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Steve
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« on: January 20, 2010, 08:45:45 PM » |
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Post your shop tips here.
A sewing seam ripper is the perfect tool to open a wiring harness.
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Logged
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Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the time.
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines.
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Steve
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« Reply #1 on: January 21, 2010, 04:03:31 PM » |
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Are you going to the U-Pull-It auto wrecking yard? Go to the CSK Auto Parts website and look up your part. There is a button labeled "see all vehicles this product fits". If you click that button, you can get a list of other vehicles that may have the part you are looking for. You will have a much larger selection of vehicles to search for and find your part. http://www.cskauto.com/ |
Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the time.
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines.
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J.A.F.E.
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« Reply #2 on: January 21, 2010, 08:29:17 PM » |
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While you're at the P&P snag all the related fasteners, clips, brackets and little misc piece parts.
Also, if you garb the connectors for various sensors like the connectors to the temp sender and ABS sensors they make a handy test adapter for you DMM or tester to connect to. Cut the wires with about three or four inches and strip back the insulation. Makes testing these items much, much easier.
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Logged
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Tools don't make the man, man makes the tools
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Steve
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« Reply #3 on: January 22, 2010, 04:59:35 PM » |
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A label maker is a great tool to have around the shop. One use that comes to mind; they make really nice oil change reminder stickers.
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Logged
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Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the time.
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines.
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Steve
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« Reply #4 on: January 22, 2010, 05:03:01 PM » |
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While you're at the P&P snag all the related fasteners, clips, brackets and little misc piece parts.
Also, if you garb the connectors for various sensors like the connectors to the temp sender and ABS sensors they make a handy test adapter for you DMM or tester to connect to. Cut the wires with about three or four inches and strip back the insulation. Makes testing these items much, much easier.
Good tip. I like to spend a little extra time and get an assortment of bolts and trim screws. It's much better to replace your missing or damaged hardware with factory original. It's also great to use matching hardware for your custom installation projects. |
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Logged
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Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the time.
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines.
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J.A.F.E.
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« Reply #5 on: January 22, 2010, 08:32:47 PM » |
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It tends to be very inexpensive also. Some of the clips and retainers if they are even available can cost fro $5 up. Generally they are free at the P&P.
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Tools don't make the man, man makes the tools
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Steve
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« Reply #6 on: January 23, 2010, 08:05:38 AM » |
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Are you building a wiring harness? It's not easy to get wire with a trace color. You can make your own by pulling the wire through your hand while holding a Sharpie permanent marker on the side. You can also get metallic colors that work well on darker colored wire.
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Logged
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Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the time.
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines.
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Steve
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« Reply #7 on: January 23, 2010, 05:54:07 PM » |
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I was working on an airport project with a construction crew this past summer. I noticed they were saving partial cans of Great Stuff foam. I've always thrown out partial cans, thinking they were ruined. The construction guys told me that only the nozzle was ruined. They usually use several cans at a time, but they only use one nozzle, moving it from can to can. This allows them to build up a stash of new nozzles.
I noticed that the Great Stuff foam is a polyurethane. I've heard of people using spray cans of brake cleaner to clean polyurethane paint from paint guns. The Wal-Mart Super Tech brake cleaner is inexpensive and is a strong solvent. It will clean the foam residue out of the nozzle from a can of Great Stuff and make it like new.
I only needed a couple shots out of the foam. Here is the nozzle, good as new, ready for next time.
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Logged
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Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the time.
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines.
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Steve
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« Reply #8 on: January 24, 2010, 09:12:29 PM » |
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When using a breaker bar in a tight space, you can get a new handle position by removing the socket from the square drive, rotating it 90 degrees, and putting it back on the drive. Note the corner marked with an arrow in the picture. When the socket is removed from the breaker bar, rotated 90 degrees to the right, and placed back on the bar, the corner has moved to the new position noted by the arrow. This action will move the handle relative to the fastener to give more room to clear an obstruction.
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Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the time.
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines.
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Steve
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« Reply #9 on: January 26, 2010, 07:38:22 PM » |
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The Super Tech brake cleaner that is sold at Wal-Mart has straw storage built into the cap. These caps fit many other spray cans. Save them and you will have nice straw storage for everything.
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Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the time.
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines.
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J.A.F.E.
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« Reply #10 on: January 26, 2010, 09:48:24 PM » |
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When cleaning small parts I use an Altoids tin with holes poked in it. Load in the parts and they can soak in cleaner without fear of getting lost or separated.  When punching the holes in the perimeter from inside out it expands the size slightly so the lid makes a nice tight fit. |
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Tools don't make the man, man makes the tools
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Steve
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« Reply #11 on: January 28, 2010, 08:59:42 PM » |
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Do you need a really long extension? You can stack a couple of shorter extensions to get the reach that you need. The problem with stacking extensions is they often snag on obstructions and come apart. A quick wrap of electrical tape will correct that problem.
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Logged
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Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the time.
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines.
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J.A.F.E.
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« Reply #12 on: January 28, 2010, 09:56:35 PM » |
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With the Altoids tins if I want to keep parts separated I just punch numbers in the lids. That way I can keep multiple batches soaking.  |
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Tools don't make the man, man makes the tools
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senlow
Newbie
Posts: 17
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« Reply #13 on: January 29, 2010, 06:18:53 PM » |
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Steve, the seam ripper tip is brilliant. I never thought of using a seam ripper to open a wiring harness.
+2 for the label maker. I have used mine to label the drawer modules and AkroBins that I use for hardware storage.
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Wanted: Allen or Unbrako Forged T-handle Hex Keys. Contico Tuff Box toolbox.
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Steve
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« Reply #14 on: January 30, 2010, 06:10:17 PM » |
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This shop tip is a little different from my usual type. It is more home improvement oriented.
A carbide scoring tool works great for cutting cement board. Just score deep along your cut line and snap it by bending, just as you would cut drywall.
If you need to trim close to an edge, it is difficult to snap off. Score your cut line like normal. Then get out your sheet metal tools. Use your hand seamer to snap the board along your cut line.
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Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the time.
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines.
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