It's Easy tech and garage tips time again.

[Smokin Joe]

Ok folks, it's time to once again start a thread on easy tech, handy tools, and garage tips again. Show me what you can do to make life easier in the garage or solve common problems. Or a tool you've made. There MIGHT be a winner of something cool!

Ryan, can you stick a pin in this one please so we don't have to chase it thru the drama? Let's give it a week or so and see what you hambers can come up with.

See Baron Von Mike's post on how to keep a flywheel still to see what I'm after. Stick em in this post & make em short and sweet. Pics if possible. Go HAMB go!

[Baron Von Mike]

Thanks. I'll get it in here then.

Hold that flywheel (http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=549192&page=1&view=collap sed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1)

[Slide]

Most of you probably know this, but I am amazed at how many people DON'T: Use an old house painting brush (like 3-4" wide) to clean your wheels when you wash your car. Works better than anything on Wal-Mart's car-washing-supplies aisle for getting between the center and the rim, and around lug nuts (or spokes if you have them). Also good for egg-crate type grilles.

[Slag Kustom]

easy way to remove a broken bolt----- find any nut a little bigger and mig weld it to the broken bolt. the heat makes the bolt shrink and just spin it out with a wrench

[Smokin Joe]

Here's the hot tip for how to save posts on your computer, complete with all the pictures using Internet Explorer.

Step 1: Open the post. If it's multi pages do the see all option. Start with looking at the top of the post, not the end.

Step 2: Go up to "File" in the upper left of Explorer. Under "File" select "Save as".

Step 3: Now you can change the filename if you want or just leave it in the upper box. In the center box select "Web archive, single file [*.mht]

Step 4: Select save and it will save the post and all associated pictures to your drive as a single .mht file that you can open with your browser and look at just like you were online. The pictures won't go away after time like they do on the net. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

You can do this with just about any web page on the net but you'll have to save the hyperlinked pages separatly. I started a folder on my hard drive named "Muncie" and snagged all the pages I could gind on parts, differences, numbers and rebuilding Muncies off the net and stuck them in that directory. Every time I find another relevent page I snag it too as an .mht file in that directory. I keep a directory with all those .PDF online catalogs in it too. They load up much faster from my hard drive and I don't have to find the site.

[Spitfire1776]

Easy dislodger for frozen piston, provided cranks not frozen. One of many. Go to a real hardware store, get a short bolt matching thread count and diameter of spark plug and a zurk fitting. ( A good hardware stiore WILL have a match). Soak the cylinders for a night or few using penetrating oil, Coke, whatever your favorite dissolving agent. While youre waiting on that drill the center for chemistry to make your world a better place, drill the center out of the bolt with a drill-size that when the hole is threaded you can screw the zurk in place. Drill that sucker all the way thru. After the cylinders have soaked, pick the piston closest to the top of the cylinder, screw the bolt/zurk in the spark plug hole, use a greease gun and pump that thing full of grease. Let hydraulic pressure and the world of physics do the rest. If it doesn't work, you probably have more than frozen pistons to worry about.

I know a lot of you older guys know that trick, but I figured I'd put it out for those that don't.

[slammed]

For those that have a Nice stero, TV, ect in the garage. Got a remote? Slide it in a heavy mill Zip Lock bag to keep it nice. Brite colored tape stripe it to find it as well.

[low springs]

[ QUOTE ]
Most of you probably know this, but I am amazed at how many people DON'T: Use an old house painting brush (like 3-4" wide) to clean your wheels when you wash your car. Works better than anything on Wal-Mart's car-washing-supplies aisle for getting between the center and the rim, and around lug nuts (or spokes if you have them). Also good for egg-crate type grilles.

[/ QUOTE ]
you can also use the brush to put armor all on your tires. dip the brush in the armor all and wipe it on. no more overspray on your wheels.

[av8]

Are you tired of sifting through the hopper in the bottom of the blast cabinet to retrieve all those original screws and tiny nuts and bolts that got away as you were painstakingly cleaning them while holding them in a thick rubber glove and blasting with a 120-psi stream of glass beads? Well, sweat, fret, and hunt no more. Poke a few holes around the base of a small juice can, put your itty-bitty parts inside, stick the nozzle into the opening in the top of the can, and blast away for a minute or two and you're done -- and all the parts are clean and safe inside the can until you pour them out.

