Kind Of Sad, Or Is It Just Me?

[Mike Reller]

Right now there is a McCulloch flywheel puller on Ebay. The current high bid is $46.00. Forty Six friggen dollars for a tool that is about as basic as it gets. It reminds me of the time that a guy showed up at our track with a new Dart, a new helmet, a new Mc 40, with a Clutch, and no starter pulley. He just threw money out, without any mechanical aptitude. I think that most of us could make our own flywheel puller. I'm guessing that Auto Zone, or a place similar has something that would at least be the basis of a puller. Am I being a snob, or is ingenuity becoming a lost art?

[Ilya Leontovich]

Looks like a plate and five bolts. That there is rocket science!

Ingenuity has been steadily displaced by the almighty dollar as living conditions have improved.

[Bill Hermsted]

Mike-
Looks like this new culture of risk management is still at work, the arch enemy of ingenuity. I just made a Mac flywheel/ side cover puller out of a 3 1/2 x 3 1/2" plate, and didn't even get hurt!
bill

[nils gustafson]

Hows about those socket wrenches with buttons , after 50yrs of just pulling off sockets, now we got to press a button ,got 40yr old wrenches ,and sockets never fall off, and WTF NASA looking for black holes ,they should come and examine my shop floor !!!!

[mcbob]

Accusing the world of the younger generation of being money hungy or throwing gillzillions at old vintage parts ........... well stop and remember those who have offered parts to fellow karters and but to ensure a fair to all price, plaster it on ebay knowing full well the highest bidder will get the item providing they pay maximium dollar what are they ? they're no different ......... i have seen both .

Those good ol days are dead and buried ........... long live the almighty dollar.
ie: new price against current ebay price .......... old Bob McCulloch would roll overr in his grave at the money he could have made had he lasted a few more years.



McBob

[ted johnson]

I dunno, Nils. I like the button release! Even better, look at http://www.link-tools.com/ and go to their on line store at top right. These guys have a great socket retention system (and beautiful tools). Nuttin wrong with good new tech, as long as it serves a real purpose, but I sure agree with Mike about someone too lazy to take a piece of 1" X 3/8" bar stock, drill two 9/32 holes and drill and tap one 3/8-16 center hole and have a tool that'll last a lifetime for a couple dollars worth of stock and a half-hour's time! And, yes, back in the seventies when I lived in a trailer park and only had a few hand tools, I DID buy a cheap 2-hole Mac puller which I still use! ....But I didn't pay $46.00! TJ

[steveohara]

Easy guys, not everyone has the tools and materials laying around to make even a simple puller like that.
That being said, take a trip to any of the major auto parts stores and you should be able to find a generic multi-purpose puller that will work just fine for very little money.
For example, here is a link to a nice multi purpose puller kit that would handle the Mc flywheel with ease and it costs $13.

http://www.harborfreight.com/46-piece-b ... 37824.html

The same kit is at Advance Auto, Kragen, Pep Boys etc
Then again... that puller on ebay is a true vintage karting piece of history and should command a premium price just because it is the exact tool we used 45 years ago. I always wondered why they used laminated steel plates like that... maybe cheaper to make???
Steve O'Hara

[steveohara]

One more thing about the tool on ebay. The tool is more than just a flywheel puller.
Who will be the first person to post what the other use of that tool is for working on the McCulloch engines???
Steve O'Hara

[l brown]

Steve - Better question, is there anyone who doesn't know ? I think most everyone knows it is also a side plate puller.

[Bill Hermsted]

Steve-
You nailed it with the nostalgia thing, with which this puller fairly reeks! If it werent for saving money for things i can't build, like engine parts, i'd be bidding on it myself And, oh yes, this puller is way better than any around today. If you do a lot of engine work, a puller leads a hard life. I build special tools not only due to financial woes, but it's just so much fun. About the laminations- i think the reason was that if some point along the thread becomes upset, the damage would be less likely to travel to the next plate. Mac engineering- don't you love it?

I Brown-
Well said! My bet was that most, if not all of us, knew all along about the side cover puller holes.