thanks guys, i just got done talking to herm in maine about his little homemade tool. he turned me on to a link to a frank, down south, that made a homemade crankshaft tool which bolts right to the end of the crank toothed pulley. two pieces of metal, a few holes and you have a very stout method of holding the shaft to remove and retighten the bolt. seems a better way than using a screwdriver on the flywheel or the in gear/foot on the brake way, especially when you work alone. we'll see how it works, thanks again for the response.