[slammed]

Painted wheel's? Use cleaner wax if they have been neglected for a while. Clean else where, let the wax grab. Before you buff the wax off, hose the tire's w/protectent (if you use the stuff) then wipe off the wheel's. Buffing the hood? Rain-X the glass, Pledge the weather strip, vent's,emblem's,ect so the sling wont' stick as well.

[Dan]

I don't know if this a good idea or not so take it with a grain of salt, I was trying to clean some overspray off the weatherstripping and thought I would try the Dremel. Chucked up a small wire wheel (I used stainless because it was all I had at the time) and set the speed to low. Cleaned the paint off the weatherstripping. It did burn it in a few spots but it seemed to work?? I guess this is a tech tip "your results may vary" http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[InPrimer]

here's what I do because I have several cars, I tape the oil filter box top on each car to the door of my locker in the garage also write the mileage, so when I do an oil change I got the right Part# and mileage since the last change. When I'm done I replace the new oil filter boxtop with the new mileage, may sound stupid, but its less stuff to remember

[Smokin Joe]

When you get a new toothbrush, throw the old one in the tool box. Keep one fairly clean to get the wax from around trim and badges on the car. Wrap a light rag over the bristles to protect the paint. Use the others when you're trying to clean all those hard to clean places on things like old intake manifolds. They're way better than those stupid little parts brushes.

Grab some of those cheap plastic containers with the snap on lids for the garage. When you take a carb or generator apart throw all the little parts in the container. Snap the lid on when you leave. Same thing when you pull a tranny or whatever. All bolts in the container instead of some on the engine, some under the car, some mixed with others on the bench. I hate hunting for bolts a week later when I come back to finish something. Label with masking tape if you're going to be away from it for a while.

Keep a notebook in the garage. When you install that new radiator hose or those wheelbearings, stick the numbers in the book before you throw away the box. Make a chapter for each car.

[Slide]

[ QUOTE ]
Keep a notebook in the garage. When you install that new radiator hose or those wheelbearings, stick the numbers in the book before you throw away the box. Make a chapter for each car.

[/ QUOTE ]

I recently gathered all the "User Manuals", "Assembly Instructions", and "Installation Guides" for everything I have put on my car. Then I got a 3-hole punch on sale at Office Depot, and put all the stuff in a 3-ring binder. I also added some hand-done wiring diagrams for how I custom-wired a couple things. Now I have a way to reference back to everything come troubleshooting time.

[banzaitoyota]

Keep your masking and other tapes in a ziploc bag to keep the edges clean

[Baron Von Mike]

Wow, no posts about wasps yet!

[cool57]

[ QUOTE ]
Most of you probably know this, but I am amazed at how many people DON'T: Use an old house painting brush (like 3-4" wide) to clean your wheels when you wash your car. Works better than anything on Wal-Mart's car-washing-supplies aisle for getting between the center and the rim, and around lug nuts (or spokes if you have them). Also good for egg-crate type grilles.

[/ QUOTE ] works especially well on wire wheels

[cleatus]

Ever have trouble mixing JUST the RIGHT ratio of hardner to plastic filler when doing body work?

Try this: Invision the filler as a TIT and the hardner as a NIP. That way wether you are working on a big, medium or small tit, you just picture the right nipple to tit proportions and can always place just the right amount of hardner on it.

(You dudes that dig chicks with the big funky pie plate size aeriolas are gunna have trouble with this one.)

What can I say...a guy has to do something to entertain hiself during long hours of block sanding, right?? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I would post picks to illustrate, but Ryan might yank it.

[roadstar]

To make a bubble flair with out a actual "Bubble Flair" tool.
Just use the first step of the inverted flair process but don't run it down all the way. Just spin the insert down till you get the look you want and thats it your done.

THis would be used mostly on Trans cooling lines or fuel lines where you use a hard line and then go to a rubber hose.

Next http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[old beet]

If you care about that ugly sanded edge on your window glass, a little transmission fluid will clear it up quite a bit..............OLDBEET

[hotrodsnguns]

In my timing light case I keep a short piece of vac. hose with a golf tee in one end. A piece of chalk and another white golf tee. The vac. hose if for plugging the vac. advance. The chalk for highlighting the timing marks. The other golf tee for plugging holes or in a bind the white paint will rub off for highlighting timing marks.

