On Mon, 12 Jul 2010 04:42:02 -0700 (PDT), jamesgangnc wrote:

They make pullers that are wider and have hooks on the ends. But
nothing wrong with drilling a couple holes.

As you said, I tried a three-pronged 8-inch gear puller, which is, as you
noted, something that grabs the sides of the aluminum flywheel; but after
seeing the flywheel actually bend upward, I gave up on that method also as
too dangerous. It would have cracked the flywheel in half.

Only then did I realize the simplest answer of all, which was to tap the
two pre-drilled 1/4x20 holes and simply use a two-bolt harmonic balancer
puller - and the flywheel simply popped off without any effort whatsoever.

End result is:
1. It's crazy to bang DOWN on the crankshaft and pry up on the flywheel
2. It's crazy to lift the EDGES of the flywheel with a gear puller
3. The right way is to lift near the CENTER of the flywheel with a puller

I still don't get the logic of banging down (momentarily deformed
crankshaft?); but I haven't read all the responses yet.