Good luck with that. Mine took an hour of f**k around to try and get it out.

ive done 4 of them now, ed el, ef and another el.
it only takes me about 1/2 to 3/4 hour to replace the balancer and seal now

When I did mine last week, I found that with the new balancer and new seal I couldn't get it on far enough to get the standard bolt to start to do up, luckily i had a second bolt and washer, welded the washer to the top of the bolt, and then a nut on top of the washer, that way it was easy to put it back on. Get it started a few turns, then put original bolt and washer on and tighten it up.

I also recommend once the bolt is undone, take the washer off and put the bolt back in before using the puller, as if the puller is not lined up dead straight you can crossthread the end of it in the end of the crank, see below

That is what the bolt in the picture is for, same thread as the crank.....I use this to pull the balancer in, using the original washer, then take that out and use the original bolt & washer to pull it in the rest of the way.
I got the bolt from a Commo ( VR/VS ) front strut mount.....to stub axle assembly.

 

 

Attachments:

IMGP1107_resize.JPG [ 80.41 KiB | Viewed 317 times ]

"Holy Necro Post, Batman!" - Apologies, but this was the closest I could find to my current situation and I thought a separate thread wouldn't help future searchers. The original poster doesn't seem to have been active in a few years, but I'm sure someone can answer this.

What does the cut-down end of the centre bolt push against - the end of the original bolt after backing it out a half dozen turns, or some kind of thrust bushing/plate (like, maybe, the inside of an appropriately sized 1/4" socket, square side to the bolthole in the end of the shaft)? I don't want to make a mess of the thread in the end of the shaft.