Technical Little tips and tricks for garage hobbyists.

I drive by out “ tag office” most every day! So…I keep my current paper work in my;vehicle and when I drive by and see no cars out front, I wheel in! Most of the time you have 30 days to get something done! In that 30 days I have always found an open day! I avoid the first and last of the month! That’s a factor in Oklahoma, not sure of other states!





Bones

 

Ever make your fingers hurt tightening or loosening the butterfly nuts on a roadster windshield? Grab a pair of channel locks and cry no more...

 

Years ago I plugged an old steam cleaner into one of those reel type drop lights to get a few feet more distance. Let all the smoke out!

 

Maybe that is why the water from the black hose on my hose reel is so hot?

 

Around here, worst time to go to DMV is several days before the end of the month and a few days after. Best time is middle of the month shortly before 4:30 in the afternoon. They get off work at 5, but lock the front door at 4:30 so they can finish up everyone that is waiting before they go. Maximum wait, a 1/2 hour.

 

Not the same type of cord. That cord reel has a ground, and the insulation is designed to be coiled, unlike the 2-wire cord on the chargers.

 

Here you have to make an appointment!

 

Pretty much the same here in Missouri. Early and late in the month is really problematic. I bet it's the same in every state.

 

Same here in Nevada. To make an appointment you must open an account. Every time you open it they send a code by text or eMail. The code is good for 30 minutes and for some reason it takes a few hours for mine to arrive.They have expired before I get them. I just went through a month of trying to make an appointment to renew my license. I finally gave up and went in the day before I thought I might have made an appointment I could not confirm. The lady at the information desk said I had one that day in 15 minutes. Got my renewal and a few days later a letter from the County clerk saying my voter registration had changed parties based on information from the DMV. WTF?

 

well.kind of making some of us feel slightly better about our state offices--not much though!

 

Okay, I was told last night that the system has changed a bit here now. Seems that they still do walk ins, but you can make an appointment. If you don't show up on time, you lose your place and the clerk does walk ins until time for the next appointment. So, if you're late you make another appointment or wait with the rest of the walk ins.
Also, they've had webcams on the waiting room for years, so you can see how many are waiting at any time.
That doesn't seem so bad to me.

 

You have to realize that many of our bureaucratic positions are filled with people that could not get jobs in California. But I will say that all 3 people I talked to that day were very nice.

 

I rent a little one car storage unit were I store my 1954 Chevy ,Its not much but it gets her out of the WX and I can do some work there as well, I had a engine stand kicking around that I tried to sell on Facebook market and got no bites .I did not need it and I am not planing to build any engines so it was just in the way, I also had a bench vise I was constantly kicking around,One day I was doing some project and was wishing I had a work bench for the garage,Something portable, I got some scrap lumber at Home depot and I killed 3 birds with one stone,and built a bench ,Found a use for the engine stand ,A place for the vise, and got a small work bench that can be broken down or rolled out of the way. I am no carpenter but is pretty sturdy for what i use it for

 

Very clever Frank!

 

I like!

Ben

 

And you still have an engine stand if you need one.

 

Handy Tape Dispenser............ Saw this on the internet a few days ago and thought it was a good idea.



I Seem to never have something handy to cut the electrical tape with, BUT with one of these the tape will have the cutter right there. So I went on "Amazin" (Amazon) and looked for one. Ended up buying a couple different ones. They have some that also are sized for masking tape............and again I never seem to have a cutter handy. So I now have another solution to another common problem.
"Thanks" to whoever came up with this idea...........


Update: My tape dispenser arrived. It appears that I will need to make a spacer for the tape to fit properly. The hole in the tape roll is larger than the small roller in the dispenser. Just wanted everyone to know that before ordering. Its about a 1" diameter roller. The larger tape dispensers that arrived however have a larger roller to handle masking tape. They sell a 2 pack of them and they are heavier. Might be better buying that as a pair.

Look for Lichamp 2 pack $26 on Amazin

 

I did...............but they tried and failed several times. Lots of good memories watching liars expressions when they got exposed. The secret to success was to always tell the truth and have documentation to back it up, and wait until they lied before you produce it.

 

Man, I have one of those on my desk at work for Scotch tape and that thought never occurred to me. Genius....maybe there's not one on my desk at work

 

Yep! Me , too! I seen them all over and never thoght anything about them….now I’m thinking about gluing it to a piece of steel to make it heaveier!



Bones

 

Or glue some rare earth magnets on it to stick to anything steel.

 

Totally stealing this one. One for the shiny black tape, one for the friction tape. Genius!

 

Probably a lot of you guys know this one. I use 0000 steel wool and some Flitz polish to clean and restore chrome glass and aluminum. It works amazing.

 

Another good idea..........people can buy packs of small magnets (appx 1/2 x 1 or larger) on Amazin pretty cheaply. I use them in the shop to hold charts and stuff on cabinets, wifey uses them on the refrigerator for Dr appt reminders.

 

Now, if only there was a size that worked with Duct Tape............

 

Man I have some vintage heavy metal tape dispensers out in a box in the garage. That's a great idea !

 

Maybe one of those strapping tape guns?

 

Never load or unload a car trailer up or down hill. Last night a friend needed someone to help their son who had lost a caliper mount bolt on a OT vehicle. I went to recover the vehicle while dad went to get new bolts and drive this way. Parked the dually up the driveway from the shop and we installed the new bolt still on the trailer. Checked the other bolts and went to drive it off. When he reached the ramps the truck started sliding backwards down the hill. I ran up, grabbed the door and dove in. As it was gaining speed I hit the brakes and fired it up. With me on the brakes it slid almost 30 feet. When the car hit the ramps the trailer CG shifted taking the weight off the rear tires. I didn’t expect that. No damage was done other than ruts in the gravel from tires and ramps.

 

I never thought of that, however I usually chock the trailer wheel when loading and unloading.
Dan

 

I had both the trailer and truck chocked with 4x4s. My driveway is apparently a little too steep. The trailer chock slid with the trailer.