[willowbilly3]

Tired of seeing your freshly painted headers turn all white and chalky after the first couple runs? Before you crank up the engine wipe them down with tranny fluid. Maybe a second application after the first drive. Now they will keep a nice satin finish for a good while. I used to do the one on my Harley only a couple times a year and I always got asked what I did to it.

[demonspeed]

need a cheap welding table? take an old grill and strip it down to a rolling frame. it should have some supports sticking out each side that make a perfect place to mount a big piece of metal plate. weld some supports in with square tubing or whatever and thats it. you could also use plywood as the table surface to make a regular rolling workbench. Im not sure if this works with all grills but ive made 2 so far and they work great. If you need to go through grass or mud with it you may want to mount new wheels on the front though, the dinky caster wheels weren’t really designed for all terrain use.

[chopolds]

One of my favorite things to have around the shop is the soup containers you get at Chinese take-outs. MANY uses for them! Storing nuts and bolts, organizing small parts, catch alls for disassembling parts, they take magic markers very well. They hold up to gasoline, oil, lacquer thinner. Soak spray gun parts in them, in thinner, to clean them. Holds rust removers (Rust-Away, Oxysolve, Metal Prep) to de-rust small parts. Pour gasoline in them, out of a big container, to prime carburetors, they don't melt like coffee cups! The lids keep chemicals from evaporating. Mix small batches of paint in them. Store catalyzed paint in them, in the freezer, to save the paint for the next day (doesn't work for ALL paints, though!) Temporary paint container for POR-15...you shouldn't use it out of it's original can, and let the air hit it for too long. Mix fiberglass resin in them. They're free and throwaway!

[PetT]

Why throw away all the blister packs that EVERYTHING seems to come in these days?.. Use them to sort out your nut, bolts, screws. Tape a label on the end and write what is in it and stack them up. Beats dumping that coffee can of Misc. bolts out on the floor or bench looking for that 1/4x20x1.25 bolt you need

[Brad54]

Absorb-all: The big paper bag it comes in always gets torn, or it get wet, making a mess either way. Buy a little RubberMaid or similar plastic garbage pail and dump the absorb-all into it. Add a scoop made from a cut-down oil container or some such thing. Haven't had that mess in the shop for 15 years.

Put a couple of trash cans in differrent places in your shop: keeps litter from accumulating. You'd be surprised how much crap you leave on your work bench/floor/tool box just because a trash can isn't close by.

Put safety glasses all over your shop. We're lazy, and frequently won't walk across the shop to get them when we should.

Take every cool magazine article you've ever thought would be a good reference, photo copy it, and stick it in a three-ring binder, with different categories for specific topics: Induction, Brakes, Rear Ends, etc. You'll never have to sort through 20 years of magazines to find the one article you need.

For the windshield wiper nuts on mid-50's GM cars (and probably others): These have the slots cut on both sides of the ring, and screw down over the wiper transmission shaft. They're soft pot metal, and are usually destroyed because someone removed them with a vise grips, or put a screwdriver blade in one of the slots and "walked" the nut off the shaft.
Get a 9/16 deep well socket, and draw two tabs, or fingers, on the side at the open end. Then remove all the metal that isn't the tabs (with a die-grinder/cut-off wheel), leaving the two tabs protruding up. Those tabs will engage the slots in the nut, while the transmission shaft goes up inside the socket, letting you remove those nuts without hurting them.

-Brad

[Bluesfella]

Here's an easy one:

I was always dinging the bottom edge of my bumper when I tried to jack my car up, so I needed something to pad it.

http://www.vancerutherford.com/graphics/chevytalk/img_0245.jpg

A piece of 5/8 heater hose with a slit cut down one side...

http://www.vancerutherford.com/graphics/chevytalk/img_0253.jpg

...keeps that bumper from being damaged.

http://www.vancerutherford.com/graphics/chevytalk/img_0262.jpg


My jack has this little "pocket" where I keep the hose stored for next time. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Bluesfella]

Always running out of space in the garage? If you are like me and are cursed with a tiny garage, you can use these tips to gain some more room:



Most people don't take advantage of overhead storage for bulky items like extra 2x4's, etc...

