Need help separating 92909 Steering Hub from 11950 Steering Portal

[gamemasterks]

I really don’t want to damage the parts as I’ve heard that the prongs of 92909 are very fragile. Please someone help me. 

[Pattspatt]

Just yesterday I did this - I used needle-nosed pliers wrapped in printer paper & taped. It’s a good idea to mount the portal to a beam, and mount the hub to something as well to help you pull. 

What I did was I got a grip on the lips of the Hub with the pliers, squeezed, and then when they were visibly “squished”, I started pulling on the hub and it came out pretty much immediately. 

It didn’t seem like there was much risk of the hub prongs snapping or permanently deforming - but they did lose a small chunk of plastic from their edge.  Shouldn’t be enough to affect future performance, though. Either my plier wrapping job was insufficient (the paper wasn’t well secured), or the parts really are that delicate.

[astyanax]

I once saw a video demonstrating how to do this using a butter knife. I successfully used the same trick a couple of times, no damage. But for the life of me I can't find the video any more... Found it:

 

Edited June 28, 2020 by astyanax

[gamemasterks]

Quote

4 hours ago, astyanax said:

I once saw a video demonstrating how to do this using a butter knife. I successfully used the same trick a couple of times, no damage. 

Oh wow, I can’t described how that worked at all but the portal came out without any fuss or broken plastic. That butter knife trick really works, thanks!

Quote

4 hours ago, Pattspatt said:

It’s a good idea to mount the portal to a beam, and mount the hub to something as well to help you pull. 

Thanks, I also used this to help me as well when I was first figuring out how to separate it using a butter knife. Thanks for this suggestion.