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And now for something completely different.

I started to assemble part of the engine!  Why?  The Sonex owner at Gary that I met is rebuilding his engine.  He has had trouble mounting his prop hub on his crankshaft because his oven won’t get hot enough.  He asked if I could help and I said sure.  He thought we could do mine as well if I wanted and I said sure again.

I started by getting all the pieces needed for the assembly cleaned in mineral spirits. The first picture shows all the parts that need to mount to the cleaned crankshaft.

The second picture is the crank going into the freezer yesterday.
      Today I set up a workstation around the oven and got the oven to over 500°.  The second picture shows all the parts needing to be heated in the oven.  He had all the other parts on his crankshaft so only his prop hub is in the oven.

      No pictures, but his did not go on.  We got it a lot hotter, and at first is seemed like it would go, but it still stopped well short. Although further on than his first attempt, he is going to send his back to Sonex so they can see what the problem is.

      Also no pictures of my first attemp with his help.  I got the first bearing on and then the heated cam gear.  I got stuck at the spacer. I didn’t have it lined up perfect with the key and it set in place before I could get it rotated.

      Later I got it off easily with a gear puller and put it back in the oven. I also put my crank back in the freezer with his left over dry ice.  He left and I kept at it when Kathy came home.