Please, if you could: I can't yet separate the junkyard manual transmission from the junkyard B230 I got. One locating pin/dowel is stuck.

I have tried a little prying, a little woodem shim (wedging action -- not a great idea), PB b'laster, little hammer taps.

It's 15 miles away, out at Grandma's spread, and I will bring some HEAT the next time I go.

If that fails I will drill out the dowel without shedding a tear... but with a curse.

They couldn't have slightly tapered the pin, eh? Or threaded it to remove from the backside? I hesitate to beat on the pin, fearing I will just mushroom it, and make things worse.

Thanks for your help!

Ditto to what Chris said. If you can wiggle the whole tranny up & down (maybe using a jack to lift it near the tranny mount), it should squirm - or pop - off. Don't let the bellhousing fall in your crotch when this happens - that hurts. :(
--
Speed Racer, '83 240 R, '93 940 OL1 (East Hartford, CT)

Speedo!

"Don't let the bellhousing fall in your crotch when this happens - that hurts. :("

No kidding. A month or so ago I was just plain lucky at the U-Pull, when I had used too much rope to support the transmission from above, through the shifter hole, and had neglected to move my face as I loosened a final bolt or two. It was just one of those days when I was sloppy a few times too many, forgot tools as essential as a flashlight (!), was tired... but still lucked out.

Thanks for the encouragement!

The biggest challenge with these things is to get the weight/pressure off of the locating pins (where applicable). That is what makes them so hard to separate. If you can wiggle the trans (M46 is heavy so maybe not--elevate it with something) it may come out more easily. It always seems that one of them is tough to get out.

Thanks, Chris, for your encouragement with this divorce of aluminum bellhousing and steel pins.

One out of two usually sticks? well, I guess my situation is normal, for what that's worth.

I have supported the whole shebang of engine and transmission from an engine hoist, lowered onto many blocks to TRY to get it all leveled and evenly supported. I will try, try again.

But I do wish there was something I could HIT! :)

To the best of my knowledge (at least on earlier models) they are a fairly
tight press fit into the engine block and a snug fit into the bellhousing.
If you have it straight, it should pull out fairly easily. If it is cocked,
it will be harder, the more the worse.
If it is loose on one side and stuck on the other side you might take a couple
of putty knives and put them between the bellhousing and the block as close
to the dowel as possible on each side and then pull the tranny back to center
or beyond (using it as a lever) to pull the other one loose. I don't think
I would recommend either heat or drilling. Brute force is better in this case,
at least when properly applied. I suspect that once it moves any, it will
come all the way out fairly easily unless there is an issue between the input
shaft splines and the clutch plate (which may require more brute force).
Warmer weather will help as aluminum expands faster than steel.
There might be a bit of aluminum (galvanic) corrosion between the bellhousing
and the pin. Remember the few years when the old Ford flathead V8s had
aluminum heads? They even made tubular core drills to go between the headbolts
and the heads to get them loose. I can remember seeing piles of those old
heads as tall as I was at the time. (Since I was born shortly after the end
of that era, the piles had been there a while already.)
--
George Downs Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!

Thanks, George, for your help with the transmission.

I'll try more putty knives. ;-)
I had tried only the one I had on hand.

And I defer to the metallurgist who counsels not using big heat.
But if summer heat could help, couldn't I just try to recreate a sunny July day on the area? ;-)

What will they think of next, placing dissimilar materials in intimate contact, and then subjecting them to a salty environment for half a year for many years? Reminds me of the aluminum bumpers on the 700s, mounted firmly to steel plates... at least for about 12-15 years in the Rust Belt, and then...

Flathead Ford V8s? I have HEARD of them. Guess I was born about half an era later. ;-)

Ford came out with the first V8 in 1932 and it evolved as a flathead (L head)
engine through 1953 in Ford and Mercury automobiles and very similar V8, V12
and V16 engines in the miscellaneous Lincoln and Lincoln Zephyr cars.
To the best of my knowledge the aluminum heads were used from about 1934-37,
and were then abandoned because the heads were held down by studs so once you
got the nuts off the heads were still stuck.

When you put the bellhousing back on, be sure and put a little grease on the
pinholes and also on the bolt shanks. May save you some grief.

Do you see any white corrosion product around the pins?

If you heat, remember that aluminum conducts a lot of heat very fast and
so you need to be careful how you do it. Maybe a little bernzomatic work
right at the pin would be best. In case of hydrated corrosion products,
you might be able to dehydrate them at maybe 250°F or less and greatly reduce
their volume. Under no circumstances do you want to heat enough to make the
pin turn blue.
--
George Downs Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!

Thanks for the concept (hydrated corrosion products) and for the encouragement, George, when I confronted the bellhousing's pins.

Some combination of a little more heat, and a couple scrapers, worked from different angles, and some wooden shims (a new offering at the store, made of glue + wood scraps?), and some banging, and time... and the pin's hold yielded. No "pop," but slow.

I hope that I bent nothing; I tried to be judicious.

Did you find corrosion in there? A little grease on reassembly is
usually a good idea. I've got to where I do that on a LOT of things
now, especially suspension parts, crossmember mounting bolts, etc.
Saves an amazing amount of grief later.

Glad to hear you finally got complete separation!
--
George Downs Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!

Aw, George, there may have been corrosion around the bellhousing-locator pin, but I need BOTH better light and new bifocals (close-up?) to tell. :-( I used to try to carry a magnifying glass, but it proved too bulky. (Whaddya know?!) I'll look again today.

Grease? You betcha! Make it better for yourself, next time, if you keep the item long enough, or for the next guy. (Similarly, I have signed some home repairs of which I have been real proud -- say "hi" to the next guy who digs into them.) Also use silicone (dielectric) grease, anti-seize... God bless 'em!

Thanks again!