you do not want to hammer on the bearing itself as you will damage it . take a socket tht fits over the bearing race and hammer on that
did you clean out the crank opening and make sure it was free of any rust, ridges or dirt
Did you put some light grease on the outside of the bearing
Is the bearing in straight
is it the right bearing
stock or aftermarket crank- some cranks have a lip and some aftermarket cranks are not drilled as deep.
You want the bearing flush with the end of the crank
Ford pilot bearings have a lip on the end of the bearing that seats against the crankshaft flange. That lip determines how deep the bearing seats in the crankshaft. As long as the backside of the lip is seated against the crankshaft, you are good to go.
I'm hammering with a socket over the flange, not touching the inner raised bearing retainer. It's the right bearing for a 5.0 Mustang 302 with stock crank (Ford Racing M-7600-A, http://www.americanmuscle.com/ford-pilotbearing-302.html). It appears to be installed straight but the lip on the end of the bearing, that should be seated against the crank, is raised about 1/16th inch. I didn't use any lubrication as the instructions state that the bearing is pre-lubed on the inside and to not add any more; I didn't add any lube to the outside because I figured it could cause the pilot bearing to move inside the crank and not seat properly.
What would be the best bet to remove this pilot bearing without damaging it? Pack the crank hole with grease and push the bearing out? I have a slide hammer but it seems like if I use that it will destroy the bearing.
That does work quite well, and it doesn't damage the bearing in the process. I did it recently when I changed the clutch in my 5.0 using an old transmission input shaft as both removal tool and pilot tool for the new clutch disk. The only thing is that you have to keep adding more grease as the bearing moves out. It may take 3 or 4 extra shots of grease to do the job. Be sure to clean out the extra grease when you get the pilot bearing out.