head bearing pro-tip

[epim]

When installing new races into the steering head you can use the canned air stuff (for cleaning keyboards n stuff. Available at radio shack) to freeze and shrink them a bit. Just flip the can upside down and hose down the races. Made the job much easier.

[Currin]

Sounded good on paper, but I ran into trouble around step 2, where you inhale the rest of the can and roll around on the floor laughing like a drooling asshole...

[epim]

brb testing this..

[Rotten]

Or you could save the gas money, time and resperatory arrest and just put the races in the freezer for a few hours which is how everyone else on the planet does it.




Damn I'm a cynical bastard....

[epim]

That'll get em to 28F, which isnt all that cold. My way got them much colder. You can also use 'freeze spray' which is just another compressed chemical that'll drop things to 0f or below.

[lugnut]

That'll get em to 28F, which isnt all that cold. My way got them much colder. You can also use 'freeze spray' which is just another compressed chemical that'll drop things to 0f or below.

A freezer is supposed to be at 0F. 28F isn't cold enough to make ice cream hard, let alone keep food properly preserved.

[Gromit]

Get yourself a can of compressed freon or other refridgerant, wrap a towel around the top, then carefully tap a screwdriver through the seal. Once the initial comressed gas has escaped you'll be left with around half a can of liquid gas. Pour contents into a pyrex mixing bowl, then dip your items in for a thorough cryo-bath.

Alternatively, I did find out through work that the going rate for liquid nitrogen, at least in the aerospace industry, is about 30-50 cents per gallon. Buying through public channels the price could very well vary.

[epim]

LN2 is actually pretty cheap and easy to acquire. We use it to make ice cream around here. It's a little -too- cold though. I have concerns that it'd shatter the head bearing if any kind of percussion was applied.

The freon.. that plan just scares the hell out of me :P

[Rotten]

Get yourself a can of compressed freon or other refridgerant, wrap a towel around the top, then carefully tap a screwdriver through the seal. Once the initial comressed gas has escaped you'll be left with around half a can of liquid gas. Pour contents into a pyrex mixing bowl, then dip your items in for a thorough cryo-bath.

Have you actually done this yourself Jason? It sounds like an old wives tale. Everything I've ever learned about automotive refrigeration systems is screaming out to me that this is impossible as refrigerant can only be liquid under pressure. That is how the system works. The refrigerant is compressed under high pressure resulting in hot liquid gas by the compressor and condenser and then is carefully metered back into vapor as it boils away (evaporates) in the evaporator resulting in the freezing temperatures produced by the evaporation process. Then the vapor is compressed back into hot liquid, etc.

I think you'll find yourself simply holding an empty can with frost bitten fingers and somewhere in the world a baby condor will die and fall out of the sky.

Same principal as propane LPG. It turns to gas as it exits the cylinder resulting in frosting at the outlet.

Pro tip. Never get your A/C system recharged in Mexico or in the states near the border. Refrigerant costs $10-$60 per pound depending on type while propane costs $5-6 a gallon. Propane is dirt cheap compared to R-12 and R-134A and makes an excellent automotive refrigerant and is commonly illegally used in southern states but has serious detrimental side effects if you are in an accident.