70K ago, still going strong with my 19%.

 

Used that puller on the late 06 and it bent the pulley threads to hell. In fact getting it off the pulley was rough. This was the only MINI that I had a problem with out of the ones that I did and it was simple enough to resolve.

 

holy I got lucky enough to use a medium sized ratchet on the end of the bolt, and a pair of channel locks on the clam shell... I did it as a one man job too, so it was good ol' righty and lefty... im glad i didn't see this thread before i did the install...lol

 

HOLY CRAP Let me tell you my story of a pulley.
Last week I was telling my wife that "i needed to change my belt" knowing the whole time that this would also be a great time to change the pulley
Sunday coming home about 2 miles from home my belt breaks. Thought to myself going to have to do this sooner rather than later. Called Alta up on Tuesday told them to send me a 15% and a tension stop and a pulley puller. Please send it 3 day air as I am in Texas.
Friday: I had been checking the tracking sure enough my ALta stuff had arrived. HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY I made Friday night a short one.
Saturday: Bright and early (7) I get up with a huge smile on my face cant wait to get out there and start my project. Everything goes as planned until I get to my pulley. So I read all the instrutions and start trying to pull that sucker off. NOTHING Wont buge....So after 500 or so cuss words... Ok Ok i say to myself lets go read and see how other people are doing this on the forum. I read about the "sacrificial bolt" i think to myself ok thats got to be what i am doing wrong. So with this new knowledge i make my way back out to the car. Put the bolt in and still nothing. After about 1000 cuss words I grab a beer and say there is always tomorrow.
SUNDAY: I wake up bright and early again (7) I start at it again. This time i think I will heat it up a bit and put in longer screws to the alta puller. Still nothing .. Its been crazy the amount of emotions and cuss words that have come with this install and its not even installed yet. So I am going to wait till Monday to call ALta and ask them what I am doing wrong. I really dont want to have to grind it off if I dont have to.

 

the only reason to grind it off is if you've damaged it too badly to use a puller on it.

this is how I damaged mine:http://www.vimeo.com/13006913

notice I made a grave mistake in using a WRONG tool.

even if that ens up being the case, I am one of many who have had to grind it off and lived to see the everything working fine again.

 

Is the Alta puller you're using?



If so, there's not much you can do wrong with that one. The grooved clamshell halves can't slide off of the pulley, so just keep cranking down on the central bolt - either the pulley will start to move or the central bolt will snap. Since neither of those has happened yet, you might try a longer wrench or a "cheater bar" so you can apply more torque to the central bolt.

Also, make sure that the full-circle part of the pulley is parallel to the split-halves part of the puller. That way, you know that the central bolt will be pushing straight in on the end of the supercharger shaft.

You might also try greasing up the central bolt where it passes through the full-circle part of the puller. That may not help the pulley break free sooner, but it will make everything easier/smoother once the pulley *does* break free and start to move.

 

Use an air impact driver. You can get a compressor, hose and a impact driver for around $200 if you shop wisely. Otherwise rent or borrow one if you have to.

I had a stuck pulley once and had to grind it off. Ever since, I've used an impact driver and never had a problem since.
The impact action works great. For a small tank, you'll completely drain the tank once or twice. That's how tight the pulley is on there.

 

No Scott I am using version 2. Choro-q My problem now is or at least i think it is that the collar not the one that goes around the pulley itself but the one that the screw pulls against is striped. Thanks for the replys guys. It picks me up when I see everyone trying to help. This has not been a very good weekend. Im heading back out to see what i can be doing differnt. Thanks again for the help.

 

Ok it looks as if it is grinder time. Does anyone have any tips for someone that hasnt used a grinder that is about to grind his pulley off??? Really what do i use to grind it off? I have a air compressor so I know I need to get a air grinder but what grinder pad do i use or what ever else i need. Like i said i have never ground anything off before.

 

Are you saying that the pulley remover tool is damaged?
Rather than grinding, I recommend to beg, borrow or steal another pulley remover tool and an air impact wrench. My concern is your lack of grinding experience.

If you don't have experience grinding stuff, you might want to get help. There is not much room for error there. And if you allow the part to get too hot, you could ruin your supercharger seal.

If you do decide to grind it off, you will drain your compressor tank many times. I'd suggest an electric disk grinder instead of an air grinder (unless you have a really huge air tank). You would just need a typical metal grinding wheel (probably a couple.)

 

i would recommend you take it to someone who has done some grinding or cutting, or get them to come to you. you dont want to damage the SC shaft, if youre using a high powered grinder it might be hard to control.

I used an electric angle grinder. I was lucky and had a friend who had done some metal work and I had him take it on, he cut it into four pieces to be sure and avoid cuting the shaft or the case.