Gee, where did I just read an article that instructs the person who
wants to change their ring gear to just fire up the barbie? It
was apparently completely serious -- the heat froma charcoal fire is
enough to expand the new one enough to slip it on the flywheel.
I would fail in my duty as Announcer of Useless Things if I didn't
mention that this is how the ancient Celts used to get the bronze
bands around the rims of their chariot wheels.
Note that I have personally installed wrist-pins in pistons by
using a hair dryer to heat the aluminum. Oh and by the way, when
you heat metal, the hole gets bigger. :-)
And I can't hold this one back any longer...
Back in the early Thirties, MG sports car production had grown to
the point that more and more subsystem work was being farmed out.
One of the contract jobs was in fact putting the ring gears on
the flywheels. The new shop called the factory to find out what
temperature they were using and how they were getting the ring
gears installed.
"Oh," said the shop manager, "we've got a bloke here who heats
them on a gas jet. Then he spits on 'em, and when they sizzle
just so, he knows they're done."
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