The battery tie-down brackets on Lisa's pickup truck were so corroded that the nuts wouldn't turn and they broke while Lisa was trying to remove them. So she needed new tie-down brackets. She could have bought new ones, but the only ones she could find in the auto parts stores are Made In China, so instead she bought a pieces of US-made threaded steel rod and cut it in half. However, they also need bends in them to hold the battery down. So she got out the oxy-acetylene torch she brought from Mehama.
(Some of you may have wondered why it took us two moving-van loads to move Lisa with stuff still sitting in a cargo container up there to boot. Having so much hardware like this is why. I'm not complaining, just explaining.)
After explaining to me how the valves on the tanks worked and where the fire extinguisher was, she donned protective gear and lit off the torch. This was slightly tricky work, because she didn't want to cut the bolts, but just heat them up enough to where she could put a 90-degree bend into them at one end. At one point, she said she wished we had a blacksmith's forge handy, as it would have been quick work to use it for what she wanted.
Lisa carefully heated the bolts until they became pliable enough to bend without breaking. She shut off the torch, showed me how to secure the valves and purge the lines, and pronounced herself satisfied with the results.
If we have another "warm" day soon, Lisa plans on trying to install the replacement rear door latch on my minivan.