What kind of puller to pull out the top gear in my Indy, or a good trick to pull it off

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Its pressed on. You have to pull the cam and take it to a shop and they will pull and press the new gear.
Pull the valve cover
Pull the push rods (keep them in order)
Pull the lifter cover
Pull the lifters (keep them in order)
Remove the 2 retainer bolts on the cam
Drop the rear cradle just enough for the cam gear to clear. (Not sure on your year but i just had to remove the 2 rear cradle bolts with a jack under the cradle. I lowered it until i had clearance. Pulled the cam and put the cradle back until i got the can back with new gear.) My 87 had enough wiggle with fuel and ac and cables. Your results may vary.

quote Originally posted by skywurz: Its pressed on. You have to pull the cam and take it to a shop and they will pull and press the new gear. Pull the valve cover Pull the push rods (keep them in order) Pull the lifter cover Pull the lifters (keep them in order) Remove the 2 retainer bolts on the cam Drop the rear cradle just enough for the cam gear to clear. (Not sure on your year but i just had to remove the 2 rear cradle bolts with a jack under the cradle. I lowered it until i had clearance. Pulled the cam and put the cradle back until i got the can back with new gear.) My 87 had enough wiggle with fuel and ac and cables. Your results may vary.

This is the way we did them at the dealership back in the 90's. By the time you waste all the time doing it incorrectly, you could have done it twice correctly. Of course we had the equipment onsite to press the gear off and on.

What I can say is that I have pulled the timing gear with the cradle completely out of the car. I got creative with a universal puller tool (harmonic balancer puller or steering wheel puller, the style with slotted holes similar to this). Unfortunately I can’t remember exactly how I did it since it was over 4 years ago, but I think I used some bolts (I can’t remember if I used the holes in the gear as a pulling point or if I drilled and tapped the gear). I just wanted to give my $0.02 since I have done mine successfully without pulling the cam. Best of luck!

[This message has been edited by Fiero Ron (edited 03-09-2021).]