Whats the best "trick" or tech tip a mentor showed you?

Need to polish your shaft? Wrap crocus cloth or emery cloth around the section to be polished with the abrasion side towards the shaft. Wrap a heavy boot lace or something similar around the cloth 2 times with adequate lengths left at the ends. Pull the ends of the lace in a see saw motion and it will spin the cloth around the shaft.The lace will also hold the cloth against the shaft tightly.Picture a native American device that spun a stick to make fire....same idea.

 

Vacuum secondarys on a Holly to see how far it is opening

 

WOW!!!

 

When working under a vehicle on a 4 arm/2post rack, use the posts to organize your bolts. Boilts from the front right go on that arm, left rear.. left rear arm, and so on.. Makes it easier to remember where they go when you put them back if it is a job you've never done before. In the event that someone else has to finish the job for you, it makes it much easier on them as well.

If you can use the air tool equivalent.. Use it. It will be faster, save you time and make you money.

 

I do the bearing weld thing too. To get the new one in easier, stick the inner part in the freezer for a few hours and then spray it with a bit of oil before you put it in. It will slide in easier.

For the pilot bearing, playdoh works even better than grease. It doesn't soak into the clutch surface and its really easy to clean up afterward, and it won't hurt your eyes if you squirt yourself.

 

Valve adjustments are really easy if you use a Gearwrench hollow extension socket set. Just stick the appropriate socket on the lock nut and drop your screwdriver through the center. Then you can loosen and tighten the lock nut while holding the screwdriver in place.

You can usually turn the engine easily if you put the car in high gear and shove it along when you need to get on the next cam lobe base circle.

 

When you break the head off of a small screw or bolt take your mig welder and build up a weld high enough to get vice grips on. This has worked quite a few times taking door screws and hindge bolts out, especially when you strip a phillips head out, the heat even helps loosen it up.

 

Got a screw that won't come out and the tip of the screwdriver keeps slipping? Put a dab of valve lapping compound on the tip of the driver.Your favorite toothpaste also works well and is minty too!

 

Go to a plumbing supply, they carry a putty that does the same thing. I can't remember the name of it .

 

FOr electrolytic rust removal on body panels soak a large sponge in a solution, place the electrode in the sponge, and place the sponge on the rusty roof, trunk, quarter, or whatever

 

"Don't tighten anything UNTIL all the fasteners are started"....

sounds super simple, but you would be suprised how many are frustrated over holes, pins, bolts, etc. NOT lining up cuz something was tightened up before everything was at least started to be assembled.

like a starter cover to a bell housing or a oil or tranny pan, sounds like common sense huh?
like I said, you would be suprised.
Cheatercarl

 

I learned this lesson the hard way. NEVER use an easy out to try to remove a bolt that you already twisted off. Drill it out. What makes you think that a smaller diameter, hardened piece of steel is going to transmit enough torque to break that bolt loose anyway?

Easy outs are good for removing bolts that broke off in shear, not in torque. Easy outs are hell to get out once they've broken off, too.

I've got a bunch of them but this one just jumped out at me.

 

I was shown that one by my dad at 12..works great!
dirt bike engine..didnt want the shavings to get into the engine..worked flawless..

 

A stuck allen head bolt can sometimes be helped to loosen up by placing a punch into the depression in the head of the bolt (where the wrench goes) and giving it a few sharp raps with a hammer. Stuck screws can be lossened in a similar manner by hitting the end of the screwdriver while you push down and turn. Poorman's impact driver. Bolts broken off flush, below the surface can often be backed out with a pick, if they are not seized, or bottomed in the hole.

 

I learn this from my engine machining teacher-parafin wax. I actually taught this to a bunch of older guys!!!! I was proud that day, lol

 

Great thread. Here's one I use:
If you suspect your engine may have an internal coolant leak i.e., bad head gasket, cracked head, block etc....run the engine until hot, pull the dipstick and let the oil drip off onto the exhaust manifold or header. If there's any coolant in the oil it will sizzle/bubble ...if it's pure oil it will just smoke/burn off.