Just take 4 "ladder hanger" hooks, two long pieces of scrap wood, and some plumbers tape and screws, and voila!

http://www.vancerutherford.com/graphics/chevytalk/img_0254.jpg



You might have to notch the wood like so, and use the plumbers tape and screws to secure it, you don't want this stuff coming loose and falling on you or your car!

http://www.vancerutherford.com/graphics/chevytalk/img_0255.jpg



And here's a good "underneath" storage idea. Make some drawers to go under your workbench to hold all those naggling little things that normally clutter up the area.

http://www.vancerutherford.com/graphics/chevytalk/img_0258.jpg


Plywood bottoms, I think the sides are 1x10's, with little casters on the bottom. You can size them to fit any unused nooks and crannies you have.

http://www.vancerutherford.com/graphics/chevytalk/img_0259.jpg



And here's my favorite. A couple of drawer slides ($5 at Home Depot), one piece of scrap plywood and a handle, and those handy little storage bins finally have a home out of the way!

http://www.vancerutherford.com/graphics/chevytalk/img_0260.jpg


http://www.vancerutherford.com/graphics/chevytalk/img_0261.jpg

[VespaJay]

And an old buffing bonnet slipped over your floor jack head will keep your nice undercarriage parts from getting damaged.

[stoggie]

[ QUOTE ]
Absorb-all: The big paper bag it comes in always gets torn, or it get wet, making a mess either way. Buy a little RubberMaid or similar plastic garbage pail and dump the absorb-all into it. Add a scoop made from a cut-down oil container or some such thing. Haven't had that mess in the shop for 15 years.



[/ QUOTE ]
This is great but I am cheap so I don't buy new containers. I use old cat litter containers. They work great for the garden shed too. Storing fertilizer or pesticides.

Cut down 1 and 2 liter bottles are great funnels too.

Also put everything on wheels. I work for a company that likes to throw casters away when we only have 2-3. Everyone thinks I am crazy for offering to take them. A couple of times and I have casters for engine/trans carts, body dolly, welding tables, saws, griders etc.

[D Picasso]

a ratchet strap works jim-dandy for supporting an automatic when it'll be awhile before you reinstall the engine.

carry a few paint strainer cones along on trips, they filter out mung from iffy gas pumps. they also work well to filter out poo from your antifreeze if you're a cheapskate and don't want to toss that coolant you've drained when you replace a water pump or similar.

[Junkyard Dog 32]

Make a quickie vacuum for small areas of debris and/or liquid with tubing and compressed air. Put the tubing on or in the debris, and blow across the other end at about 90 degrees. It'll suck it up and send it flying, so watch where you point it.
After pulling the plugs and valve covers on a HEMI I'm working on, I saw a pile of dirt, oil and debris down in the recessed spark plug holes. To get it out, without knocking in all into the cylinders, I vacuumed it using this method.

JOEhttp://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[Deuce Rails]

Excellent ideas there, Bluesfella. That's right up my alley, and at the right time, too. Thanks!

[dixiedog]

To follow on Smokin Joes idea on internet file storage this is what I do.

FILE/THREAD STORAGE
Highlight the information you want to keep > Right click > copy > and paste into a word file

I have one that started out as Chevy Block numbers that is now 36 pages long and this thread will be added http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif.

I can print out certain pages for swap meets or email it.

To reduce the clutter in the house I cut out articles in magazines and put them in a 3 ring binder with dividers labled engine, carb, suspension, transmission etc. for quick reference.

STORAGE BINS

I have a big Rubbermaid bin with a lid that I use to soak large parts in floor wax stripper to get the grease off. Keep the lid on to avoid evaporation of your cleaner solution

I have another one that I keep my sand for my blaster in to keep the moisture out, and it makes a little blast cabinet for small parts.

PARTS CLEANER

I like to use commercial grade floor stripper, found this out cleaning shop floors at Sears Garage when I worked there out of high school. Soak brackets, pulleys etc. and it cleans the paint and grease off and preps for paint. The stuff from Home Depot / Lowes works good

[Tudor]

Maybe this will fit in here

dip stick tech (http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB1&Number=538711&Forum=A ll_Forums&Words=dipstick%20&Match=Entire%20Phrase& Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Old=1month&Main=538711&Searc h=true#Post538711)

[hell_fish_65]

To add to Bluesfella's idea, you can use some angle steel(the stuff with holes in it)and allthread. At least that is what I used. That way you can make it drop as much as you need. After reading a lot of another post about lack of space, I thought those guys could all use overhead storage.

