trying to put a nut on in a place too tight to get two fingers in to start it,slide the nut up the shaft of a torx bit driver(or similar small shaft tool) hold it with your finger,put the point of the driver on the bolt or stud and let
the nut slide down,flick it with one finger to start it.

 

Some cool tricks. I'll add one.


1 qt Auto Trans Fluid + 1 qt Acetone = 2qts penetrating oil that works even better than PB Blaster or Liquid Wrench.

If it's not to terribly dirty or burnt, even used ATF works just as good as New for this mixture so your only actual cost is the Acetone.

 

crazy glue and a peice of cloth makes a quick patch,spread crazy glue over area apply a peice of cloth and soak with more glue.

 

found this one on youtube,Aluminum Foil Cleans Rust http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UPO8...feature=fvwrel

 

Used fabric softening sheets are great for cleaning bugs off the front of your car. I keep mine in an old baby wipe container above the dryer. Instead of throwing them away, put them in the container.

Use an old bottle opener to take stainless trim off drip rails. Wrap the rounded bottle end of the opener in masking tape and then pry off the trim gently all the way. No bends, and easy to remove.

Oil pans - use Aviation Form-a-Gasket and coat rail, both sides of gasket, and pan. Silicone the rubber ends. Never a leak.

Oil Dipstick tube - take it out and toss it. When rebuilding engine tap hole out to 1/4" NPT and use a Lokar screw in dipstick tube. Especially nice when using headers that prevent dipstick from being installed until after the headers are on.

At the drag strip, use Pledge on the rear quarters behind the wheels to keep the rubber from sticking. Don't spray the tires, but spray the quarters and underneath where the lip is. When you're done racing take a detail cloth and wipe it off...all the rubber goes with it. (Or you could be like the late model dorks and put blue painter's tape all over the back of your car)

When in doubt, zip tie...if duct tape is good then a zip tie is better. Keep it in your mental toolbox and when you get stumped, start thinking about ways to use a zip tie and I guarantee you will temporarily fix your problem. - My wife says zip ties are to me what duct tape is to the Mythbusters.

 

A cheap paint stripper, easy off oven . Check out the web site. cleaner.http://www.328studios.com/blogstuff/paint/easyoff.htm

 

Jeez, for a second my eyes were reading too fast and you had me hooked with ' a cheap stripper....'

Easy off also works well to clean the inner liners, air dam, and the rubber parts attached to those units. Just have to rinse really well and wear gloves. That stuff is slimey and corrosive.

 

Thanks for the tip.BTW all strippers are cheap till you get home to your wife and she finds out where you have been

 

Really! I'll take your word for that....

 

this thread is fantastic!
removing stains from concrete driveway... Muriatic acid (pool supplies) poor a little bit down, use a stiff broom let it sit for a short period of time and rinse with water.

 

That stuff will remove rust as well and fast I have been reading.They also say to be very careful when using cause it, is very caustic and bad vapors

 

Hmmm is that what they use when they find an 'oh henry' in the pool?

Muriatic acid is watered down hydrochloric acid. I used to work for a brick layer when I was younger. We used this stuff to clean bricks and blocks that the 'mud' had been slopped onto and then removed with a trowel. Yup, rake the joints and wash with muriatic. If you missed a spot the boss was not a happy man. Old German guy who took pride in his work. We never used gloves though and it never caused problems.

 

Well I'll be

 

Easy way to get the balancer bolt is to get a 1 1/8" socket, 1/2" drive extension and a breaker bar. Rest the bar on the frame or ground, disconnect the coil wire, and bump the starter. It'll break the bolt loose and then you can remove it with a regular ratchet.

 

Wait !?!?! I thought that's how you jacked the car up to put it on jackstands in the front.

 

That works too lol! I have to do this on Diesel trucks...you will be hard pressed to get one off by hand.

 

Steve, will that work even on a 40 year old car that's never had the balancer off?

 

Heck yeah! That's the best time to do it. Just make sure the socket is ALL the way on the bolt, then turn the engine by hand to get the breaker bar all the way against whatever surface you're going to use to brace it, then bump the starter. The wrench may fall off but it'll break the bolt loose. Don't forget to unplug the coil...you don't want to start the engine with that on there, unless you want new fenders lol!

 

Here's an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_-FsVvNr40

 

I'd say that's lkely when you're gonna need to do it this way.

