Originally Posted by jaspertunison

I got a rear wheel for free. I think its from the 80's but it seems in pretty good condition. I didnt much care for the plastic thing that prevents the chain from going over the highest gear, so I wanted to remove it. Its late, like 830pm so I couldnt go to the shop to get the 2 pronged tool, so I just figured I would burn the darn thing off. Needless to say it made a heck of a mess, a giant plastic goo that contains chuck of dirt, small twigs (i threw dirt on it to put it out) is now bonded to the spokes, the hub,and the cogs.
This whole burning took a long time, it just kept burning and burning, maybe for like 7-8 minutes. And it got really hot too. I heard the spokes ping* a couple times, maybe just shifting themselves about. Also after it was all done the bearings felt pretty crappy too. More-so then they were previously. So is it possible I damaged any of the metal parts, maybe I melted something in the freewheel?