eberhard
Race Dog
My personal observations.
There has been some discussion around the exhaust nut removal tool. I many seasons ago removed my first exhaust nut with a screwdriver and a hammer. It was a big screw driver and a heavy hammer and I got it off. Though not without some damage to the nut. The nut is soft aloominum. The screwdriver not. I have since worked on quite a few engines where the nuts were so damaged that the proper tool could not fit in there. Some of the fins were badly warped and twisted. Then and there an appropriate screwdriver or other applicable punch tool is about the only way to get going. First to split and separate the fins without breaking them and making space for the tool to fit in there. Once that is achieved, the punching tools are removed and only THE tool is used thereafter. Damage to the fins is inevitable in this process, but that is the lesser of the two evils. Where you go about carefully and diligently you can minimise adding further damage to the existing damage and even save the nuts to be returned and used again on the machine. I have even on occasion filed and sanded the fins, once straightened, to such an extent that you had to look very closely to see the marks on the fins. It can be done. It is a labour of love.
So yes, I have used the wrong tools with which to remove those nuts. And I did hurt them. For a quarter century I have now only used the one tool (unless under circumstances as described above). There are various variations of that tool on the market. That is the point I am making.
Those fins are made, again, from soft aloominum. The “Made in W-Germany” tool is purposefully designed to spread the force as much as possible across the whole surface of the fins (100% in most cases). The fins are on average 18mm deep. The W-Germany tool covers that whole 18mm. This naturally has the result that no specific part of the fin takes up more pressure than another part and subsequently prevents indents into the soft aloominum. Further does it make it impossible for a fin to twist or warp because of more force being exerted on a single part of the fin than on the rest of the fin. The W-German tool’s design also makes it difficult to inadvertently or accidently place the tool incorrectly (i.e. not properly) on the fins or on a weaker part of the fins and subsequently placing all the force on an ill-chosen / inappropriate part of the fins and causing damage that way. The W-G tool only fits one way - the complete way. You cannot fit it incorrectly, accidently or purposefully, and in so-doing cause damage (e.g. only grabbing part of the fins and indenting the fins or stripping the fins as the tool looses grip).
The W-G tool is (or was - don’t know if Germany still makes them since a lot is now outsourced to China) also manufactured with round edges, very smooth contact surfaces with the full purpose to prevent damage to the soft fins. The teeth are also tapered for the obvious benefits attached thereto. You truly need to want to be destructive in order to cause damage to the fins. You cannot accidently hurt the fins.
Here are pictures. To clarify the how and why of that particular design.
There has been some discussion around the exhaust nut removal tool. I many seasons ago removed my first exhaust nut with a screwdriver and a hammer. It was a big screw driver and a heavy hammer and I got it off. Though not without some damage to the nut. The nut is soft aloominum. The screwdriver not. I have since worked on quite a few engines where the nuts were so damaged that the proper tool could not fit in there. Some of the fins were badly warped and twisted. Then and there an appropriate screwdriver or other applicable punch tool is about the only way to get going. First to split and separate the fins without breaking them and making space for the tool to fit in there. Once that is achieved, the punching tools are removed and only THE tool is used thereafter. Damage to the fins is inevitable in this process, but that is the lesser of the two evils. Where you go about carefully and diligently you can minimise adding further damage to the existing damage and even save the nuts to be returned and used again on the machine. I have even on occasion filed and sanded the fins, once straightened, to such an extent that you had to look very closely to see the marks on the fins. It can be done. It is a labour of love.
So yes, I have used the wrong tools with which to remove those nuts. And I did hurt them. For a quarter century I have now only used the one tool (unless under circumstances as described above). There are various variations of that tool on the market. That is the point I am making.
Those fins are made, again, from soft aloominum. The “Made in W-Germany” tool is purposefully designed to spread the force as much as possible across the whole surface of the fins (100% in most cases). The fins are on average 18mm deep. The W-Germany tool covers that whole 18mm. This naturally has the result that no specific part of the fin takes up more pressure than another part and subsequently prevents indents into the soft aloominum. Further does it make it impossible for a fin to twist or warp because of more force being exerted on a single part of the fin than on the rest of the fin. The W-German tool’s design also makes it difficult to inadvertently or accidently place the tool incorrectly (i.e. not properly) on the fins or on a weaker part of the fins and subsequently placing all the force on an ill-chosen / inappropriate part of the fins and causing damage that way. The W-G tool only fits one way - the complete way. You cannot fit it incorrectly, accidently or purposefully, and in so-doing cause damage (e.g. only grabbing part of the fins and indenting the fins or stripping the fins as the tool looses grip).
The W-G tool is (or was - don’t know if Germany still makes them since a lot is now outsourced to China) also manufactured with round edges, very smooth contact surfaces with the full purpose to prevent damage to the soft fins. The teeth are also tapered for the obvious benefits attached thereto. You truly need to want to be destructive in order to cause damage to the fins. You cannot accidently hurt the fins.
Here are pictures. To clarify the how and why of that particular design.
