Technical Little tips and tricks for garage hobbyists.

So that's where my ratchet went, the bottom one. Somehow after years of having it I misplaced it. Hardly ever used it but when it was needed it worked like a charm

 

Removing a stubborn U Joint from a driveshaft.
Had a nice carbon fiber driveshaft with aluminum ends that turned out to be a good fit for a project I was doing. I did need to replace the U joints before installing just to be safe. Well, the caps would not come off on one end. Tried driving them back and forth a few times, but the steel cross was hitting the aluminum casting on the inside of the shaft end. Didn't want to ruin this nice driveshaft with one of my usual overzealous attempts at removal. Afraid if I continued beating on it I might break the aluminum end of the shaft.

What to do ?

Everyone has done something like this before, but I had never done it to remove a stubborn U joint cap. Anyway, it was simple to weld a long nut onto the cap and then use a socket and a bolt to make a puller. Came out so easy it was a non-event.

 

Tools are always a good purchase! These ratcheting adaptors saved the day a couple of times.


QUOTE="blowby, post: 14502078, member: 207294"]From the 'Ratchets I thought were neat but have never used' dept..

 

that wont work for me-got neighbors with kids across the alley , don't want to get arrested as a perv.

 

I have one of those sidewinder ratchets. Gets used about once every five years. Kinda goofy, but it does make a few things easier than not having it.

The top one is intriguing. I’d buy one if I saw it.

 

To bleed a hydraulic clutch, I unfold the slave cylinder from its mount, take off the rubber boot and push rod. I then hold the cylinder in a vertical position with the hose/ bleeder valve at the top. Using a blunt screwdriver, I push the piston up a few times which pushes the trapped air into the master cylinder. No need to crack open the bleeder.

 

I meant unbolt the slave cylinder - stupid spell check.

 

Need some light inside the car or under the hood? I've been using a clip on light with a 150w floodlight bulb in it but I really don't want the heat it generates this time of year. So a visit to the store- one of these.


Package of four of these-







Stick the magnets to the roof, hang the light, use an extra hook to hold the wire up. this is the result--



Definitely can see what I'm welding, I might have to turn the sensitivity down on my helmet. If the car had a headliner in it wouldn't be too hard to run a piece of conduit, or wood, or whatever across and secure with a strap over the roof and hang the light from that.

 

Had to cut some metal roofing for my carport the other day. Heard about using a wood cutting, carbide tip circular saw blade turned around backwards. Worked great, cut through 36' of corrugated roofing like butter, even cut through a Simpson joist hanger afterward. Don't see why it wouldn't work on car sheet metal.

 

Don't quote me on it but my understanding is roofing metal is a strange animal. It's a type of high tensile steel. A roofer doing a job on my shed showed me how he would cut into it with snips and then physically tear the rest by hand. Impressed me.

 

Anyone got any ideas on how to reduce noise from disc and die grinding? Because of my other OT project, I no longer have use of my garage, and am presently working outside in my driveway. My one neighbour politely told me after cutting down some trees between our properties earlier this year that my “work” is bothering them from enjoying using their deck where they like to dine etc. We are out in the country and there is likely a good 80’ from where I’m working and their place in which there is an area full of mature trees.

 

It doesn't matter what you do, it's the one noise that will always upset people. I had similar issues when I lived in a close residential area. I tried to limit the amount of that type of work I did to non mealtime. Not always possible but if it gets mentioned again you can say you tried.
I had one neigbour that complained about my noise but they subdivided their block, built another dwelling and turned it into a Airbnb so we had to put up with all night parties and super loud music.

 

You could try a simple sound barrier, like a couple sheets of plywood directly behind you. And as spanners said, have them check it out and know that at least you're trying.

 

Hang some of those cheap harbor freight moving blanket on a pvc pipe frame; maybe angle back over the top a bit to reflect the noise back down. Keep some water around as sparks can set them smouldering. We found that regular welding curtains helped contain air-arc noise.

 

Good idea. I was thinking of just maybe a welding curtain. Haha! I might be able to partially enclose the area in front of my garage as I have two columns and ornamental wooden beams spaced on top of a massive beam spanning the two columns.

