Neil,

its an interesting trick, but I wonder if it relies a bit on the
"elasticity" of the brass receiver?

Believe me, when I was struggling with my ball joint, i rapped on the
knuckle in many ways, from subtle to gross :)
The air hammer method if found out about subsequently seems like the
best solution if you have the tool. I was very reluctant to use heat,
and when I did use it I did it in degrees (no pun intended), trying
in stages with the pickle fork.

That bugger was in there very tightly.

alistair

On 18-Nov-10, at 10:07 AM, neil n wrote:

I'm reminded of a trick a repairman showed me to remove a stuck
mouthpiece from a trumpet.

The receiver on trumpet and MP shank are a Morse taper. You carefully
tap on the receiver working your way from narrow end out which ever so
slightly expands the receiver. This being one technique in expanding a
cone when manufacturing.

Seems to me the same principal might apply to a tapered part on a
Vanagon front end. IF so, would it help to start at the narrowest and
end and work your way "outward"?

Likely totally hard to do given room restrictions, etc., but just a
thought.

Neil.