[alfa] Re: crank locking tool: flywheel teeth versus cylinder rope

["John Hertzman" <johnhertzman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Greg Modelle writes "I personally would not use rope to arrest the flywheel.
Last year I was tearing-down a seized two-liter and was able to apply enough
torque to the pulley nut to bend a connecting rod. Admittedly this is an
extreme case, but why stress the bearings, rods, wrist-pins with force from
mechanical advantage? It must be better to grab the flywheel directly. Keep
the load-path short."

I agree. I disavow any expertise, and affirm that I am a worrywart, often (but
not always) without cause. Many people (Russ Neely, for example) use the rope
with never a problem. That doesn't mean the Gods would smile equally on me.
Too often they don't.

I can remember Fred mentioning the rope-filled cylinder, but only as one way
of popping-off unnutted but still stuck heads. I also remember his mentioning
improvised tooth-lockers for flywheel ring gears when the factory tool (or
equivalent) was not available. The proper factory tool used to be cheap; I
have heard that similar products for VW are equally cheap and effective, and
the improvisations (usually a screwdriver) seem both obvious enough and free.

Don Black once sent me a print of a photo of a bent con rod from one of his
vintage open-wheel track cars- don't remember whether it was the Chevy-engined
sprint car or the Alfa-engined midget, but he wrote "On my sprint car and
midget, I kept a photo of a bent con rod tied to my fuel valve to remind me to
shut the engine off by fuel not mag, so whilst parked in the sun, the methanol
didnt expand and drip into the cylinders.  Then later, surprise, when the push
truck laid into your tail your motor wouldnt turn!" The analogy among Don's
hydrostatic lock, Greg's rust lock, and the popular rope lock is not absolute,
but a tooth lock on the flywheel ring gear was the factory's choice, and would
be mine also. Les Hurlock's spark-plug based piston stop probably works
perfectly for him and for others - he is one smart greybeard, and I would
never discount his opinion or experience. There are many ways to skin a cat,
take your pick - -

John H.
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