Welders...
When I bought Hamilton, the Scion xA, it was apparent that the previous owner had a huge stereo, ground efex, alarm, and etc. installed during his ownership. Before selling the car he removed all of this stuff, but left the wiring.
A couple of Saturdays ago I began removing the wire. About 3 hours later I had it all removed and was cleaning out the spare tire well. I came across and interesting cog like piece of metal and another piece that looked like it used to be attached to the cog. I quickly realized that this was a key to wheel locks... and it was broken.
Crud.
I pulled off the hubcaps and sure enough there were two wheel locks on the rear passenger wheel.
Double crud.
I tried removing the locks with anything I could think of without success.
Hmmm, maybe the pieces could be welded back together. I went to a welding shop in Boulder near work. The welder said he did not know how good of a job could be done, but he would give it a shot.
$48.00 and 3 hours later he returned the newly welded key to me and told me that the weld seemed to adhere pretty well, but he could not guarantee that it would hold once torque was applied. He said this about 17 times. I told him I appreciated the effort and did not expect him to guarantee the weld.
The proper sized socket was selected, the key was inserted, I held my breath and applied torque. Something was moving! Was it the weld breaking or the wheel lock turning? Phew, it was the wheel lock. One down, one to go.
The process was repeated on the second lock and *BAM* the second one came off as well! Hooray!
For those who know how to weld, I salute you!
posted by Michael @ 8:36 PM
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