Technical Little tips and tricks for garage hobbyists.

Most old timers know this, but for the newbies, when setting the timing or disconnecting vacuum lines golf T's work great for plugging them. With their long taper they fit many different sizes of vacuum hose. Also to syphon gas out of a tank in a car before removal without sucking on a hose, put the syphon hose in the tank down into the gas. Grab an air hose with a blow gun and a rag. Stick the blow gun in the neck of the filler and wrap the rag around to seal the hose and blow gun to the neck. Now blow some compressed air into the neck which will force the gas to come up the hose and will start the syphoning.

 

Just picked up some adhesive whiteboard. To use some of my cabinets as whiteboards as well. Don’t have much available real estate on my walls. Besides, I can use my electrical cabinet for electrical to do list. Parts cabinet for it’s own to do list. Same with the paint and body cabinet.
Seems to be of a pretty high quality material as well.


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Just use a sharp punch to avoid shavings in your can...

 

Hey Bones, that reminds me of the old joke when the lady ask the man who in the world was he going to satisfy with that little thing...….. He said "ME!!!!"

 

Been my by-line for years!! Unfortunately!







Bones

 

When chasing or testing wiring try using your 12v trickle charger for juice...
enough pop to lite the test light...
has a built in cut out in case of a short... I use a '70s seatbelt buzzer and listen to test...

 

If you have a bolt ,or button head that is seized
Take a torch and heat up only the head of the bolt ,and after cooling , it still is seized ,
Pick a corner and get it red hot , add oxygen and blow the head off (slag ) very quickly before The washer under the bolt head liquifies .Lift /pry the washer off , drive the bolt through and tada ! The goodie is yours !

 

If you've got jeans and shirts that are no longer worthy of use (even in the shop), I use them as rags. Cheaper than buying them and taking them somewhere to wash them. Throw them away when done.

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I use a spring loaded shower curtain rod to push on brake pedal when bleeding them and for holding panels in place because I prefer to work alone that way when someone screws up I know who it was


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I like the buzzer idea! I soldered long wires to an old brake light bulb for testing. Can be seen better than a test light.

 

Some 1/4” flat steel makes a great angle grinder hanger.
So I don’t have to clutter up a drawer somewhere with these letting them get all tangled up together.

Am able to have enough to have different attachments on them as a bonus!
Cords and hose tanglements bug the shit out of me. This avoids that frustration.


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Good idea . Same with chains . I am trying to do a 12 step program to step away slowly from garage sales . If they have chains or pieces of steel , they always end up in the garage.

 

Oh where ,oh where did you purchase the sticky whiteboard ? Micheal's ? Hobby Lobby ?

 

Whiteboard Sticker Paper Sheets, Easy Peel and Stick Dry Erase Contact Paper Upgrade 11 Ft Extra Wide, Self Adhesive Wall Paper Roll for Classroom, Planning, Office, Kid Painting, 3 Dry Erase Markers https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07J5943T6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_8yNSDb1P4KYYK
Picked it up off of Amazon.


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Use a Danmar MaxJax portable 2 post hoist fore and aft. To give full access to the whole side of the car. Great for door aligning, block sanding, ect.
One of my favorite tools and so versatile!


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if you get junk mail with phony plastic (not paper) credit or membership cards they make good little paint edgers, spreaders, and light duty scrapers.

Retired cutting boards from your kitchen are good for not cutting on your benchtop if it's metal, etc.

those return address labels that charitable organizations, etc send in the mail can be quick nametags on things you want to help get back to you, if loaned out or lost.

this is from years ago... if your screwdrivers aren't already magnetized, rub the tips on a bar magnet. Sometimes you need the screw to just stick to the end of your screwdriver while your free hand juggles something else. Or, you might use it to pick up a screw.

If disassembling something unusual that won't go back together within 15 minutes, jot down notes on the order you removed parts, then just work backwards when reassembling.

the clothes pins with the metal springs make useful little clamps occasionally, and I have eight of them numbered 1-8 for spark plug wire markers as needed.

if you have any old wooden drawers with wood drawer slides, (hard milled) bar soap rubbed on the sliding surfaces is a century old suggestion for helping them glide more smoothly. (also works on sticky dining room tables which have the option for table leaves)

probably known by many or most here, but I think I learned it in my 20's, so... to start a nut or bolt correctly to help prevent cross-threading... turn it to loosen it first until you feel it subtly 'drop' or 'click', then turn to tighten it. More than 9 out of 10 times you have squared up the threads properly.

need to start a screw or nail into something and there may not be room for fingers? take a strip of light gauge cardboard or cardstock (like a cereal box) and poke the screw/brad/nail through that, then just tear the strip away after you have started it.

 

The local school system has auctions and they sell a lot of these video carts. They are fairly sturdy and make great project carts. Usually sell for about $10. I have several that I use for projects. When working on something like a water pump or A/C it gives a place for tools and removed parts. If you have to order something (Rock Auto) and wait for its arrival, all your tools and components stay together till the part arrives. Same thing with those projects where you don't get back to them for a few weeks....or months.



For Tig welding, I found that getting some diamond wheels will get the tungstens to a sharp point quickly. I have three grits on each side but found that a simple coarse one is usually all that needed. I use one of those minature HF chop saws to cut the tungsten, quickly put a point on the tungsten with the diamond wheels (one for steel one for aluminum). Then I use a small belt sander to finish the points longways.


I buy these cabinets off Craigs list for usually about $50 ea. They fit right in with all my old junk in the shop. They have quality slide drawers. Sometimes you have to make dividers or remove existing dividers, but they are great for organizing and storage. Then get a cheap laminator and laminate all those directions and reference charts and throw them in the drawer with whatever they relate to. One thing I found is that you can make quanity buys of JIC (and AN) fittings on Ebay much cheaper than trying to buy each individual AN fitting for fuel systems. I bought a bunch of different sizes and thats why I keep the chart in the drawer. Buying copper and brass fittings are a lot cheaper too. I hate going to the local builders supply and paying the prices they want for copper fittings. So I try to order common sizes and throw them in a drawer. Saves time too when you don't have to run to the store to get one thing.

Anyway, this works well for me when the old gray matter is on strike......

 

Wow...impressive

 

I use paste floor wax for lubricating wooden draw slides and large plastic bag clips, like on bread bags for spark plug wire identification. I simply numbered them from 1 to 8, and clip them on to the appropriate wire, saved me a lot of headaches...

 

I like to mark tools/wrenches that I use with other tools. Here at my lathe everything marked with yellow tape stays with the lathe, everything else doesn’t belong there and can be put away quickly.




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Thanks .

 

I do the same thing with my metric tools. I don't want them contaminating my good old SAE wrenches.

 

I like that marked metric tools idea! I'm going to do that.
I thought I'd be kool and put all my metric stuff in their own special box, which is pretty spiffy. Only problem now is I keep catching some of them sneaking into my SAE boxes, hiding out and 'contaminating' them.

 

I have a separate tool box for metric tools!

 

I have a separate box also but they keep getting mixed in with my standard tools, with the key to my shop hanging on the wall in the house, my family has access to my tools. HRP

 

I painted my metric wrenches dayglo chartreuse.

 

Somebody sticky this please

 

I paint everything 1/2" red... wrenches, sockets, nut drivers... etc.
7/16" and 9/16" are black... I can tell the difference between them...
but it keeps me from confusing them with 3/8" and 5/8"...

 

my tips
Buy expensive tools, unless you have lots of money and like buying replacement tools frequently.
Learn to work with ppe’s, gloves glasses and such.
If you cant drink it dont breath it.
And
Dont burn the place down.

 

Dang. Great idea.