One other thing. Old filing cabinets work great for holding spray paints oil, tranny fluid and other supplies. As a plus, some can be locked to keep small hands away.

[lowburban]

Not trying to be rude but heat causes the bolt to expand so the bolt would get tighter while hot. If you rapidly cooled it it would theoretically shrink some but automotive bolts are dense enough that this would be pretty minimal.. Your best bet would be to weld on the nut, let it cool, and then heat the metal around the bolt. Just FYI from a hamber who teaches physics.

[slammed]

Oil and tran's crome dip stick tech. Part 2: Place in freezer over night. After installing wait till part is room temp. (expanded) run a small tab of silicone 'round mating surface.

[Hot Rod To Hell]

[ QUOTE ]
Not trying to be rude but heat causes the bolt to expand so the bolt would get tighter while hot. If you rapidly cooled it it would theoretically shrink some but automotive bolts are dense enough that this would be pretty minimal.. Your best bet would be to weld on the nut, let it cool, and then heat the metal around the bolt. Just FYI from a hamber who teaches physics.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not tryin to be a smartass, just askin... But if this is true, why does putting a press fit timing gear in the oven, and installing it when hot allow you to slip it on by hand? If it expanded, wouldn't the hole shrink? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

FWIW, the hot bolt does come out pretty easy, even when hot!

[lowburban]

It can't expand inward because of the circle in the middle. Each molecule pushes against the one next to it so the only way to go is away from the center. It's the same as if it was a solid gear with no whole in the middle. Everything would go away from the middle. The hole being there is what makes it confusing.

[lowburban]

This does work because the bolt cools quiker than the block s oit does end up loosening the bolt. I didn't mean to say it didn't work, just that the bolt doesn't actually shrink. Sorry, I didn't mean to confuse anyone. I should have said that in my original post. It works for rmoving kingpins too but not as well.

[Hot Rod To Hell]

that makes sense... thanks for clearing that up!

[MercMan1951]

This may seem overly simple, but it has proven useful to me on many occasions...and when mentioned to people, nobody seems to think of this beforehand, and agrees it's a timesaver.

When I moved into my current home, I had amassed quite a collection of spare parts of various makes/models/years between stripping/parting cars, eBay, and swapmeets. They were destined for the attic above the garage, which is fully enclosed with drywall.

Rather than wonder what exactly I had up there, as I was moving it all up into the attic for storage, I took a steno pad (stolen from work) and wrote down EVERYTHING I stashed away. (5 pages worth!) I even indicated which side of the car and the condition of the item if it applied. This way, when it came time to look for something, I knew for sure if it was up there, rather than hunting around in the dark under piles of things to see "if" I had what I thought. I also placed the items in the attic based on make of car... (Chevy stuff to the right, Ford on the left, etc.) http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[Brad54]

I could write hundreds of these--every couple of months the boss sends out an e-mail saying "505 tech tips for the XX issue!"
I haven't seen a lot of these listed here--I especially like the one about a note pad listing what you have in storage. GAWD I wish I had thought of that.

Lay a plastic milk crate on it's side on your shelf, with the opening facing the garage, then set your spray cans on their sides in the crate. Easy storage, and you can easily grab the one you need, rather than moving them all and looking for the one that's stored all the way in the back. It also keeps them from tipping over, and distributes the solid pigments over a longer area when the can is on it's side, instead of all settling down in the bottom, so it's easier to shake and mix well.

Best thing I did was buy plastic tote boxes with the folding clam shell lids from SAM'S Club. They're about two feet long, a foot wide and a foot tall (roughly). Load them up with parts, label what's in them, and set them on your shelves. Neat, orderly storage. When I bought mine I was moving, Sam's was selling them for $4 each--I bought $125 worth: they stacked great in the moving truck, too.