 

When building an engine, never assume that the timing mark or the pointer is exactly in its correct position. When you have your short-block assembled, and without having installed the heads yet, bolt a nice flat plate of steel or aluminum to the deck of the block, using a couple of the head-mount bolt-holes. If you have pop-up pistons that will contact the plate when the crankshaft is rotated, this is all you need. If your pistons do not contact the plate, drill and tap it for a bolt that is closely centered to the bore. Install and adjust the bolt so that the piston contacts it just before reaching TDC. (top-dead-center) It's a good idea to include a lock-nut, to ensure that the bolt holds its position. Now...manually rotate the crank one way until the piston makes contact with your plate or bolt, and mark where the timing pointer is in relation to the damper or flywheel...be accurate. Now rotate the crank in the opposite direction until the piston again contacts your plate or bolt, and again accurately mark where the pointer is in relation to the damper or flywheel. You now have two marks on your damper or flywheel that should be quite close to one and other. Exactly half-way between the two marks is your true TDC, and that is where the timing-mark should be...if not...remark it in the new correct location. - Rick

 

When loosening a bolt on a bolt circle, always pull your tool over the center of the pattern. This will keep you from rotating the piece while removing the bolt. Repeat for tightning.

It's always easier to drill out a broken bolt in an open hole with a smaller bit, then using a larger bit "hook" the bolt and screw it out the bottom of the hole.

Always use a scribe to layout lines. They are more accurate and don't come off with heat or wear.

Use loctite and neverseize where appropriate on fasteners. Loosing hardware or not being able to remove them both suck.

 

If you have a starter that has locked up, and when you put battery power to it to test it, notice which way it tries to turn. Stick the wire brush wheel onto your bench grinder and turn it on. Jam the gear on the starter into the wire brush and it will spin it up until it releases by centrifigal force. You have to have a good hold on the starter, but it works. The wire brush acts like the flywheel to spin the starter up to speed where it will release.

 

I had a 427/425 FE powered 57 Ford Custom 300 in the mid 60s that ate right side axles. I was starting to remove the housing to get the stub out when a guy showed me how to cut a piece of garden hose long enough to reach the broken stub, slide it up in the housing, tack enough welding rods together to reach it, then tack it on the broken axle stub. Shut welder off, pull broken stub out, nothing to it. At one time I had 28 left side axles, junk yard made me buy them in pairs. Peanut butter works for pilot bearings in a pinch like in the pits at the Indy Natls !

 

I still like the masking tape to the bolt or nut trick.To the socket I know its lame but everyone does that.

 

If you are tapping a lot of hole in aluminum plate 3/8 of less or steel 3/16 or less save yourself the trouble and chuck a plug tap into the cordless drill.

On gm 10 bolt (and most others) the cross pin in the carrier is held in place with a hardened bolt with a long end on it (cross bolt).


They tend to break right under the threads and there is no way to remove it easily. I tried snap-on reverse rotation drill bit and magnetic pickup tools. Then some old timer at the parts store says use a two jaw puller with the jaws in the carrier "windows" and the center screw on the crossshaft. Tighten down and even use a 1/2 breaker bar. When its "really tight" smack the end of the center screw on the puller with a ball peen hammer. Instantly shears the cross pin. spent 2 weeks messing with it. Took 5 minutes with the puller.

-Brad

 

The late Steve Seiersen taught me a lot of stuff, but mostly while watching my haste at trying to fix or build things, he always said, "There's never enough time to do it right, but ALWAYS time to do it over!" Man, I think about that all the time. I miss my friend.

 

If you have an allen head that has deformed enough that the wrench just turns out. Many times you can hit the head with the round end of a ball peen hammer. This makes it tight again most times to loosen the bolt after tapping the wrench back in

 

If you have a bolt that broke off flush(like an exhaust bolt on a cyl head), place a washer around the bolt and MIG the bolt to the washer. Then MIG a nut to the washer and turn it out with a wrench.
If you are real good, you can skip the washer part. (I gotta use the washer!)

 

Dear old dad showed me this when I was about 10, Wrap electrical tape around the u-joint caps when you remove them so they don't fall off and all the needle bearings fall out. Along the same line, When using a old worn universal joint with an extension and socket wrap tape around it to tighten it up.

 

Built a couple of dragsters with the late Pete Ogden when we had a shop together before he died. One trick he taught me was how to bow the top rail on a flexi chassis so the floating uprights worked properly. It's little things like this that if their not passed down they are forgotten.

 

Use a deep fat fryer like for your french fries to heat up bearings to put on shafts like ford axles. smells good also hope you are not hungry. when bearings are hot use a chunk of wire to fish it out and grab it with welding gloves or heavy leather and drop it on the shaft. all done have a good night

 

Now I'm going to have to keep a laser pointer in my tool box!

Thanks

 

that's a beauty.