I save gallon milk jugs for various uses. Naturally to store old fluids, but they work great as packing material when you're shipping something bulky, just keep the cap on tight. I also cut the bottom off, turn the jug over and use it for a funnel. Other containers work equally well if you don't need a BIG funnel. Best part is the you don't have to clean it, it's so cheap just pitch it when you're done (especially good for old oil that you need to pour out of your concrete mixing pan )...
Along the gallon jug thread...I take antifreeze jugs, lay them on their side and cut a big window in the top side. They become containment trays for fastners in the parts washer. I also use them to hold small parts when I'm dis***embling something.
check for ice cube trays at the next garage sale. often they have 16 cubes, which makes 'em dandy for holding lifters in sequence- much better than the standard one and a half egg crates. otherwise they're great for fasteners and small parts and they stack nicely as well.
Always tight the tip of the mig welder with just your fingers.It will make the wire come loose easyer,if you have a little "melt-down" in the tip..And remember to adjust the wire-feed wheel,so you can easy stop the wire by holding it between two fingers.. You save a lot of trouble that way. Never use your Zippo to check for oil,or to lighten up in the distributor hole,on a engine that wont start.. :$
For an axle thats hard to get out, take a piece of chain about 6ft in length and bolt it to one of the studs with a lugnut and give it a snap,the axle usually hops right out.
If working with Super Glue or epoxies keep some acetone handy. It will dissolve the mess on your hands before it cures. When working with acids always have a bucket of cold water/baking soda solution handy as well as soft towels. Just in case you arent dressed properly for safety.
Another Quick paint tip that works in thousands of situations....Use any type of Saran wrap or self-clinging plastic wrap to mask off large areas...it adheres to all sorts of various shapes without the adhesive from tapes,friskets,"low-tack" films,etc...No need for newspaper....pull tight,secure tension with masking/painters tape, spray.....pull everything off in one move....
Some auto paint stores, even in CA still stock lacquer but they can't legally sell it to you to paint a car, but they can sell it to you if you tell them you are going to paint your refrigerator or kitchen cabinets or jet ski....
Everyone has one (or more) coffee cans of ***orted nut/bolts/washers etc. I make a liner for them by cutting up an old bed sheet. That way, if I need to find something I can pull out all the contents easily and spread them out to find what I'm looking for. When I'm done, I can pick up the corners of the sheet and put it back in the can.
This may be an obvious one but when I'm doing a large project, I bag up all the little parts into different sizes ziplock baggies and then I write what they are on the baggy with a sharpie permanent marker.
Need to "tap" threads in thin material? Use a piece of thick material (I use a s**** of 1" aluminum) DRILLED for the bolt size that you need to tap in the thin stuff. The "guide" helps keep the tap at right angles when you clamp/hold it above the hole that needs to be tapped. My "guide" has about 6 holes in it for various sizes.
[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] a small, cheap touchup gun from Harbor Freight or similar is a handy tool for degreasing. fill it with lacquer thinner and use it instead of brake or carb cleaner. a big plus is that you can adjust the pressure and amount of cleaner, a feature no can of carb cleaner can claim. [/ QUOTE ] Spraying flammable liquids through a paint gun is not a good idea. Atomizing the thinner makes it more volatile. Thats why your carburetor does it. [/ QUOTE ] what is carb cleaner, brake cleaner, and paint, if not a flammable liquid? hmmm? that's why it works.... [/ QUOTE ] The difference is the the spray cans are charged with a non flammable g*** and it pushes the liqued through the nozzle the spray gun draws the liqued through the gun with air thus atomizing it. basic physics. It's true the fumes of both are flamable but the flash poiny of the spray gun is much higher( it tekes less to set it off) and the bang much bigger. if you want to use thiners put them in a polyethylene pump bottle. A 409 bottle works.
.keep those old 4-1/2"grinder wheels that are now two inches or less in size-you can get in the corners of a chopped rear gl*** opening with them and also you can finish enlarging the dash/guage holes after your hole saw makes them too tight to install guage. [/ QUOTE ]You can also gang them together to make a grinding face that gets into small spots.they may be uneven to start but they wear flat quickly.
The Jalopy Journal
