Re: Mercury 1150 Distributor Removal???
Does your distributor have (3) nuts holding it in place, accessed from underneath the distributor mount? If so, you can undo those nuts and the distributor will drop down and away from the pulley and you can just leave the pulley in place.
If there are no nuts, the distributor mounting bolts are threaded into blind holes in the mounting bracket and you have to pull the flywheel to get at the bolts underneath.
BTW have you worked the belt off the pulley? You should be able to get the pulley up high enough with the belt 'peeled' back out of the way, to clear the flywheel.
If you have to pull the flywheel to access the distributor mounting bolts, the best tool is the one that screws into the center of the flywheel. Like this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370394958593
Failing that, you can use an automotive harmonic balancer puller. Remove (2) bolts on the center flywheel hub, opposite each other. Pick up some suitable-length Grade 8 5/16" fine-threaded puller bolts. Note if you use less then Grade 8 bolts they're probably gonna break!
After backing off the flywheel nut until the nut is flush with the end of the crankshaft, use the puller to bust the flywheel loose. Leaving the nut installed loosely when busting the flywheel loose ensures the flywheel won't jump up and smack you in the face! Use care when removing the flywheel as you can damage the drive belt.
When you're all done, reinstall the flywheel hub bolts with a drop of red Loctite on the threads, and torque to 24 ft-lbs. Torque the crankshaft nut to 100 ft-lbs.
There's one last way to get the flywheel out of the way. It's not usually recommended but you can do it in a pinch, if you're careful.
Pull all the flywheel bolts at the center hub, then remove the flywheel flexplate/ring gear assy. Take note of how the backing rings 'stack up' and be sure to make a match mark so you can get the flywheel re-mounted in the correct position.
No matter which way you deal with the flywheel issue, the best way to start out is to align the flywheel to match up with the belt timing marks, which will be indicated by a decal or punch marks on the flywheel.
You'll see an arrow cast into one of the ribs on the distributor pulley. With this arrow pointing straight to the centerline of the crankshaft, it should also be pointing to the belt timing mark on the flywheel. If you note how it's all aligned before you tear it apart, you can put it back in exactly the same position.
Anyway, that's that, hope that helps you get 'er dun...............ed
