Old school, the use of fire to dismantle rusted parts

bob ward
bob ward Senior Contributor
in "How To" - Skills, mechanical and other wise
I have a pair of side mount spare bracket assemblies for a 36, everything was rusted solid, no amount of (name of your favourite penetrant) was going to free up the threads. I resorted to the old school method of making a decent size wood fire in the back yard on to which the parts were laid and were left until the fire was ashes.
A wood fire provides enough heat to get the parts up to a very dull red, the heat 'cooks' the rust within the threads and turns it to a fine powder, bolts that were locked solid come loose with hand tools. 

Parts in the ashes


20 minutes later


Comments

  • VicTor Z
    VicTor Z Senior Contributor
    Thank You!
  • PaulButler
    PaulButler Administrator
    Very old school indeed; great post!
  • BigSky
    BigSky Senior Contributor
    I’ve seen something similar for stuck pistons.  With the head removed they’d light a slow burning fire (of some type) in the piston hole & let it burn.  It appears to do similar things to the rust & would eventually free the piston.  Great post!
  • Rocket
    Rocket Senior Contributor
    Bob are these for a Hudson or Terraplane also are they for sale.

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