Shelves: I dedicated one wall to storage shelves. When making or buying shelves (especially industrial pallet racking), don't go bigger than 24 inches wide per shelf. A cylinder head or intake manifold is about 19 inches long (SBC and Nailhead), and that's the longest thing you'll store front-to-back on the shelves. Any longer, and you're wasting space. The 3-foot pallet racks are the worst: you end up with two rows of stuff, and have to pull out the front row to access the back.

And while I'm on the subject of shelves, maximize the shelf placement. If you've always got a couple sets of cylinder heads, valve covers, intakes, etc., these things are only 6-8 inches tall (usually). If all your shelves are spaced 18 inches apart, you are losing space, because you aren't going to stack other things on top of your fresh heads or rare valve covers. If you carefully plan your shelf configuration, and can save just 2-inches (vertical) of un-used shelf space per shelf, after 6 shelves you've gained a whole foot of vertical space--enough to add a "free" shelf. Another way of saying it is on an 8-foot wall, you could have 7 storage shelves instead of 6. The uniform-height plastic tote boxes really make this easy.
And add a dedicated short shelf for valve covers, etc. You'll be surprised how many short items you have--rocker shafts, timing covers, valve covers, valley pan, coil, exhause manifolds..............

All for now.
-Brad

[Glen]

Im still happy over this idea, I posted it on my paint post but here it is again.

I used my engine hoist to mount a part in so I could paint it and spin it to paint the bottom of the part too. I used a piece of all-threar and some nuts with lock washers.

http://www.hotrodsbyglen.net/ch091304f.jpg

[sodapop]

for four wheel drum brakes that pull on brake application coat the inside of the droms with about 2 cans of ajax or any off brand get the adjustment as close as possible and start driving . Ive seen it take p to 6 or7 brake apps. But no shit it will stop the pull. Keep in mind the shoes wear down a little faster than normal but this is a last ditch effort fix anyway, and it beats ending up in the other lane. Hope this helps.

[Pigiron]

Instead of using sheetrock on my garage walls, I used 28 sheets of pegboard. Use alot of screws to secure the pegboard and you can hang some pretty heavy stuff on your walls.
Also to keep from marring any part of the car when using my floorjack, I cover the full lenght of the handle with pipe foam bought at the hardware store in 6 foot lenghts. Comes in different diameters for covering water pipes on trailor houses.

[PDX Lefty]

To clean garage floor, go to hardware store and buy a box of TSP (Tri Sodiun Phosphate) works great and cheap too.

If you drive or press a nut on the square end of a tap you can use a ratchet to drive it when cleaning threads in the block.

[squirrelmurphy]

Another one that many may know, but am surprised at how many don't.

For quick and easy masking, use aluminum foil. It works bitchin', just fold it around whatever needs to be masked, no tape needed. Works great if you're painting an engine in the car, or for wrapping bumpers to primer a panel after bodywork.

[Bruce Lancaster]

"Wow, no posts about wasps yet!"
OK--play your rap loud. Not only keeps'em outta the garage, they'll cross the street before they walk by.
Oh. Sorry.
Brake cleaner, the can with the wand on the nozzle. A quick squirt will drop them out of the air instantly, and if you're motivated, pin point accuracy will come fast.

[Smokin Joe]

Wasps?
Aqua Net hair spray and a Bic lighter. If your wife sees that flame thrower, she'll never waste your hard earned car money on hair spray again! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[SnoDawg]

find a friend the chews tobacco and get him to give you the plastic cans. They work great when you disassemble something with a lot of little pieces, put the lid on and mark the top with a sharpie also works good when mixing epoxy for after the epoxy sets up you can dig the set up stuff outta them for the epoxy wont stick to them to well.

[Digger_Dave]

[ QUOTE ]
If you drive or press a nut on the square end of a tap you can use a ratchet to drive it when cleaning threads in the block.

[/ QUOTE ]

Easier with an eight point socket(s).

Also, only use "thread chasing" taps. (or dies) Otherwise you will make the threads "sloppy."

[Baron Von Mike]

[ QUOTE ]
To clean garage floor, go to hardware store and buy a box of TSP (Tri Sodiun Phosphate) works great and cheap too.

If you drive or press a nut on the square end of a tap you can use a ratchet to drive it when cleaning threads in the block.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey PDX,

Even easier, you can take 12 sided sockets and put them right on the square end of a tap.