 

I saw this at the yard this week.The owner of the yard said I see that all the time.
railguy


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Sometimes there's a difference in a "Cheap Trick" and Stupidity.

 

"A pair of panty hose makes a decent substitute for a broken V belt."

The reverse, not so much

50/50 acetone and ATF for penetrating lube- though I must say candle wax & HEAT work better.

Evaporust or similar brand chemical treatment for removing rust w/o damaging the surrounding material- it even removed a rusted in place steel check valve ball from a rare carb I have.

Grease everything before assembly. Except the hot fasteners, like exhaust bolts, which get Anti-Sieze.

Blue house insulation foam board is superb for a ground cover to kneel or lie on and keep warm.

AL foil also works great for a drip shield to keep draining oil off your 4wd front shaft, etc. Instant funnel, light duty.


What DOES NOT WORK:
Headlight lens polish kit- yeah, for *a month* it looks better.

 

On late models with aluminum wheels, oven cleaner makes 'em look like new again. After the daughter had put about 20k on her car and the rims just wouldn't come clean from the brake dust/road grime I was left scratching my head. Tried Easy Off and they looked beautiful. Not a lot of elbow grease either.

 

SIAP posted...

following up on the wheel care comment...Pam your wheels and the brake dust won't build up as fast.

Also, when putting a nut on in a tight spot I fill up the nut with grease and "stick it" to the tip of my finger. This normally holds long enough to get it started.

And AAAA steel wool still makes old chrome shine.

 

Carburetor parts cleaner has a second use as a paint stripper for small odd-shaped parts and bolts.
Degrease and strip in one easy step. Takes between several hours to overnight, depending on the paint used. It even takes off cured POR15 and other tough coatings.
Here are some pics from an old 1929 Emerson fan that I am restoring. The tough "black japan" paint came off easily with carb cleaner.


Back motor housing, before, as I was removing the stator. Since it has the bearing rod and machined surfaces, I could not sandblast it.


I simply soaked it overnight and the paint all blistered up...


Wiped the majority of paint off with a paper towel...


A wash with simple green got all the rest of the fragments.
I wiped the washed parts with naptha and they were ready for paint!

Never touched a wire brush or sandpaper.

So if you got it, use it!

 

When trying to feed a bolt through a hard to reach hole, wrap the threads several times with a length of wire then feed the other end of the wire through the hole and pull the bolt through the hole with the wire.

 

Rob,

Can you explain how this works? I've been meaning to ask.

Also, I thought I'd throw a couple in. If you have to remove an unfamiliar fastener that you can't easily see, press play-doh/your clean thumb against it for a few seconds. It will leave an impression that will help you figure out what tool you need.

Also, play-doh is great way to figure out how tall of an air filter/carb spacer you can use. Put it on the air cleaner stud, close the hood, then open the hood, and then see how much it crushed down. That helped me determine that I could run a 14"x4" filter.

 

Feeding hard to acces bolts cam also be done using dental floss instead of wire. (same method, wrap around threads and pull it through. We have to do this fairly often on aircraft repairs in hard to reach places....

 

bicycle tube can be tied to make a clamp on odd sized items , awesome thread

 

Right here, my friend!
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...tml#post291066

 

Nice! Thanks Rob!

 

oooh, when your trying to remove your emergency brake cable from the rear backing plate, take a small hose clamp and tighten it down over the retaining fingers, pull through the backing plate until clamp hits, undo clamp, pull cable completely through backing plate!

Also I know its been mentioned previously, but I literally just removed the lower control arm bushings from my control arms here at work, I used a very long 3/8"s bolt, ran that through a socket, then through the bushing, with a thick washer from the bolts that retain the steering box, and a nut, ran the air gun, popped the bushing right out.

 

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Made this brake drum puller from a piece of box iron and some bolts.The heads of
the two outside bolts hook on the lip of the drum with the help of the clamp then tighten the center bolt against the axle tap with a hammer while tightening until it pops off. It worked really well on some drums that just wouldn't come off.

 

Before there was low tack masking tape bodyman would run the masking tape over there pant leg to make low tack masking tape.

 

spray pam on front bumper to prevent bugs from sticking.

 

I can attest pam keeps the really wet slushy snow moving thru my snowblower.

 

On a related note, I stick registration stickers to my noggin a few times to let the skin oil turn the permanent adhesive into more of that of a post-it note for easy peel-off removal!

 

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a man who uses his head.

- Eric

 

Don't ask me how I know this but if you leave it on for long it makes a mess.