Any more experience with removing master pin, since the last post? I have 983. Has anyone built anything for removing pin, or is only way 1. get cat to come with portable press or 2. beat it out.
Are you sure it does not have a alligator link, a saw tooth arrangement that bolts together.
Blow out the pin with the cutting torch, and beat it out. If you blow out enough of the pin, it will come out fairly easily. Careful to blow in straight, and not hit the link. Further you go, the better. Grind down the new pin with a flapper wheel. Get it to be a 0.001 to 0.002 interference fit. Only grind down the pin, due to cost. If you over grind a new pit, its cheap compared to a new link. Tack weld the pin on, if it hammered in to easily. I usually only weld the inside, to make removal easier for next time.
If you've located the master pin with the dimples in the ends, as GaryHoff says, blow a hole in the ends, it's usually about an inch long at each end that's full diameter, the middle section is turned down so you don't have to drive it the full length. If you can get the hole in each end about an inch or more deep then let it cool it should shrink and come out fairly easy. Another thing some people use for installation is to warm the links hot enough to where you can't hold your hand on them and have the pin frozen down with dry ice in advance, I have even just put the pin in the freezer overnight, helps some. Of course the second you start the pin in it's warming up, so you can't dally.