[alfa] home-made crank locking tool?

["Watry, Andrew (LNG-SFR)" <Andrew.Watry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I was thinking about what could work as a crank/flywheel locking tool to
affirmatively get into the teeth of the flywheel, with the engine installed.
This would take a bit of home skill, but what if you took a pinion gear off
the Bendix from an no-good starter and welded it to a custom-made plate that
bolted to the starter bolt holes (with the starter removed of course).  The
plate could be flat, but would need to be custom-cut to fit the starter
cut-out in the block, and suitably drilled for the pinion shaft and the
attaching holes.  The pinon gear, solidly welded to the plate, and with the
right protrusion, would engage the flywheel teeth and prevent it from
turning.  Would this work?  Someone with a good home shop could do it.
Maybe it's too involved, but it would beat taking out the engine or trans if
you didn't otherwise have too. 

The standard VW-type flywheel locks are cheap and work great, but they
require the trans and engine to be separated.  And as Brian pointed out, if
you have a good air impact wrench, no lock at all is required to get the
front pulley nut off.

Andrew Watry
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