You need to heat it up to about 300 degrees.  I use a bearing heater but a
torch will also do.  A good machine shop supply will have markers you can
get that melt at different temperatures.  You don't wan to get he gear too
hot as it can warp.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Young <young@SHERLOCK.SIMS.BERKELEY.EDU>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: Wednesday, February 24, 1999 7:54 PM
Subject: How do I get the #&(*&!$# distributor gear on the crank?

>Hi all:
>
>I've been trying to get the brass distributor gear on my 2 crankshafts,
>(rebuiling a couple of 2.0l air-cooled engines) and haven't succeded yet.
>
>I first tried heating the gears in oil, the second time I tried boiling
>water.  But in both cases I wasn't able to slip the gear on the crank;
>they "froze" to the crank almost immediately after they touched the
>crank and I had to get out my torch and heat them up to pull them off.
>
>Has anybody done this before, and can give me some hints as to how it's
done?
>
>TIA.
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------
>Tom Young               young@sherlock.SIMS.Berkeley.EDU
>Lafayette, CA  94549    '81 Vanagon
>---------------------------------------------------------------------