So I was talking to my friend John the other day about fixing stuff and taking stuff apart.
The interesting thing about taking things about and fixing stuff is getting over the whole part of breaking things.
After you think about things enough you can’t help be realize that all of this stuff is built by people. And most of what is put together can also be taken back apart.
The story starts a few years back when I was watching the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The first year that Audi brought their R10 diesel-powered prototype they were having some problems with it. From a race engineering perspective you know how gas engines react and make power. Diesel engines, on the other hand, behave differently. Instead of turning at 18,000 RPM, they make gobs of torque down low. Torque is fun. Torque also breaks thing.
A few years before that the R8, a gas powered car, broke its gearbox. It still had enough drive to make it back to the pits. With a phenomenal amount of preparation, they were able to swap the rear-end of the car in only 3 1/2 minutes. This is an example of not really fixing things, but rather swapping things out. The ACO (the sanctioning body for the race) decided that you shouldn’t be able to do that and the next year the rules were changed.
A few years later, they were running the diesel R10. And as if on queue the gearbox ate itself. Again it was able to limp back to the pits. This time they couldn’t just swap the transmission but rather replace the guts.
Something that I will always remember is the sight of a mechanic sitting on the floor with a transmission on a towel on one side of him and another towel covered in gears on the other.
He replaced the innards in less than 1/2 an hour.
That’s opening and fixing.
Most people look at a transmission as a black box almost labeled “no user serviceable parts inside.” But service it they did.
And why not? It was put together be people. It can be put together again!
The punch-line of this is that I took apart my iPhone to replace a scratched front glass. I even got it back together again!
Once you figure out the tricks — the magic — it’s not hard any more.
Oh, by the way, Power Poxy’s Super Cement is awesome at reattaching the glass to the housing! Holds great — though it takes a while to set.