I've not been around lately, and not progressed with my timing chain job either, but in an effort to get back on track i hired the crank tools from JEC, which arrived Friday.
So yesterday, having spent most of the day fannying around with the car, and having finally got the crank pulley bolt undone (that was one tight mother), i thought great, surely getting the pulley off must be easier.

Wrong

It seems that one of the screw holes in the pulley has cross threaded, and when i fit the extractor bolts one of them pulls out long before i can apply enough pressure to the extractors big centre bolt, to loosen the pulley.
I tried the bolts that came with the crank locking tool (with the adapter) and the bolts that came with the removal tool (allen key heads) without the adapter, because the latter were not long enough to be used with the adapter.
Neither way works because the bolt pulls out of one of the pulley threads, and JEC won't be happy because i now owe them for two bolts with knackered thread ends.

I took some close up pics of the bolt ends, but they came out blurry, so i'll try again in a while, but the question is . . . what are my best options for a stubborn pulley with a knackered screw thread?

Any ideas will be greatly appreciated, especially since i have to return the tools soon.
The right hand bolt in the extractor, and the silver bolt to it's right are the ones that are now knackered.

 

Run an M6 (I'll confirm it later) tap down the pulley holes until they're right through. Lube with WD40 before and during tapping out....(back and forth, 1/4-1/2 turns to clean the threads or the tap will snap off in the pulley, exactly what you don't want)

Bin the junked bolts, (or Annie Jenks will bill you).

Locate and buy fresh M6 hi-tensile allen/cap bolts the same length, also the cam locking tool bolts.
Local nut/bolt/tool store will carry these, so maybe take them in and replace for a couple of quid.

Problem with the pulley is it's down low and can collect sh*t and rust over the years, so you have to ensure everything is mint before you show it the bolts. You learnt the hard way......we all done it

 

Thanks Sean, it appears i did a number of things wrong, so i'll start from the beginning.
Pics 1 & 2 show how the kit arrived, since i asked for just the crank locking tool, the pulley adapter, and the pulley removal tool.
I stuck one of my camshaft holding tools in the empty slot just to make sure the slot would hold two of them, and from that i figured out that two of the CAMSHAFT locking tool bolts had been slipped in with what they sent me, and it was those two long silver bolts i'd used to try to extract the pulley.

Not good, and doomed to fail.

Pic 3 shows why i didn't use the allen key bolts with the extractor together with the adapter, although the diagram in the JTIS shows allen key headed bolts going through the removal disc and adapter.
As you can see, by the time the bolts have passed through the adapter and removal disc, there's hardly any thread length to bite into the pulley threads.

Pic 4 shows the stripped threads on the two different types of bolt i tried to remove the pulley with.

The pulley was quite rusty, and the pulley screw threads will be as well, and although i tried to clean the rust off the recess in the pulley, the angle of attack made it difficult, and i didn't clean the threads.
I did spray some maintenence spray in there, but as you say, it's turned out to need the pulley threads cleaned out thoroughly.

Bit late to get a tapping kit today, so looks like my attempt to get the pulley off today is scuppered.

If you could please possibly confirm it's an M6 tap i need i'll try to get one tomorrow.

Thanks again.

P.S Am i supposed to use the removal disc and allen head bolts without the adapter?
I ask because as the pic shows, the allen key bolts with the removal disc, and the adapter, leaves very little thread to bite.

 

Yes!!! - it goes like this, (without spacer...) clean/tap threads on pulley, then

1. The little cap button goes into the crank where the bolt came out - (to protect it and make a face for the puller bolt with the ball bearing in)

2. Wind out the big bolt in the puller and wind in the 2xM8 (not M6 my bad) hi-tensile allen head bolts into the pulley until all 3 are snug

3. Crank the big bolt until the pulley pops off.


Good luck with the rest of the job, hope it goes well and the car's back up and running in short order

 

Popped round the shop (won't name it) and got a tap & die set for M4,5,6 & 8.
Have also retapped and cleaned out the threads on the pulley, plus rethreaded the allen key bolts. It seems with those, being hardened, that they were ok, but wouldn't go thread properly due to the amount of rust in the threads of both the bolts and pulley threads.
One of the camshaft locking bolts wasn't so lucky, and i think the thread is trashed.
Has anyone else had the problem of the pulley turning as you tighten the extractor bolt down?
Without the crank locking tool, and the setting plug being a no no, im not sure how to get round that yet. Iv'e tried holding it with the old fan belt. but not much confidence that it's got enough grip.
I'm about to have one last bash at it in a minute.

 

At the risk of sounding like an amateur, I can tell you of one method I use to remove stubborn pulleys: Spray a bit of lubricant around the cone hole once the retaining bolt is out. Using an air hammer tool with a blunt end chisel fitted to it, press the chisel end into the pulley near the center hub and press the trigger quickly a time or two, In my experience, the cone usually pops right out. Might be worth a try if all other attempts are failing. Good luck!

 

Done it, pulleys off.

Got the old fan belt and a four sided wheel brace, put the fan belt round the crank pulley and the two remaining pulleys on the left side of the engine, then twisted the fan belt 7 or 8 times using the wheel brace. Rested one end of the brace on the block inside the left hand cam cover (near the thermostat housing) and pushed forward on the top of the wheel brace to keep the pressure on.
It put enough pressure on the crank pulley to hold it still while i turned the extractor bolt with my other hand.

Thank god. Crank bolts and pulleys are a job i wouldn't want to tackle too many times, but at least now i know how.