Technical Simple tech tips to make building easier

I learn this little trick a long time ago but it is a quick and easy way to find the correct radiator hoses for you hot rod or custom.

The unassuming aluminum collapsible VW heater exchange hoses are excellent for mocking up your radiator hoses, they expand and flex to hold their shape when set in place and you can then take them to your favorite parts house and use the pattern to find the right fit fit for your car or truck.

I suggest you buy 2 that way you can use them for the top & bottom hoses, and they are cheap and reusable, I've been using mine for at least 15 years. HRP

 

Fell free to add your tech tip. HRP

 

Not that I have done it but this could help plot out intricate header paths, roll bars too.

 

That make sense. HRP

 

Not that this is new or revolutionary.......more common sense than anything else.......I use card board to template all my fabricated brackets, mounts, etc. Easy to trim as a mock-up, then trace the pattern on steel or aluminum for final configuration.

 

Poster board works well also. HRP

 

I did some tips long ago,kind of a tech to help;;
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...n-avoid-on-a-rod-build.1030734/#post-11667548

 

When you are fooling around with alternator mounting, engine pulleys anything to do with front engine belts. And now you have to figure out what sized belts you need?Carefully cut down a junk belt- when you get the 2 ends meeting up nicely. Take the belt off- slide a decent sized piece of electrical shrink wrap tubing over both cut ends. Heat gun the two ends together and now you can take your new funny looking belt to the parts store and get the right size belt you need.

 

Damn , I was thinkin I was the only brain child to discover the many uses for these “ things “ !

 

I figured it out when I had a 66 VW and had just replaced them on the bug, I laid the old ones on the work bench right beside a radiator hose, and I picked one up and headed over to my Model A pickup and slipped it on the radiator and to the intake, Eureka!

It's so simple and since I learned this little trick I have never had a problem finding the correct shape radiator hose. HRP

 

Freaking Genius!
That beats the fire out of a coat hanger.

 

And the beauty is you can collapse them and put them back in the box for the next time you need them. HRP

 

Box end
Open end wrenches....

They link together. It has to be just right, not just two but three or more can be linked together.

I had just finished buttoning up the Flathead V8 on the '50 Coupe. Everything was hooked up, it was ready to start. I cranked it, oil went every where.

I had forgot to hook up the oil gauge when installing the engine. That fitting is right behind the left head nearly to the bell housing.

Due to the firewall on a shoebox.....there is no way to reach it with a tool. It was looking bad there for a moment. The only option was taking it back down......partially pull the engine which meant undoing everything.

I had to think on it....

Keeping my hand flat I was able to start the fitting withou crossing it between my fingers. There was no way I could tighten it.

I built a contraption of box end/open end wrenches to reach that fitting. It seems like I used at least 4.
All linked together, the working wrench would get about 1/8 of a turn. Every so often I had to re set and flip the "working wrench".

This may not work for really heavy stuff but for light stuff like an oil fitting...it was the solution.

 

Moving/loading a car with locked up.brakes.
When a car is locked up hard backing off the brakes is futile.
You can do this even if it's on flats but it's much easier with hard inflated tires.

You need....
Wood, plywood can work but 1x4 or 1x6s really work better.
Lube.... Dish Soap.
Something to pull it... winch, come alongs, block and tackle, tractor, ect, ect......
Safety chocks especially on a slope ( just a safety.... you lay a series of these down perpendicular to the wheels on the down hill side... think of them as speed bumps in case the car decides to get away) have some short ones handy in case you need to throw 'em in front of the tires.

It's simple....
Lay the 1 bys down in front of the tires like RR tracks. Lube with soap. The locked up wheels slide easily on the board.

 

Ditto on the defroster hoses! Been using them 'em for years for rad hose mockup. Any chain auto parts store will have them in the 'Help' section.
https://www.autozone.com/ignition-tune-up-and-routine-maintenance/duct-hose/help-2-1-4-in-dia-defroster-hose/218606_0_0?fromString=search&make=Flxible&model=flxible&year=

Also, for belt measurement, a tailors tape is the ticket. JoAnn's fabrics or Beverly's have it for like $2.



Hose clamps:
Pick-N-Pull in the Mercedes/BMW section. Don't laugh! As long as they're not completely buggered up, they're very strong and will last for many more years after you rescue them from the junkyard! The Germans make some quality hose clamps! The slots are louvered and the edges rolled which allows them to be made thinner yet much stronger.

In comparison to parts store hose clamps...…





Steel for brackets and such:
Most local steel retailers usually have a container that they toss all their scrap/excess trimmings/etc. into. They usually sell it for 40-50 cents per pound. Good steel at cheap prices.

