I've been meaning to ask you something. If you've allegedly worked in a race engine shop and have all this 30 plus years of experience, why are you here asking about flexplate holding tools, and rope in the cylinder(which is WAY bad) and then you come up with this redneck way to hold the flexplate?

ok if you want a life history
at age 18 joined USAF and was a jet engine mechanic and worked on
B52 Bombers and KC135 Tankers for 8 years
did that at night
daytime worked at HEADCO machine shop on sprint car motors
and making sheet metal intakes for Rhear & Morrison racing engines
and yes 30 years have been using silicone on the end rail gaskest
you see when you mill heads or deck blocks the height changes
let alone production values being off
You can have anything from 1/16 of a inch to 1/2 of a inch gap on the end rails
so we have been using silicone with never a problem
in over 30 years
crank case pressure would have to excide 300 psi or more to do that
and as we all know that'* about imposable under any condition

And actual its used in stock car motors as they don't want any leaking oil on the track

To answer your rope trick question it was used to change out valve stem seals to keep the valves from falling in the cylinder when you take off the valve springs
and used as a engine holding trick
its been posted many times in HOT ROD and CAR CRAFT magazine many times over the years
You have to make sure your on a compression stroke when you do it
So a lot of people have been doing it for years with no proplems

Yes GM on Pontiac Grand Prix 3.8 with the aluminum oil pan uses only silicone
there is no gasket listed so GM engineers must have thought was a good idea to carry it to production

IF you use a impact gun on the crank bolt you are actual sending the force threw the crank to the main bearings never a good idea thats why the factory came up with
the fly wheel holder as you show

Now as far as the RED NECK FLYWHEEL HOLDER
the poor average Joe out there cant afford to spend $150 on a one time use tool
is not this FORAUM to help that guy working in his driveway to fix his car???
They are on here because they cant afford $150 a hour shop rates to fix there car

AS the other member posted long pry bar with other guy holding it works to with no damage

The RED NECK ENGINE HOLDER works with one person and its to help the average guy out there

The start of this post was to see what other people out there have used or there ideas
or to help the average JOE

I got the impression that you wanted something better than the prybar method, because you want to be a cut above the rest. If you want to go full FSM on this, you can. That lists the 'proper' procedure that can be repeated time after time with no issues during the job, or down the line. You start deviating from that, and you start introducing risk of failure. If you swap the tool for the prybar method, you risk the prybar slipping out and collateral damage. You swap the bolt removal or replacement procedures with an impact gun, you pick up another risk, but also gain the job difficulty relief as well. Remember too that the manual also indicates the HB bolt is TTY, so that means it SHOULD be replaced any time it comes out. It also should be torqued to some ungodly torque (138ftlbs sticks in my mind for some reason), and then stretched even further (another 38**?) when it goes in. When torque levels go up, so does the risk of something going wrong. That is the real reason the FSM'* list the procedures they do in my opinion.

To be honest, I haven't heard of an engine failure yet that came about from using the impact, and in my case, with a failed HB, my crank was already getting hammered by the accessories, so one last time shouldn't make a difference.

Yes we are a bunch of guys on the interweb, all with our own opinions, but ultimately you have the final decision on how you want to do it and why. The information you share, and that was shared with you will be there for the next time someone else comes around needing to do the same job.

Cheers mate, and watch out for the grammar police, cuz deys will getcha if yous aint watchin.

Not a cut above any one.

Was looking for how people have done or used for a way to hold the flywheel
flat rate shops would just impack it to death and hope for the best.

Or a place to get one at a cost not to high.
To torque the bolt takes basic a 2 to 3 foot
braker bar
111 lbs +74 angle torque
and thats with a new crank bolt

The long book was because someone asked questions so i answered best i could