My fuel pump stoped working, so I took it off to find the push rod seized inside the motor. Does anybody know how I can get it out without tearing the motor apart????

hs,
Does it move at all ? Small Block or Big Block ? If it will move in towards the cam, but just wont come all the way out, chances are it killed the lobe on the cam and tore up the end of the push rod so bad that it wont come out. Have you tried getting a pair of Vice Grips on it and pulling on it ?
Otherwise ther is a good chance you will have to pull it apart to get to it. Or .... just leave it alone and install an electric pump.

its a 396. I can hit it in with a punch and hammer. When I turn the motor over the rod will push back out, but its stuck in there. There's no room for vise grips.

Sounds like you bent the rod. Try grabbing it with needle nose pliers, tap on the pliers with a hammer as you pull.

If the motor is old crud can build up on the pushrod inside the motor. It will move freely in its normal movement but when you try and take it out it feels like it's sticking. Just keep working it back and forth and it will eventually come out.
I've had that experience before, same thing with lifters.

I've started the motor and held a pry bar against the rod and I need to put a lot of pressure against it and it goes in and out against the cam. I've tried long needle nose plyers and it will not spin/rotate and will not pull out. Looking at the rod, it looks pitted and badly scored. If I take the intake manifold off, will there be enough room for me to hammer it from the inside out? Or do I take the timing cover off? Or would it be easier to weld a long bolt to the rod from the bottom and try to pull it out that way????

You don't have a bottomed out bolt in onna the old front motor mount bolt holes do you that is holding it tight, do you??

Just thinking out loud is all.

pdq67

the bolt welded on is do-able deal if you can manage it. just don't forget there are gas lines nearby and stuff. I did one by just welding the welding rod to the end of the pushrod. grabbed it with vise-grips and pounded the vise-grips with a hammer. this turned out to be a case of built-up varnish crud.

The question is this: if the cam lobe is good and the rod slides in and out why not choose the old "do nothing" option? Did the old pump work good enough to drive the car OK? Install a new pump and see what happens. If it's OK you can blow it off till you need to re-build the engine or something.

I can get the rod to move back in toward the cam, but it takes a lot of pressure when using my pry bar against it. I bolted a new pump onto the motor, but the pump arm does not have enough spring tension to move the rod back against the camshaft, thus the new pump does not pump any fuel. The rod also looks to be badly scored.