This was one of those things that happens during a project that eats up time.
I read that the pilot bearing typically sticks on the flywheel retainer but in my case it was stuck in the tranny input shaft. Not sure if this is common, but may explain why it took a little bit of prying to separate the bell-housing from the engine.
Anyways, we tried an extraction tool and a few other tricks, but we ended up welding a hammer puller on the inside of the gutted pilot bearing and that did the trick.
I read that the pilot bearing typically sticks on the flywheel retainer but in my case it was stuck in the tranny input shaft. Not sure if this is common, but may explain why it took a little bit of prying to separate the bell-housing from the engine.
Anyways, we tried an extraction tool and a few other tricks, but we ended up welding a hammer puller on the inside of the gutted pilot bearing and that did the trick.