Originally Posted by fyrstormer

I'll be honest, I figured blowtorching the engine block would ruin it. It can't be good for the aluminum to be heated that much, it's hundreds of degrees above normal operating temperature. But perhaps I'm not giving it enough credit for durability.

I'll look into the bearing puller. I'm concerned it won't be able to handle the tiny bearings in my .08 engine, though. I might be stuck changing bearings the hard (i.e. impossible) way, in which case getting a bare crankcase and installing the best damn bearings I can get is probably still my best option.