shredded pinion screw!

[Chrisyc]

has anyone ever shredded the screw on their pinion? if u have how did u get it off?(i hope u got it off!?)
ive tryed a few things but they have just made ot worse and it's a brand new motor!!! >:(
the screw end is now almost a perfect circle instead of the hex shape
can anyone help??

[DA_cookie_monstA]

Well, you can either drill out the grub screw or, using a vice and the something solid that will slide under the pinion, you may well have to hit the shaft to knock the pinion off, this shouldn't do any damage to the motor (as long as you got something soft for it to land on), and you may still be able to recover the pinion too.

[Chrisyc]

thanks for the speedy reply 8)
ill try that, but i couldnt really care less for the pinion, it's getting a bit old and i bought a new one yesterday anyway ::)

[marcoski]

LOL the last one I had do this to me was fed to the bench grinder.

[Dave G]

i think last time that happened i used an allen driver(good quality one) which was for the associated cars...it was just a teeny bit bigger than the grub screws normal size and it held it good enough to get it out...either that or get a pinion puller.

dave

[Mike Haswell]

Vandals!

What you need is a pinion puller. Dave Treacey will know what one of those is.

[marcoski]

ROFLOL but the grinder method is so much FUN ;D Plus you get to make white sparks!!

[DA_cookie_monstA]

ROFLOL but the grinder method is so much FUN ;D Plus you get to make white sparks!!


Now you are talking, bet it isn't as much fun though as cutting through a cast steel sewage pipe from the 60's with a disk cutter, in a small toilet room... roflol

And yes, a pinion puller is the best thing, but how many people got one??? lol

[Dave G]

me :)

[Dave Treacy]

A pinion puller... aaaah, those were the days! (cue 70's music)

[Chrisyc]

ok, what's a pinion puller? ???

[DA_cookie_monstA]

it is a C shaped device, with prongs that go under the bas of the pinion, with then a threaded portion in the flat part of the puller, which winds down onto theend of the motor shaft. When you then begin tightening down, the theory is it pulls the pinion of the shaft, if it is stuck, I don't know whether it would work on one which is grub screwed into place though....

[Chrisyc]

no i dont think that will work in my case as the the grub screw is v. tightly screwed on(it has 2 be or it flys off during the race :'(, i shredded trying to take it off! not putting on!!! :-)
would it be possible to carve a flat line across the end of the grub screw and use a flathead screwdriver to unscrew it, or will this just make things worse ???

[Mark Christopher]

only one word Dremel

[Doomanic]

Why are you all so keen to destroy your pinions? Butchers! :o ;D

Pinion pullers are cheap, and once the pinion is off the motor the knackered grub screw can be easily removed.

Take Off make a very good one for under £7!

[Chrisyc]

im so keen because the teeth are very dirty(and i dont really have the time or can be to bothered about cleaning it to save a few pounds), and it's an old pinion.

[Chrisyc]

after all this, ive just decided to keep the pinion on and clean it, as i cant get it off! >:(

the pinion puller ive seen, and it wont work in my case as i managed to get solder in my grub screw ;D, so not only is it circular, but it's full of solder ( ;D i dont know whether to laugh or cry?! :'(

[Kev_Suggitt]

why not solder a piece of thin metal into the solder in the grub screw, bend it and try and unscrew it. Or is that just nonsense

[al]

get a big flat end screw driver and leaver it off viciously !!!!
( works a treat if the screw driver is rusty belive me ive done it enough times )

al :)

[Chrisyc]

why not solder a piece of thin metal into the solder in the grub screw, bend it and try and unscrew it. Or is that just nonsense


trying that was exactly how i got solder in it in the first place! :'(

although i never tried bending it
..it might just work!!! :D

[Chrisyc]

get a big flat end screw driver and leaver it off viciously !!!!
( works a treat if the screw driver is rusty belive me ive done it enough times )

al :)


i dunno...it's pretty tight! :'(
just out of interest why would it help if it was rusty?? ???

[PDW]

It's not nonsense, it just won't work!! Solder has no shear strength, so the piece of metal will just turn anyway.

The parts are too delicate to suffer any heat from a process that would give you enough strength (brazing, etc.) so I think this is a dead end. Equally baffling is the need for a rusty screwdriver!!

I think from your descriptions Chris, we are left with a gear puller, or a Dremel. Using a cut-off tool, slice down the middle of the grub screw - lever the bits out, and slide off the pinion. Good luck!

[Chrisyc]

that sounds a lot harder than it probably is ::)

i think ill just leave it on, ive cleaned it out and now it's as good as new ;D, there's nothing wrong with using the same pinion untill the end of time is there? (i've found my perfect gearing ratio 8) so there's no worry there ;D)

[PDW]

No, there is nothing wrong with that. In all my years racing I have never seen soneone wear out a pinion - but you might be the first Chris!!

Since a pessimist is just an optimist with experience... What do you bet that it finally comes off just one minute from the end of your A Final when you are leading.... !!! LOL ;D

[Chrisyc]

knowing my luck it probably will!!!
then when i think "gr8 ill stick another pinion on!" it'll locks itself back onto my motor!!! ;D

[marcoski]

Of course you will need to remove it to skim the comm.......

[Chrisyc]

...urm yes, well ;D
i dont have a comm lathe!!! >:(

[Dave Treacy]

Chris,

I appreciate you are trying to keep your racing costs down to a minimum, but you need to remove that gear. Lever the darn thing off with a screwdriver if you must, but the consequences of not being able to skim the motor etc will reduce the life of the motor significantly.

A stock motor looked after properly can last well over a season. An abused one will give you maybe 3 months tops. The cost of replacement is well in excess of the pennies you would spend on a new pinion grub screw and a few skims.

Dave

[Chrisyc]

well, i suppose
but how can i get it off!?!
i've got solder in the grub screw!, i can't exactly chop it off, or cut the grub screw in half and pull out the pieces can i?!

[Doomanic]

The safest way is with a pinion puller, as suggested on the 15th.

[Chrisyc]

how exactly do these work?

[DA_cookie_monstA]

how exactly do these work?


If you read the whole thread, I explained how they work, page one I think.

[Chrisyc]

right ;D

[AzNDRAGster]

Dremel your friend, just drill down the center of the screw, VERY VERY CAREFULLY with a small drill bit and it will come out.

[Chrisyc]

im pretty sure that would work ;D
ill try it, but would having solder in it affect this?! :-[

[PDW]

The solder won't affect anything. However, the screw material will. This is a really diffcult thing to do because the grub screw material is hard, and if the drill slips it will like trying to drill the softer pinion material!!

If you're determined to try it, make sure the drill speed is silly slow (100rpm or so, or use a hand drill) until you have established a shallow hole right in the middle of the screw. Any slip in this early stage, and the drill will simply wander off into the pinion.

Patience and a steady hand should do it!! :)

[Chrisyc]

what will this method do?
-unscrew the grub screw?
or
-absolutely mash the grub screw so the pinion slides off?

[PDW]

It will drill out the grub srcew so that either:

You can simply pick out the debris with a pin and leave the original hole with its thread intact... OR

You drill the middle out of the grub screw, and can them pick the remainder out with a pin by pushing it into the hole left by the drill, and pushing it out of the bottom of the hole.

Put simply, you have drilled a hole through the grub screw, and can simply pick the rest of the bits out.

[Chrisyc]

ok thanks ;D