450C 1975 skid plate/belly pan removal

[NIKinNZ]

Hello,

I have a 1975 450C crawler and I need to replace the starter, apparently it is easier if you remove the front skid plate/belly pan, I have removed the 4 bolts down each side, the ones on the front were missing, but I realised there seems to be some more bolts at the back, round headed bolts with nuts on the inside (you can reach through the side to get the nuts) but I don’t know what size they are? All this just to get a starter off….

[Jim B]

The parts catalog shows the rear bolts are 5/8". I would expect the nuts to be 15/16" hex if standard nuts. If they happen to be heavy hex nuts they will be 1-1/16" hex. You could cut the heads off to drop the pan then replace the bolts.

It is a pain (less than dropping the belly pans to me) but the starter can be removed from the top. John Deere has a tool (kind of a specialized crowfoot) which is an offset 9/16" 12 point box end wrench. People have made such from a cut off box end wrench and a socket extension. Cut the wrench handle off away from the box end enough to give about an inch to an inch and a half of handle. Weld a socket or extension (3/8" or 1/2" drive, your choice) to the handle to make a crowfoot type wrench. Before welding adjust the fit of the piece such that the wrench and drive side are at 90 degrees to each other. This tool can then be used with extensions to remove the bottom bolt. Best to remove the bottom bolt first so the starter doesn't drop when that bolt is removed.

[andyvt]

My hand is just small enough to fit through the hole in the frame to allow me to hold the bottom bolt and get it out or started.