Hard time getting fan off water pump.

[Hitchhiker]

So I blew a head gasket and my fan blade has a major crack in it. I have a nice 4 blade to replace it with. I've got the radiator and grill out. Fan and water pump are still on the engine. I can't get this sucker off. I have tried a 2 jaw puller. but stopped when it started bending things. My neighbor, who is into A's, said I need to hit the water pump snout with a hammer. But I don't want to bugger up the threads.

any suggestions? I saw the fan removal tool last night in the Snyders catalog. It looks like it screws onto the snout and then you hit it with a hammer. I was thinking I could do something similar with a bolt and a nut the same size as the waterpump snout. Should I do this off the engine? Basically support the fan with the pump hanging in the middle and tap tap tap. Does that sound like it will work?

PS, I tried searching, I know you guys have covered this, but I'm not coming up with anything.

thanks

Matt