Spares: Baked Crankcase

Was looking forward to swapping over the shift shaft from the Late engine to the Early, but got stymied by the fact that the shafts are not interchangeable!  The Late shaft seems to have a 12mm shoulder at the base, which is too thick to fit the hole in the Early crankcase (which is about 11.5mm).

So I ended up ordering the shaft from the same eBay seller that I bought the Early case from.  But then I figured I might as well try installing the countershaft bearing in the Late case.

Things did not go entirely to plan.

So I tossed the case in the oven at 200 degrees.  Meanwhile, I'd had the bearing in the freezer for a few hours.  Clymer recommends sprinkling water on the case to see if it sizzles, but it never seemed to get that hot.  Perhaps I didn't wait long enough - though Clymer could have given a "baking time".

After about 30 minutes, I thought I'd give it a try to see where we stood.  The bearing dropped in easily... but only halfway.  Then it stuck there.  Wouldn't go in and it wouldn't come out.  Clymer didn't mention this scenario.

So I put it back in the oven for awhile, tried again, still wouldn't budge.  Back in the oven, and then I got a bit desperate.  I used the cover of a thermos, which had the same diameter as the outer race, and tried to pound it in.

And amazingly, it dropped right in after a couple gentle whacks.  I got so excited that I flipped the case over to make sure it was seated... and it dropped right out completely!  D'oh.

I then tried to quickly reinsert it, but I guess the heat window was already closing.  Couldn't get it in.

Back in the oven, tried again.  Managed to knock it in askew, and now stuck again.

Finally gave it 30 minutes in the oven, then whacked the side that was out of balance with a socket, and finally it went in again.  Hope it's fully seated.

Good lessons learned.  Probably damaged both the bearing and the case.  Tricky operation.