49tandc
Well-known member
I came across these on a Mopar site I frequent. There is a lot of knowledge on this site that could add to this list. Please add your shop tricks so others can learn - and not the hard way!
Adhesive lead wheel weights (the kind for aluminum wheels) make nice soft inserts for your vise when working on items you don't want jaw-marked.
If you're not allowed to bake metal parts in the oven for better paint adhesion, heat them up with your propane torch. Not only will the paint bond better, but you'll actually burn off impurities.
Using a 20oz. plastic pop bottle with a hole in the top makes for a much-safer carb primer than holding an entire gas can (this was Stretch's but he didn't post it).
No air-hold fitting to replace valve seals or a broken spring? Feed a good bit of soft nylon braided rope into the cylinder through the spark-plug hole at BDC, then rotate the engine until the rope is compressed between the piston and the valves. The valves will stay put. Do your service - then rotate the engine back to the original point, and pull the rope out--make sure you left some hanging out! (Rick Ehrenberg trick)
Broken leaf spring pieces make great slapping spoons and dollies. Fantastic for adjusting door to fender gaps. When welded to a broken air chisel bit and ground to a cutting edge, they are perfect for chiseling thru factory spot welds on floors and frames.
Scratch a bar of soap to fill my fingernails with hard soap so when I'm working in dirty stuff nothing can get under my nails. Then washing is somewhat started.
If you only have a 110 volt welder and want to weld thicker steel use co2 as your shielding gas. Its cheep and it drives the weld deeper into the steel for better penetration. You don’t want to use it if you are welding thin steel like body panels for the same reason. Use 75/25 or flux core wire.
If you are using flux core wire and don’t like all the smoke and fumes, try using a SMALL fan near your work. The breeze will keep the smoke and fumes out of your face allowing you to see what you are doing better and best of all, No headache from the fumes.
Paint roller refills with low nap are great for block sanding where the flat boards won't do - like the curve where the quarter panel meets the roof, or the curves on a mid-seventies Chev 1/2 ton. Just wrap them with your chosen grit sandpaper and have at 'er.
Some bolts with washers welded to the head are great for hanging parts for paint. Stand the washer up on end, weld it to the bolt head, and screw the bolt into the part to be painted.
After welding, cutting or grinding, keep busy for at least an hour before leaving as a "fire watch". One hot chunk of slag on that stack of **** in the corner is all it takes.
If you have ever used a magnet in the shop for anything related to metal work you undoubtedly know how frustrating all those shavings that are stuck to it can be. Simply keep your magnet in a plastic baggy when you use it and when you are storing it. The shavings will stick to it but it is easily cleaned by removing the magnet from the baggy over a trash can.
I like to protect my paint when using a jack. I have a piece of roll bar padding on my jack handle incase I get a little careless and smack the valance panels while lifting my car. Pipe insulation will work for this too but the roll bar padding is denser and I had it lying around. I keep n old foam buffing pad around to set on the jack plate so I don’t scratch any painted surface the jack pad will lift against.
49T&C
Adhesive lead wheel weights (the kind for aluminum wheels) make nice soft inserts for your vise when working on items you don't want jaw-marked.
If you're not allowed to bake metal parts in the oven for better paint adhesion, heat them up with your propane torch. Not only will the paint bond better, but you'll actually burn off impurities.
Using a 20oz. plastic pop bottle with a hole in the top makes for a much-safer carb primer than holding an entire gas can (this was Stretch's but he didn't post it).
No air-hold fitting to replace valve seals or a broken spring? Feed a good bit of soft nylon braided rope into the cylinder through the spark-plug hole at BDC, then rotate the engine until the rope is compressed between the piston and the valves. The valves will stay put. Do your service - then rotate the engine back to the original point, and pull the rope out--make sure you left some hanging out! (Rick Ehrenberg trick)
Broken leaf spring pieces make great slapping spoons and dollies. Fantastic for adjusting door to fender gaps. When welded to a broken air chisel bit and ground to a cutting edge, they are perfect for chiseling thru factory spot welds on floors and frames.
Scratch a bar of soap to fill my fingernails with hard soap so when I'm working in dirty stuff nothing can get under my nails. Then washing is somewhat started.
If you only have a 110 volt welder and want to weld thicker steel use co2 as your shielding gas. Its cheep and it drives the weld deeper into the steel for better penetration. You don’t want to use it if you are welding thin steel like body panels for the same reason. Use 75/25 or flux core wire.
If you are using flux core wire and don’t like all the smoke and fumes, try using a SMALL fan near your work. The breeze will keep the smoke and fumes out of your face allowing you to see what you are doing better and best of all, No headache from the fumes.
Paint roller refills with low nap are great for block sanding where the flat boards won't do - like the curve where the quarter panel meets the roof, or the curves on a mid-seventies Chev 1/2 ton. Just wrap them with your chosen grit sandpaper and have at 'er.
Some bolts with washers welded to the head are great for hanging parts for paint. Stand the washer up on end, weld it to the bolt head, and screw the bolt into the part to be painted.
After welding, cutting or grinding, keep busy for at least an hour before leaving as a "fire watch". One hot chunk of slag on that stack of **** in the corner is all it takes.
If you have ever used a magnet in the shop for anything related to metal work you undoubtedly know how frustrating all those shavings that are stuck to it can be. Simply keep your magnet in a plastic baggy when you use it and when you are storing it. The shavings will stick to it but it is easily cleaned by removing the magnet from the baggy over a trash can.
I like to protect my paint when using a jack. I have a piece of roll bar padding on my jack handle incase I get a little careless and smack the valance panels while lifting my car. Pipe insulation will work for this too but the roll bar padding is denser and I had it lying around. I keep n old foam buffing pad around to set on the jack plate so I don’t scratch any painted surface the jack pad will lift against.
49T&C
I think a dedicated section for shop tips and tricks would be awesome, quick and easy to find
)
The few times I've tried it it hasn't worked...but maybe I'll try on that next one that I can't get real hot.
