Bearing removal

Hi John,

never done a laydown box, but this method works on most things.

Put the case in the oven at 180 degrees sleeve gear end up, put a wet rag in the freezer,

put a wooden board on a concrete floor.

When the case is good and hot, spit on it, if your spit bounces off in round balls it's hot enough, using an oven glove invert the case and stick the cold wet rag in the bearing to chill it, count to five, re-invert, then bang the case down squarely on the board, 9 times out of ten, the bearing race will fall out, without any damage to the shell.

If the ball race is complete, use an expanding masonry bolt to pull it out, otherwise same method. The heat is the important thing, the coefficient of expansion for aluminium alloys is much greater than for steel.

Good luck,

Niall

Rather than stinking the house out (and possibly upsetting the wife) a modern 2kw hot air gun will do the job nicely. The spitting test can still be used!

I just get the comment - "Which cylinder head is it this time?". Not a cylinder head dear, just a crankcase... Time for quick exit. There's nothing like a hotsteak pie drizzled in SAE 40.

Andrew, it's half measures that stink the house out. A good clean in the dishwasher first will avoid most of the smell when it goes in the oven.

Wow - thats where I've been going wrong; I only use half measures and its usually the wrong half!

Previously andrew_belenkin wrote:

Wow - thats where I've been going wrong; I only use half measures and its usually the wrong half!

Make sure you use detergent only and not dishwashing powder containing caustic salts. The caustic will attack the aluminium.