replacing missing detent ball in old speeder???

[Ron Price]

i have an old thorsen 1/4 speeder. its almost brand new. i found it recently with my dads old tools. its really nice and would come in crazy handy. but its missing the detent ball. i have heard talk about it being possible to replace a detent ball. but im not sure how to go about doing it. i have looked all over online and cant find anything at all. im sure i could find a spring, and probably a ball bearing of some sort that would be close enough to fit and work. but im not sure how to install it. would i just hit it in with a punch? it seems to me if you just hit it in there like that you would open the hole up, and the ball would not stay in there. would it be better to heat it up red hot, THEN use a punch to hammer it in there, THEN cool it? which in effect would open the hole for installation, then close it back up some for a tight fit…??? what do you guys think?? i dont really want to just keep sticking a piece of paper on the end…

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[Roy French]

You don’t want to heat it. That would change the heat treat and cause the spring to relax. Just use a sharp punch to displace just enough material to retain the ball. It doesn’t take much to distort the hole so the ball can’t come out.

[Author]

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