 

If you're trying to start a short bolt with a socket and it keeps going up inside the socket instead of starting a thread then just toss a nut inside the socket before putting the bolt in there.

 

Make more noise! Loud sports, parties at all hours, video war games, or a shooting range. I know you want to be a good neighbor and I resect you for that.

 

There are some people who are hyper- sensitive to noise, and they think the world should adjust to them. My sister is one of them, she can hear her neighbors radio from 500 feet in his workshop, and no one else can even hear it, yet she feels she has the right to go over and tell him to turn it down/to wear headphones so she cannot hear it. She actually expected my niece to have the band play without amps at her wedding.

 

Shot a porcupine with my 410 last year. My other neighbour’s neighbour found out and was not pleased even though we all have dogs (my neighbour wanted me to kill it). Living on a lake, sound does carry/echo quite a bit so it even shocked me how loud it was. Her dog now has had encounters with them 3 times already this year...

 

Best thing is to nod your head and mutter yes,ummm,uh huh, and maybe say that you are sorry the noise annoys them but its a temporary thing..........then go ahead and do what you need to do. As long as you are not breaking any laws, your abilty to enjoy doing what pleases you is just as important as their abilty to enjoy dining out. If it was an everyday allday , or late at night thing it would be different....but you don't have to walk on tippeetoes to make them happy. After a while they will figure out that they are wasting their breath.
I'm not saying that sometimes people shouldn't be considerate rather than "me first", but it seems that your neighbors are vocal about what "they" think "you" should do.
The more you acquiesce, the more they will suggest........When they realize you aren't going to argue but also aren't going to change, then they are less likely to offer continual suggestions.

 

Well said! I was wanting to say something like that, but you did a better job than me! I figured Ziggster wasn’t out there 24/7 either. Maybe time your grinding at other times than dinner. Look to see if they are on the deck and do something else until they go in….or grind away if they stay all day!






Bones

 

Blowby, I am like you! I’ve got a “ ton” of tools that I bought for “ just in case”! Bend wrenches, pocket ratchets,etc. And I have made many of my own.
In my box I have one drawer for those “ special” things! And, I will keep them even if I never use one! They don’t eat anything!






Bones

 

I won’t hijack the thread any longer, but just noticed the 15”x3.5”x25’ beam has dropped about 3”where it exits the column closest to the house. Good thing I had a look while thinking about closing it in. Could have killed me while working under it. Shored it up for now. Damn.

 

For years I had one like the bottom ratchet. Now it's somewhere in time. I have no idea where it went. I seldom used it in fact the last time I remember using it was on a car my wife got rid of over 20 yrs ago

 

Ever need a big hex bit look at all thread tie nuts https://www.bing.com/images/search?...ndex=0&idpp=overlayview&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0

 

Making up radiator hoses for the 41 I ended up using a couple rubber shorts and used some stainless pool ladder in the middle (1.75"), I needed something for the hose clamp to bite onto so the pipe didn't slip out.
I decided to make a die for my cheapy used manual bead roller I had for months but never used, hell I never used any bead roller before.
Found a couple washers that would fit inside the pipe and a large nut out of that can of used nuts/bolts nobody throws away. Ground the washers with a bevel and drilled out the center of the nut to size, plus drilled/tapped the sides for set screws, disobeyed my cardiologist's orders and welded them together quickly.



Ran a test pass on a piece of exhaust tubing, looks good to me



Moved on to the stainless pool ladder piece, which is much harder, so I added some plumber's torch heat and there you have it, worked out great.

 

I had some well-weathered rubber axle pads on my '29 AA. Instead of replacing them for $$$ I painted/coated them several times with Plasti-Dip thinned with Xylene. It filled in all the cracks, cuts and grazing enough that cosmetically it's fine now. The stout cantilever springs on the AAs flex so little that it will take a load of gold bullion to squat the frame down onto the axle housing enough for the pads to come into play anyway.

 

Sounds like a trick Burt Monroe might have used.