A 3/4 drive impact wrench is fine if the engine is out of the vehicle.
Otherwise things are kind of crowded!
  I have a 1.9 L engine, which is said to have been rebuilt.  It is in a
rusted away '84 tintop that I expect to junk.  To remove the crank pulley
when replacing the waterpump, I had to take off the bumper and make a hole
thru the sheet metal to get to the crank pulley bolt with an impact wrench
and extensions.

Larry A.

On Fri, Jun 19, 2020 at 8:29 PM Stacy Schneider <vwcrewman@gmail.com> wrote:

> The Bentley manual clearly says not use the crankshaft to hold the pulley
> in place. They have a special tool which locks up the pulley. I guess they
> are worried about bending the crank.
>        They are well aware of the things people do and try and Avert
> problems.  I guess it works but they had good reason to not want you
> cranking on the snout end if the crankshaft.
>
>                       Stacy
>
> On Thu, Jun 18, 2020 at 4:52 AM Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > I use an impact wrench to get that pulley nut off. GoWesty has a nifty
> > tool they throw in with their EFI kit to hold the flywheel through the
> > torque convert bolt access hole. Tool collection growing! Use 4th gear.
> The
> > torque needed to remove that bolt will easily move the van even with the
> > brake set.
> >
> > The oil pressure numbers look good. My 91 at 268K with oversize pump and
> > oil cooler stays just above 20 psi at idle. Getting the oil temp down
> will
> > help to keep that motor going.
> >
> > Dennis
> >
> > From: Gene P <olgreywoof@gmail.com>
> > Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2020 12:06 AM
> > To: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>; vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> > Subject: RE: Water Pump Pipes
> >
> > The ‘fear’ reference was just me not wanting to pull the crank pulley.
> > But after another unsuccessful go with the hammer today, I decided to get
> > on with it, so I finished with the muffler on the floor and the tin out.
> > Now I need to put wheels on and get them on the ground to hold the
> torque,
> > right?  Or is there a way to block the pulley?
> >
> > Oil pressure on highway run with oil at 235F – 45 PSI @ 3900 RPM, 40 PSI
> @
> > 3000 RPM, and then idling at 12-13, with oil @ 230 right after.  87 2.1
> > with 170K.  Seems OK?
> >
> > Thanks much,
> > gp
> >
> > From: Dennis Haynes<mailto:d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
> > Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2020 2:30 PM
> > To: Gene P<mailto:olgreywoof@gmail.com>; vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> <mailto:
> > vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> > Subject: RE: Water Pump Pipes
> >
> > Hopefully I’m offering more perspective than fear. For these small heat
> > jobs a MAPP torch set will get it done. The small O2 and MAPP tanks get
> > expensive fast. Success sometimes has its price.
> > If you do end up removing the crank pulley consider replacing the seal
> and
> > o-ring. If you have any oil pressure concerns this would also be the time
> > to upgrade the oil pump. The GoWesty kit worth it as they add the o-ring
> > seal for the front cover and test the pump shaft for fit. I’ve installed
> a
> > few with no issues.
> >
> --
>    1989 Swedish Tristar with Aluminum gates and Atiwe 16" Wheels.
>     Oldest son is an Eagle scout.
>