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.

 

Chemicals are expensive and some of them are degraded or get ruined when exposed to freezing temperatures. I decided to install a heater in my chemical storage locker. I also wanted to avoid the possibility of fumes coming into contact with the heating element just in the rare event that the element creates a spark.

I went to Home Cheapot and picked up a thermostatically controlled water pipe heater cable, the kind that you wrap around your exposed water pipes to prevent them from freezing and cracking. Luckily I had a good length of 1-1/4” copper pipe and so I only needed a few fittings to finish the job.

The shortest cable they had was 6’ long so that’s how much pipe I needed. First I drilled a 1-3/8 hole in the side of the cabinet, then I ***embled the pipe. I rubbed a little RTV on the joints and attached the ***embly to the back of the inside of the cabinet. Then I put a hose clamp on the end of the pipe that sticks out the side of the cabinet. I still need to secure the heater to the inside of the pipe, haven’t decided how I want to do that yet.

 

You might look for a thermostatically controlled plug that will turn it off and on it there isn’t one built in.

 

Yes it has that feature built into the cable. I edited my post to clarify that.

 

How warm does the pipe get?

 

Admire your ingenuity............. I have one question though. Its not meant as criticism, but rather a question. The wire normally wraps around a pipe filled with cold water, so as it warms it has the cold water resisting it. With the wire inside the tube and only surrounded by air, is there any possibility that the wire could become too hot ? Again, not criticizing, just something I wondered about.

 

A possible solution to the heat tape overheating potential. As the ***embly is going together, fill the tube with plaster of paris. Make it runny and let it sit for a couple of days before you use it. Plaster of paris can stand the temperature and will enhance the heat transfer to the outside of the tube.

 

Good question! I’ll have to check the package and see what the manufacturer claims.

Thank you! Excellent question, I’m believing the heat will still dissipate into and out of the tube. As it stands, the switch is inside the tube so it will be heated along with everything else and therefore cycle when the target temperature is reached.

That’s a good idea. I thought about filling it with something, just didn’t know if it would be necessary.

I will likely cap the end of the pipe and leave just a vent for venting purposes. As it stands, the switch is inside the pipe so I’m not worried about overheating. Ideally the switch would be inside the atmosphere being heated. I didn’t go that route because this cable is not rated for a flammable environment.

I appreciate the inquiries as this is a new venture that will need some tweaking.

 

ankle saver

ATTACH=full]6580910[/ATTACH]

 

I got tired of always looking for air nozzles and tire inflator in the garage, so I made this out of some **** lying about. I attached it between two of the roll doors and right under a drop down.

Just a piece of angle that I cut to fit, drilled it out and installed quick connectors top and bottom. The male and female connectors screw right into each other. I had to use a couple of spacers to keep from pinching the door opener/electric eye wires.