Date:         Tue, 4 Feb 2003 12:25:21 -0500
Reply-To:     David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Subject:      Re: Heater plenum removal tips
Comments: To: Chuck Hill <hilltech@NETINS.NET>
Comments: cc: doug Demarest <dougdemarest@yahoo.com>
In-Reply-To:  <3E3F264E.C57DC06F@netins.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

At 09:32 PM 2/3/2003, Chuck Hill wrote:
>The heater plemum is fastened to the body with 6 large, #3, phillips
>screws as David Beirl has pointed out.

That's BeiErl, actually... :)

>  They have oftem been turned down
>pretty tightly, and in the salt belt the threads on the screws may have
>rusted some making them quite hard to remove.  I squirt some penetrating
>oil on the exposed screws.  The upper passenger side screws are
>acessible from the front of the van.  Those on the driver's side are
>not.  Having done that, I go after the screws with an impact screwdriver
>with an 18" long 1/2 " extension inserted between the working end and
>the end which you hammer.

D'oh!  Great idea!

>   I use a rather heavy hammer to do this,

Just a side remark on hammers, energy transfer and impedance matching for
those who may not have thought in these terms...if you want to move
something, use a BIG hammer relative to the size of what you're trying to
move (in this case the innards of the impact driver).  If you want to
change the shape of something, use a SMALL hammer.  The smaller it is, the
more local deformation you'll get vs. more general deformation.  If you
want to impart maximum energy into the system, use a hammer of the same
mass as what you're hitting (this may also be the optimum -- if practical
--  for moving things, not sure but seems likely).

david


--
David Beierl -- dbeierl@attglobal.net