Whats the best "trick" or tech tip a mentor showed you?

I learned how to locate an oil leak with flour, you would be surprised how well this works.

 

When installing fuel pump on small block chevy, turn engine to TDC (this lets pushrod insert deepest into block) then use bolt through front to hold it.

 

Trying to get a nut started behind a blind panel or tough to reach place? Put a dab of wheel bearing grease on your finger and stick the nut in the grease. Will allow you to maneuver the nut to the end of the bolt and get it started. Can also use spray on contact cement on your fingertip and the nut for really tough places. Don't use Super Glue!

 

The MSDS sheet for "the works" says to not come in contact with metals? Are you sure this is safe? I need to clean out my tank in my falcon. Thanks.

 

If you fab/install a part with a sharp edge sooner or later you'll cut yourself on it.

 

Posies or roses?

 

Real men use daffodils.

 

God bless the HAMB. ONE spot where guys willingly share knowledge -- some of it learned the hard way! A resource like this can save people TIME, MONEY and, MAYBE, INJURIES, too! Thanks for postin' this!

 

Re: Whats the best "trick" or tech tip a mentor showed you?
<HR style="COLOR: #e5e5e5; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #e5e5e5" SIZE=1>My old Uncle Bob had me practice doing things blindfolded or with my eyes closed to sharpen my sense of 'feel' for those times when 'feel' was the ONLY way to get the task done.

Now on those hard to see jobs, I close my eyes and my minds eye 'see's' for me.

Sounds hokey, but hey that's where we are, right?

 

We had to do that in shop class with drum brakes in a certain amount of time.

 

When i was an apprentice my mentor Frank told me measure twice, cut once
Never forgot that !!!

 

Setting TDC with a degree wheel & piston stop.

Removing broken studs by welding a nut to stud - through the hole in the nut.

Using ( round punch blanks ) and a Uni a Bit to repair / fill / weld up holes in sheet metal.

Using an electric drill to sharpen Tungstun.

Lube / wax on grinding disk for Aluminum Work.

 

Just be sure the sand is DRY !!!!
If not, you could get watervapor inside the pipe at a HIGH pressure.
Thats dangerous . . . believe me

 

Best trick I ever learned from a gas station buddy of mine was how to turn a tune-up into a blow job from a cute little blond.

 

ahahahahahahahahaahhahahahaahhHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

Use lock nuts (½ height nuts) or cut the nut down.
Crank the MIG up high, so the nut is red hot when welded.
Heat will help loosen the bolt.
"Attack" it as soon as color is gone
When using low (½) nuts, its easier to weld it to a bolt broken just below the surface.
OH!! and if possible, use a nut bigger than the actual boltsize f. ex. 1/2" nut on 3/8" bolt, makes welding easier

 

Got a bushing stuck in a blind hole? Screw in a tap that cuts into the bushing and it will slide the bushing right out. Works REAL good in very tight spots. Got a nut to start in an almost inacessable place? Use 3M trim glue to cement the nut to your finger.

 

melt the ends of your freshly cut zip ties! that way you dont slice up your arm workin on your ride!

 

Welding the nut to a broken bolt is my favorite trick and I have done that for years.

I really like the one about the laser pointer. I will be stealing that. Thanks

 

Why didn't I think of that! Those things are dangerous!

 

I've had no luck, even with a really good weld. The nut twists off the broken bolt. How soon or long after welding do you wait to twist it off?

 

take pics with cell phone before disassembling something, bag hardware and label it, mark wiring on both sides of connection a to a. last but not least lock the garage door from the inside if you want to get something done

 

sissy

 

Use a paint stir stick to block sand contoured areas. the older 1" wide variety works awsome.

OldCrow

 

An old machinist told me if you want a super hard drill bit that will last forever take a standard bit and heat it until it was orange in color, then quench it in "iodine" I never tried it but he said that's all he did in his shop and it is equal to or better than a cobalt bit!

 

A cheap air supply for your air brush is a fully inflated spare tire. There is an adapter you can buy to connect your air brush hose to the tire valve. The adapter is DB-32 listed on bottom of that page. Click on...

www.paascheairbrush.com/acc_hoses.html

 

My dad tought me when i was little to always put my house key at the bottom of my key ring so I could always find it to get in the house.. He was a drunk. Does that count?

 

When you drop a bolt or a nut or a screw, don't try to catch it, instead just watch where it goes and retrieve it when it lands. I live by that one...

 

To get a frozen rusted bolt out you are after a hot weld, the hotter the better. the heat that is put into the broken stud while welding to it is 1/2 of the battle. I usually weld until the nut is glowing sparkley red, wait for it to cool enough for the red to be gone & then start working it back & forth. On some of the stubborn ones I have has to do it several times to get it all the way out. The best part is that the mig weld will not "stick" to the cast. If I have the space I usually go overkill, i will weld a 5/8 or larger nut onto a 3/8 bolt.

 

To diagnose engine sounds, get a wooden yardstick and put one end against the engine. Put your palm against the other end (one hand on top of the other) and press your chin against the back of your hand. Put enough pressure on the yardstick to give it a slight bend and any sound in that engine telegraphs itself through the yardstick clear as a bell. We could find bad lifters that way but you can hear lots in an engine or bearing.