Technical Little tips and tricks for garage hobbyists.

Finding which plug is fouled without pulling all of the plugs.
Shine the Thermometer on the header at each cylinder. It will be the coolest one.

 

spritz aa little water on the manifolds the one that dries up last is the winner

 

b-body, how do they disengage the pump when the vehicle is in Park? Although I have never opened up a Chrysler transmission, it has been my understanding that all automatics drive the pump with the converter.

 

I do not know the answer to that, I just know that it is true.

A little google-fu found this
"When in park, the valve body diverts the majority of the converter line pressure back into the pan, but some fluid still flows into the converter."
and
"In "P", atf is flowing everywhere, just not at the same pressures as it might be if the trans was in "N". Which is why, on a fully-cold transmission, in the colder times of the year, it's best to start the car that first time in "N", so that when you put it in "R" of "D", it moves as it should. Rather than being initially lazy if it was started in "P"."
(https://www.forcbodiesonly.com/mopar-forum/threads/start-up-in-park-or-neutral.71145/)

If that's correct, I was incorrect to say the pump doesn't do anything in Park, it is just byp***ed and dumps most of the fluid back in the pan instead of through the transmission circuits.

 

The gun type temp gauges usually have a laser pointer which is real handy for testing your house A/C vents to see which ones are working, etc, without getting the ladder out. I was introduced to these many years ago, when testing the exhaust temp. on buses I was working on, just aim the dot at the hole in the stack, and away you go. They also cost many hundreds of dollars then, I bought one a while back for about $20. I use it now when checking cooling systems, you zap the inlet & outlet fittings on the radiator, and you can work out how well your system is working.

 

Not mine but something to make

 

Since a few have mentioned gantry cranes I thought I would show how I lifted my Comet body on and off my rotisserie. I rigged some steel lifting braces to the body using the strongest points on the car, then raised my four post lift to it’s upper limit, rolled the car under the lift, lowered the lift until is just cleared the roof, then used chains to connect the car to the lift and raised the car. I then ***embled the rotisserie around the car, I was able to do this without the help of another person. Worked perfectly.

these pictures were taken after the body came back from chemical striping, after the fabrication was finished the body was e coated.

 

I use mine sometimes to see if my latest venture has made my wife "hot under the collar".......... or to check how hot that metal was that I just burnt myself picking it up. Its really handy.

Seriously though, they are really handy for troubleshooting an engine or cooling system.