crankshaft pulley bolt

definitely normal/anticlockwise

They have a conventional thread, so undo anti-clockwise. But will self tighten due to the rotation of the engine. Common way is to shock them free with an impact wrench, or by hitting a breaker bar with a hammer etc.

you won't shear the bolt trust me ;)

• 6 foot of scaffold bar, no good in gear, moved the car wife with her foot on the brakes, moved the car chocked wheels, moved car handbrake, moved car lent on it for about 20 seconds then it shifted DOHC sierra and then i forgot about putting osmething back will i take it apart again? will i bollocks

Not sure it's a good idea to use a torque wrench for undoing the bolt though - it'll lose its accuracy very quickly that way. A decent breaker bar is a good investment. Even Halfords do a good one (1/2" drive) for £20 and mine will take my (not inconsiderable) weight standing on it to undo a 306 hub nut from 320Nm or more without any nasty noises or bending.

Good luck!

I've probably said this before, but I've never had problems rounding off a nut etc with a decent bi-hex socket of the right size - assuming the 'nut' starts out in good condition, of course. And I've broken my fair share of seized ones. Of course, if it's already damaged, there are better alternatives to bi-hex.

In addition to that, I'd very very highly recommend using a decent impact socket, they really do make a huge difference.

Not quite the same situation, but on my Audi A6 I very nearly rounded off the n/s/f caliper mounting bolts when changing the front discs and pads (aaaarrgghh!) and thought I had got them to a beyond repair state, and then on phoning around a few mobile mechanics in desperation, one recommended using an impact socket. Despite the bolts being reasonably rounded off, they came out straight away.

Peter

Thanks to all for the advice, i'll let you know how it turns out at the weekend!