Technical Little tips and tricks for garage hobbyists.

Marty : Interesting length rear suspension arm you are showing... Does it act like a "torque arm", being that long?

 

I don’t think it acts like a torque arm because of all the weight that’s on it. But it does allow some suspension travel, with maximum set back of the engine to increase weight on the rear wheels. The salt can be rough these days.

 

Cotton balls are great for masking off kingpin bushings, when spray painting spindles.
And you can stand them up in empty peanutbutter jars.

 

I never bought a set of transfer screws, the few times I needed them I made "get by's" as needed, after getting off the shop floor as a machinist I ran the toolroom, apparently they were more popular for home projects than I realized as I needed to order them for the shop fairly regularly.

 

Love these transfer punch screws!!! I used some of the standard 'transfer punches' to fab a quick side-motor mount for my flatheads. DANGED if I didn't miss one of the 7/16" hole centers (front of mount, rears are 3/8")
I rat tail filed for 20 minutes to convert that hole to a 'slot'... 3/8" plate, Grrrr!

 

Mike
A dog is not (a) mans best friend, the rat tail file is, now where did I put that cardboard!

 

In 1974 we called them Transfer Punches. You could even make them yourself, and drop them in...
They were super helpful when you needed to precisely mark the places to drill for bolts.
Dial in the scattershield, clamp the bellhousing to leave marks, remove, drill holes thru the "punch" marks, bolt on the housing, dial in again, tighten, then drill for dowel pins to keep the precise alignment.
Super handy.

 

This one will work too & is a good tip on its own!

 

Just to touch back on these file cabinets yall mentioned on this thread awhile back. Ive got a few now & since I like anything possible on casters, I started putting these cheap furniture dollies under them and it works great. The capacity & strength on these are great. Ive got em loaded w everything in the locker twice as big and still have room & can still roll it on this cheap dollie.

 

Ever miss something important because you let time get away from you? Setting at my computer the other day I missed the start of a show because I was too involved in an article I was reading. Well that will not happen again. I just purchased a one hour timer in the kitchen section at Walmart for $4.98. Simply set it for however many minutes till something important needs to happen and continue with what you are doing until...the alarm goes off.

 

Yep, same thing happens to me. I use my cell phone timer.

 

I'm with @impala4speed and use my cell phone to "remind me" to take the paint out of the shaker, turn the oven off while powder coating, move the sprinklers, and lots of other tasks, it's so easy, push the button for just a bit and tell Siri the number of minutes you need

 

I just use the alarm clock because if I'm missing something it's usually because I'm asleep.

 

True,,,,

 

Thank God that I am ambidextrous.

 

Whowda thunk?

Ben

 

Don't get the metric vice grips mixed with the standard ones. They are tough to sort back out, especially the the right & left handed ones are in the mix.

 

Allen bolts, knurled for vice grip torqueing !

 

This has probably been shown before, this is how I hang to small steel parts while belt sanding, using a mop disc and a wire wheel. A magnet work well.

 

I wish I'd of thought of that. I might have gloves with less ground fingertips. Thanks Marty.

 

I'm covered for just about any contingency, Metric or SAE, with my adjustable spanner/wrench.

 

I see that that wrench is the automatic Imperial/Metric type according to the handle...

 

Couldn't you use a transfer punch that just fit the hole ?

 

You're right, my bad. Last reference to anything "Imperial" I can remember was in Star Wars.

 

I have a valve cover on the wall, that has Imperial stamped in it.

 

Make a helmet out of it! You'll look cool.

 

These little lights are great for any job. I bought them for everyone on my Xmas list and have them in the glove box of every vehicle. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BL96CN37?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

These headband lights are great for hands free under dash or any hard to see in space. https://www.amazon.com/Rechargeable-230°Wide-Angle-Flashlight-Lightweight-Adjustable/dp/B097BZLZWD/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=ANuVt&content-id=amzn1.sym.bc5f3394-3b4c-4031-8ac0-18107ac75816&pf_rd_p=bc5f3394-3b4c-4031-8ac0-18107ac75816&pf_rd_r=CGTR4SWB3NESXHM4Q666&pd_rd_wg=lMY3R&pd_rd_r=99a931ce-ceef-4d34-98e9-2dbb20085a30&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_atf_m

 

Now this isn't for precision work .... unless you have a perfectly flat table, perfectly flat hole saw and a perfectly straight jig to run your piece through.
But if you just need something milled for clearance then this is your hack, it's a little trick setting the depth but multiple light passes usually works pretty good.

 

That looks good.... Show us the finished part, please.