Last time I took out my pilot (or spigot) bearing the engine was out of the car, I think I used a long screwdriver and popped it out somehow. Now that I’m putting in my new triple plate Carbonetic Clutch with the engine still in the car that didn’t quite work, after some searching I came across a neat little (cheap) trick.

Don’t be fooled by those expensive pullers that can cost over $100, a piece of bread is all you need, yes a piece of bread.

Pilot bearing bread removal steps –

• I had a loaf in the cupboard – multigrain – not sure if it was low gi or high in fibre but any old bread will do
• Pulled the bread apart, stuck it through the centre of the bearing hole, kept stuffing it
• Then used a small extension bar I had to push it in, compacting it more and more (you can use a bolt or rod in similar diameter to the hole)
• In the end I gave it a few taps with the hammer and the pilot bearing started to pop out
• In the end took me 5 mins or so, bread came out of centre hole and only thing I had to do was vacuum up some crumbs off the garage floor

Hope this tip helps for people in the future. Feel free to get creative with donuts or bagels, this guy on lexus forums had some fun with donuts –

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/performance-and-maintenance/522687-how-to-remove-pilot-bearing-with-a-doughnut.html