And of course, my all time favorite! Sheet metal for fabricating patch panels:



It's 18 ga and free! Just take a peek in the 'free' section of CL.

 

Clean Up Ugly Hose Clamps In your Engine Bay. (Credit to Super Scamp 340)

We all know hose clamps are ugly. So with some 1/2 inch heat shrink you can cover them.

 

HOTRODPRIMER speaking of repurposing Volkswagen stuff if you ever have a remote master cylinder reservoir or remote clutch reservoir- Volkswagen beetles also had remote brake reservoirs and the blue covered woven tubing that goes between the reservoir and the master is super durable,really cheap and designed for just that purpose. I have used it many times. Remember this won’t work if used between the master and slave cylinder it is only for use where there is no pressure.

 

On the subject of usefully VeeDub stuff, I've got an old VW jack that I've owned for over 40 years. It's been to heaps of smash repair jobs in my younger days and I've reset piers under the house with it, jacked spring packs apart with it. It's probably one of the most useful tools in the shed.

 

Oddball size air duct hose- roadside find vacuum cleaner hoses.

 

Put a cork in it. Putting a cork in #1 hole and listening for the POP! to find TDC is a common one. What about those pesky Fords that can have different firing orders depending on what cam is used. Then use 8 corks and note the order they POP! during two revolutions of the crankshaft.

 

In addition to their designed use, I find my set of transfer punches very useful as quick hole size gauges. Handier than trying to use calipers in close surroundings and the long shanks remain smoother than those on drill bits that have gotten marred up by drill chucks.

Ed

 

Thought I might be the only one to do this!! LOL

 

Really liking that idea. But now I have to go get 1/2" shrink tube and do a little work.

 

A GOOD parts house with books along with the computer.
And a person behind the counter who understands when you say.....
“ you know it’s brass with a 90 in it and connects the intake then goes down the block”

Or when you say I need 54 Chrysler head gasket 69 Lincoln intake gasket and a ford tempo valve cover gasket ... and they don’t have a melt down but just go get the parts as they “know” your getting creative today

 

Need a nice clean piece of angle iron to build a bracket? Grab that old bed frame your hoarder instinct wouldn't let you throw away. Painted, preserved and free.

So those VW heater exchange hoses- don't forget to have a little fun with the zit factory at Autozone. Tell him you want a spare set of radiator hoses for your '66 VW Beetle with std trans- they look like this...

 

The wagon didn't have pull straps for climbing in the back seat but did have provisions to add them, we made the straps and bolted them in place they really looked unfinished with the flat washer and the bolt head exposed, so I started looking for some sort of cap and I found this piece, another VW was the early stainless running board trim, it was wide enough tp cover the width of the strap.

We trimmed off about 3 inches from each end and fabricated a cap for the pull straps, it looks like it could have been a factory piece. HRP

 

What about the melt down on the other side of the counter when asked. "Do you have wipers, seat belts, steering wheel?" and what ever other non-sense they require to find what one needs as a part.

 

I remember vividly my first experience with the parts counter man before computers.

Part's guy "what's it for? "

Me "A 1930 Model A pickup truck"

Pg "They don't have master cylinders "

Me "mine does"

Pg "Model A's have mechanical brakes"

Me "Yes sir. I know that but mine has juice brakes"

Pg " It won't work"

Me " Just sell me a 1964 Falcon fruit jar master cylinder and I'll make it work"

Pg " OK, but once you put fluid in it we won't refund your money"

Me " That's fine, it will work"

Funny thing about the parts counter man, after I showed him it worked and actually took him for a ride around the block I think I convinced him that guys my age were building hot rods and using later model parts to improving the cars.

I dealt with the old gent until he passed away, he finally gave me the run of the place and allowed me to go in the back to open boxes and ramble around looking at different parts. HRP

 

I have a VW friend who says every car should have at least one VW part. On my rod I used a '60s VW headlight dimmer switch. It is a latching relay. Each ground signal changes that switch from low to high or high to low.
https://www.jbugs.com/product/11194...MI7dLC77Pv4gIVltlkCh2OYAdgEAQYASABEgJp9PD_BwE

Phil

 

As a last resort, if you can’t find the exact hose and have to build your own using 2 hoses with the right curves and a piece of tubing in the middle you can avoid using 4 ugly worm drive clamps, use the heat shrink clamps you buy at the auto parts (Gates brand). They come with some lettering on them which can be easily sanded off. You only have to use the worm drives on the rad and the intake