Hello, hopefully somebody can help shed some light on the best way to go about removing the A/C Clutch Armature Plate from a 2008 Honda Civic so it can be reshimmed. My A/C only works in very rare circumstances, and the air gap for the A/C Clutch is well above the max recommended gap of .65mm. I would like to remove the plate (clean it of any rust) and remove the shim so the air gap is within the specifications for the car.
Here is the manual I was using to help figure out how to take it off: A/C Compressor Clutch Overhaul (With A/C)

The problem is that when I tried this weekend to remove it, there is not enough room to get any sort of wrench or socket on the nut without having it be at an angle, making it nearly impossible to remove. I also do not have an A/C Clutch Holding Tool. The reason for this is that the reviews I have read say that it does not work well for a Honda Civic because there is not enough room to both have the holding tool and fit a socket around the nut.

Has anyone removed the A/C Clutch Armature Plate from a Honda Civic (2006-2015) and has any tips or tricks? I would get the tool if someone can confirm it would help. I can also purchase slightly shallower sockets and socket joins and whatever else might be required to make this removal go smoothly. I read that it might be possible to swivel the compressor (to have a better angle on the A/C Clutch) if I remove the serpentine belt and the bolts around the compressor, but I would rather avoid that, if possible. Thank you very much!

 

you may need to just use an offset wrench

with the belt still on(to help hold the pulley in place), use a pair of vice grips with a rag or some towel on the bottom part(with the belt in between the pulley and the vice grips on the top) to prevent damaging the pulley and use that to hold the pulley in place, then the offset wrench to take off the nut, just remember, all you're trying to do is hold the clutch in place, not bend it, perhaps put a feeler gauge in to take up the space so you dont bend/warp the clutch

depending on the clearance, if you can't do the above, you may need to pull the alternator and unbolt the compressor to move it away from the chassis and allow you to actually use a spanner wrench to hold the pulley