On the left is a 3/8" 12 sided socket and on the right is a 1/2" 12 sided socket.

Mike

[SKR8PN]

Got a bunch of old steel license plates ya don't know what to do with? Screw them on the wall,right behind your
engine building,trans assembling work bench. NOW, you have something that not only looks good, protects your wall from abuse,but you can also use a MAGNET to fasten all those important papers with info like, ring gaps,trans end play,rod bolt torques,Playboy centerfolds,right where you can read them!

[SKR8PN]

Did ya know.........the caps from Dawn Dish Washing Liquid,fit right on a PLASTIC trans fluid or oil bottle?
Works GREAT for putting oil, in those "hard to reach" places! It also SAVES the last half of a quart till you REALLY need it!

[SKR8PN]

Have you ever seen the inside of a NEWER transmission? Notice that MAGNET in the oil pan with the hole in in the center? SAVE IT! If you EVER need to drill a hole in something steel,and you don't want the metal shavings to get away,place that MAGNET WITH THE HOLE IN IT,right over the spot you want to drill........ ALL the shavings will go to the magnet,NOT in your engine,trans,etc.etc........
Got it? GOOD!! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[SKR8PN]

SO......ya say your assembling your engine,and ya need to turn the cranckshaft over to install the next rod/piston assembly,but you CAN'T put the balancer,or the bolt on yet????
Got the key in the keyway? Get you a LARGE Crecent wrench,and adjust it down to the size of the crank,Now,spin it around till it hits the key in the keyway......VOILA!
INSTANT CRANK SOCKET!! NO VISE GRIP MARKS!! FITS ANY ENGINE!

[Scallop53]

easy way to get a steel bolt out of aluminum.Heat up bolt with torch,doesn't have to be red hot only hot enough to melt wax,put wax on bolt near hole and as it cools it will pull wax into threads(like sweating copper pipes)and the bolt will turn right out.

Dan

[Smokin Joe]

Lots of ideas here. Let's see things you've built for your shop. Engine dollys, buffer stands, wierd holders you use in your engine stands, welding tables, carts for your blue tip torch, that kind of thing.

[Canuck]

No great technical knowledge here, just a safety idea. Fire extinguisher mounted on the Mig cart, always handy where the hot stuff is.

jim

[C9]

Got a stripped out hole in a piece of wood?
And even a sheet metal screw won't hold?

Get a bottle of Cyanoacrylate glue at the hobby shop.
Goldberg's works fine. (The one you want is the thin watery stuff.)
Sand up a little pile of sawdust from any old piece of wood.
Makes no difference what the wood type is.
Pack the sawdust in the stripped out hole.
Apply 2-3-4 drops of the Cyano glue to the sawdust.
This turns the sawdust in the hold and the surrounding old wood very hard.
Drill a hole where required, screw the part down using a sheet metal screw and you'll have a fix that's stronger than the original and long lasting as well.

(In lieu of sawdust you can use baking soda, but it comes out way harder than the sawdust - not sure about how long the fix will last with the baking soda, but it does work. Either the sawdust or baking soda will make for a hard to sand surface so mold the dust or soda close to where you want it when dry.

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A quick and easy temporary fix - that can last a long time - for a stripped out sheet metal hole that won't hold a sheet metal screw:
Get a paper clip, bend a short section into a very tight "U" shape.
Drop the short piece of paper clip into the stripped out hole.
Install screw.
It will hold about the same torque a fresh sheet metal hole will.
This works cuz the paper clip piece forces the sheet metal screw to bite into fresh sheet metal. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[flamedcoupe]

When I wire a car I always run the new wires all the way to the tail/parklight socket. To make a new contact point on the end of the wire I skin about a 1/16 of a inch of insulation off then bend down the ends 90 degrees and in a circle than drop on a drop of soder. Makes a good contact point for the bulb and wires are color coded all the way to the light housing.

[CptStickfigure]

[ QUOTE ]
Got a stripped out hole in a piece of wood?
And even a sheet metal screw won't hold?

[/ QUOTE ]

If you don't need a superglue-strength fix, just coat some wooden toothpicks with wood glue, stuff them down in the hole, and break them off flush.

I used to do that for things like guitar strap locks and it worked fine.