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

When I had my very first car, I had a buddy show me how to set the points in the distributer with a match book cardboard, I think it was around .020 , heck it worked, this buddy of mine had learned the old ways,he didn't have much money or education, but he sure had nice car's and usually the fastest ones aswell, he got into body and paint work ,later on , have not seen him lately, his brain is all screwed up paint fumes and beer, he loved painting those nasty paints with just a cheap resperator ,then drinking a pile of beer, such a waste.

 

Egg whites are out now as with severe burns they can too easily introduce a source of serious infection to a fresh burn.
Similarly eating raw eggs in now taboo...

 

Alternatively, add 3/16" to stud size to know what wrench size you are looking for...

 

Good stuff here!

Here's a trick for organizing and storing small parts and nuts/bolts while you're working on a long term project.

Buy different sizes of zip-lock bags from the grocery and a "Sharpie" marker and a cheap notebook paper hole punch from an office supply place. Store the parts and pieces in the zip-lock bags, writing a description of the contents. Use the hole punch to punch a hole at the top so the bags can be arranged on a pegboard or wall. If you want to get real fancy, use index cards to write useful information or draw diagrams pertaining to the parts and add them to the bags.

 

What is the license number of your car or truck? No need to have it memorized if you enter the number on your cell phone. Enter it right in with important phone numbers. Just enter...License and then the number. You will always have it right there in the L's.

 

Use two hammers to knock balljoints and tierods loose by pounding side of tapered hole

Drill holes in leaf springs with a regular bit using white Elmer's wood glue for coolant. Thanks Chip!

 

The one I recall... To remove tension spring, open the hood/trunk to the highest point, slip in washers between the springs, wrap in duct tape, so they don't fly apart and slowly close, the spring ends will slip out easily, reverse to install..

 

A very useful and simple trick a old guy taught me when I first started working on cars. Use 2+2(aka carb cleaner) when working with rubber parts. Such as:
Any time you are pushing a rubber hose over a nipple, first spray a small squirt of 2+2 in the hose end. It will slip right on. Then 5 sec later when the 2+2 dries the hose is stuck on. Work great when forcing a hose that's just a little 2 small over and nipple that's just a little too big.
Also works great when sliding hose clamps over the outside of a hose. Those damn squeeze clamps that never open up enough even when the pliers are maxed out. The clamp just doesn't want to slide over the hump in the hose. Spray 2+2 on the outside of the hose. That clamp will slide right back. Use again to go back together.
It's so simple yet works so good. I use this trick every day on something. Every mechanic I have told loves it.

 

time to bump this great thread up.

one "tip" my mentor taught me paid its dues few weeks ago..

-Always carry enough tools and temporary fixes/patchwork things in your car.

be creative and be ready to use them so that you can get yourself back on the road if something breaks down in your car, something that could be simple fix IF you just would have some tools and something to "macgyver" it to hold up for a while.

(was on trip.. without good set of tools i would of needed pay tow truck to haul my car home for over hundred miles.. but with the stuff i had in my trunk i was able to jerryrig my car enought to get me home safe again.)

 

I have several plastic boxes with 2" compartments and snap on lids that I number and store nuts, bolts, etc in as I dis-assemble something. I write down the contents of each cell which helps when I re-assemble days, weeks, months later.
I also try when feasible to put the nuts and bolts back in their holes for safe storage until I put the part back on. This is better than sorting through a pile of bolts and trying to figure out where they went.

 

The best for me was to use "Litmus" paper to sample the coolant. It told me many things. Look it up. The key is to keep the coolant in a "Neutral" reading. The block scouring seems to be reduced a lot.
Normbc9

 

I waded through 1/2 of this great thread and didn't see this tip - sorry if it was posted before. To check a radiator especially out of the car, take a bicycle tire tube, cut it in half, attach the radiator outlets to the cut ends of the tube, install the radiator cap. Now you can apply air pressure through the air valve in the bike tube and check for leaks .

 

Bump to top

 

Got buggered spark plug threads? I learned this one for aluminum heads, but it will work just as well on iron.

Before running a tap down the threads to clean them, put a gob of grease in the flutes of the tap. Any chips stick to the grease and you don't have to remove the head to fix or clean it.

From 1971 in a barn full of Renaults.

 

Grease on the tap works well to collect and contain chips anytime you're threading into an inaccessible area, like tapping an exhaust manifold for a thermocouple.

 

ONE MORE THING.
Use KY Jelly on installing window gaskets.

 

Oh, the SECOND use for KY jelly....

 

Oh no,....DON'T USE IT TWICE!!

 

My fathers a machinist. Lots of post on here about broken bolts...

EZ outs are the devil, I wont own a set. If you're at the point of needing to use an ezout, its cheaper to go to the machine shop now then after you broke it in the hole.

 

Pull the vacuum gauge out of the toolbox first, not last, on diagnosis.

 

For my business I need to keep gas receipts and records of maintenance on my vehicles. I found that unused check register books that are outdated work great for keeping records. I just write in the amount every time I fill up with gas or record what I repair on the vehicle. I start a new record every year. Keeping a handy record of oil changes in the book works great.

And I get the check registers free at my bank.

 

The "Road Trip" app does the same thing, for those with an iPhone.

 

Time for a new calender. A staple above the hole will reinforce it and help it last all year.

 

Leave it better than when you found it and do it once and do it properly...

 

Fan belt squeak ? Take it off , turn it around and reinstall. Squeak is gone.

 

^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

My friend and Mentor taught me the correct way to "draw file" and the many uses for the different types of files.

Using a ball peen hammer to make gaskets

Using vacuum tubing on the end of a spark plug to start it in tight places

He also taught me to read micrometers, operate a lathe, mill and other machine tools, among many other things that would take to long to write about here.

Sadly he passed away a few days ago. (Christmas morning)

Rest in Peace JC

 

Sorry to hear about your friend and mentor.

Be sure to honor him in the future by passing some of his tips on to younger ones. This mentoring thing is something to be passed on from generation to generation.

To be a good mentor you need to be patient. Not all younger "students" believe us old farts.

 

Anybody know why 7/16 bolts have a different size on the head vrs. the nut? I'm sure there is some reason in history but I don't know what it is.

 

BAck in the early 70s when I was a kid,an ole Swede named Proctor Lind(he must been in his 70s!) had a turn of the century blacksmith shop right on Mainstreet of my hometown. Talk about walking back in time....anyhow,he showed me the proper way to sharpen a drill bit....I have been known to sharpen bits which have been snapped in two....twin ribbons of steel coming offa those bits! Tis an art indeed!!! Long live ole Proctor!!!