Originally Posted by otto huber

I had some time this morning to head back to the yard and even after removing the back bracket from the engine block, the IP still seemed to be stuck in the timing gear.

I removed two 13mm bolts that held the back bracket to the engine block. After doing this, the IP moved back about a 1/4" from the 3 front bolts and I could move the back of the IP in a circular motion. There was nothing hanging up the pump in the back, it just didn't want to pull out. There was no way of me turning the crankshaft. Does the crank need to be 24 BTDC?