there's a thread on rigging starting setups, but how about getting you out of a jam when you forgot some needed tool, miles away from your tool box... when i hit the pic-n-pull, i carry only the tools i think are needed for the job... lazy, yes... so, when i was pulling a timing cover for my SBF the other weekend, i got to where i needed to lock down the crank from turning (who knew the junkyard engine wasn;t locked up?) and had to scrounge around a little; decided to use the alternator adjustment arm and bolt it to the damper and let it swing on the TC... then found out that 30-plus year old SBF crank nuts can be REAAALLY tough to loosen, without a cheater bar. so, i found a couple chunks of 2x4 and another long piece, and wedged them between the damper and my 1/2" drive, and levered that fucker loose... the kid across the aisle stood there, watching, as i did this, and asked how i knew what to do... i said make enough mistakes and you'll learn eventually! i still couldn't free off the big bolt through the alternator. far as i know, it's still hanging from the block.
I straightened out my bumper today with just oxy-acet and a hammer. Hardly a factory quality job but at least now I can bolt it back to the van and prep it for a safety certification now it stays put! When I have more time and cash I'd like to do a better job but getting it rolling is the first job. Uploaded with ImageShack.us
A big hammer is always an appropriate tool. I did use a gasket scraper to push on the brake shoe from the backside of the drum on my 68 caddy. The shoes had the drum locked up so tight even my biggest hammer couldn't budge it. And of course the access hole was nowhere near the adjuster. My next attempt was going to be to drill a new access hole in the drum.
Many years ago I was rebuilding upper and lower A arms and was removing bushings with a hammer and an axe .I did get it done......... Wont do it again but got it done ......
I thought that was how it was done...BFH, crescent-hammer, pliers, and a pry-driver...ain't that all you need?
I remove the A arm bushings with my machinests hammer just about every time I do one. An air hammer damages the control arm too easy and other methods are just too slow for production work. Just remove the nut or bolt from the shaft and set the A arm on a vise with the outside end of the bushing sticking down through the jaws of the vise and with the cross peen side of the hammer hit the bushing on the inside to drive it out. The shaft slips out and you flip the A arm over and knock the other bushing out with the hammer. Use a piece of pipe or socket that fits over the rubber part of the bushing and catches the lip to drive one back in, put the shaft back in and drive the other one in and put the fasteners back on. It's best to wait until you have a load on the car to fully tighten the fasteners to keep the bushings from being in a bind and causing squeaks. I've done a few hundred or thousand of them like that. I ended up using a piece of pipe out of the bed of a junk pickup in a junkyard to get a balancer bolt off a late 80's Buick one day in a wrecking yard. The pipe was about 8 ft long and I looked a bit crazy but got the job done.
i replaced a rear wheel bearing ages ago by pounding it home using a mattock head over the axle.... i gave a hulk car to a scrapper and had to have it steerable for him to haul it, even after taking out the column... i had left the stub shaft on the box, so i put a junk steering shaft on it with an old POS steering wheel, connected to the stub shaft with 6" of heater hose and clamps.... he called me later on and said his guys couldn't figure out why the wheel had two turns of play in it when they picked it up. he pointed out the hose and laughed at them. i bought an OT parts car once; drove it out of the scrapyard after slapping a replacement wheel bearing in and dropping a battery in it. scrapyard owner was pissed as hell about that.
Helped a buddy rope tow an old Stude to a scrapper back in the mid '60's. No brakes, no fluid in the M/C so he says go get me some milk from the galley......then he spots an old fly sprayer hanging on the garage wall and says forget it..... You guessed it, Stude gets to the yard with out rear ending my rig and somewhere down the line a fly or two got a reprieve. Whatever's on hand for the job at hand. Ed
Pulling rear axles. The type that require a big bad slide hammer. Lacking the hammer we attached a chunk of log chain to the axle and used a whip/snap maneuver. If the car was on a concrete floor and a floor jack was available, hooked that to the loose end of the chain pulled the jack backward real fast. Good way to pull the car of the stands onto the ground. Ha Ha.
a chisel works great to knock the heads off the shoe hold down pins and if that doesn't work get out the heat.
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