MTFCA Forum

I have never had to try this. A friend just had a magnet come off and lock up the engine, fortunately the engine was just above an idle. Question is can you get the magnets out with the hogs head off with a four dip pan? (He's not realy set up to pull the engine) He has a distributer to put on it.
Thanks Guys.

No. The mag ring with field coils is blocking your access to the magnet bolts. The flywheel needs to be unbolted from the crankshaft. To do that you must remove the crankcase. I can't imagine doing that without pulling the whole engine.
Rich

The locking up of the engine by a "flying magnet" has put a tremendous amount of stress on the crankshaft and the rear main bearing area of the block. At this point the engine needs to be pulled, dismantled, and carefully inspected. Have the crank magnefluxed and the engine block around the rear main. You may find cracks in the webbing that supports the rear main bearing area.
Sad to say, switching to a distributor and continuing to run that engine is not a viable option.

I agree with David. Also if you remove the magnets, you will need slingers to keep the oil circulating around the engine and transmission.
You are very fortunate that the magnet did not destroy the hogs head or the crankcase. Maybe you can find a club member in your area who can help you pull the engine and help you with the work. It is really not very hard if you have the right equipment. I do think you should inspect everything because of the stress.
Norm

I agree with David. Also if you remove the magnets, you will need slingers to keep the oil circulating around the engine and transmission.
You are very fortunate that the magnet did not destroy the hogs head or the crankcase. Maybe you can find a club member in your area who can help you pull the engine and help you with the work. It is really not very hard if you have the right equipment. I do think you should inspect everything because of the stress.
Norm

Thanks guys,
He will just need to figure out how to get the engine out & apart. He's in the proccess of moving a couple of states away so its hard for me to help him. Maybe he will find someone near by to help once he gets settled.
Thanks. Craig.

If he is moving? It would probably be best to move the car as is mostly intact and deal with it when he gets a bit settled. Hopefully, that wouldn't turn into a decade or two of waiting to be fixed.

To the original question? Yes, the magnets can be removed, and paddles installed with the hogshead (and pan cover) removed. Is it worth it? NO! Getting the magnet bolts out through the pan cover is bad enough! You can't get to the brass screw heads with a screwdriver with the field coil in the way! The field coil cannot be removed from an assembled engine short of breaking it into pieces (which may not be all that bad considering it was likely damaged when the magnet broke?). Then one would still have to remove the bolted in remains of the field coil ring lest those pieces shake loose and cause more serious damage. It just turns into hours and hours of miserable fun.
Other than a middle-of-nowhere emergency roadside repair? Much better to pull the engine and do it right!

Wouldn't even try it in the car, even if you manage to break up the field coil enough to remove in pieces you still have the oil pipe to contend with, trying not to damage it and re-bolting etc.

Where is your friend moving to ? If close to me, I’d be glad to help him pull and dismantle the engine. I’m sure others would too.

One thing I did not see addressed ( maybe I missed it) is the risk of the triple gear pins coming loose if magnets are removed. They can come out where the magnets held them in. I have not seen this but have heard of it happening. You will need a ring to prevent this.
They are available, I install one on each flywheel I remove the magnets from. Dan

Hi George,
Turns out he may not be very far from you. Hes in the north part of metro area of Austin. I'll send you an email.
Thanks. Craig.