Garage tips

[Youngster]

Here's a tip for cleaning your mineral sprits from your parts washer. In the winter here in Minnesota, I drain the spirts into a bucket, add about a quart of water and set it outside. The dirt and other nasty stuff will settle to the bottom in the water. When the water freezes, you can pour off the clean spirts.

In the summer, I have a metal 5 gallon bucket with a valve about 2" up from the bottom. First I put about 1 1/2" water in the bucket and then drain the spirits in on top. I just let it sit overnight and crack the valve to drain off the clean fluid. Don't open the vale too far or you will get water and dirt in the clean fluid.

Anyone else got any tips?

Ron

 

[Youngster]

Here's another one. For those of you looking for an inexpensive nozzle dip for you MIG welder, try a jar of Vaseline. The generic brands are even cheaper.

Anyone else got a tip?

Ron

 

[donsrods]

I can't take credit for this one, I stole it from my Son, and he stole it from someone else but it is the slickest tool I have ever seen.

All of us who play around with old cars know how tough it is to get out rusted fastners, especially the slotted screw variety like Ford used back then to hold everything together (door hinges, inner panels, etc) The traditional way is to try a screw driver or maybe one of those impact drivers you hit with a hammer, but they only give marginal results.

What you need to make this tool is one of those air chisels like HF and others sell for cutting off mufflers and things like that. They come with three tips usually and the one you want to use for this is the punch tip. To the end of it you weld an old socket (I think it is a quarter inch drive either 1/4 or 5/16) that will fit a screw driver tip you can buy at Home Depot. (see picture below)

Then you weld a "handle" off of the side of the punch so you can turn it like a wrench during the process. Now, all you have to do is slip the screwdriver tip into the fastner you want to remove, and start the air chisel while you are pushing down on it. After about 5 seconds of the pounding you can turn the handle counter clockwise and the screw will come out as if my magic. The pounding of the air chisel breaks the screw loose, enabling you to simply turn it out as if it were never stuck.

The day Dan made his he made me come and watch as he removed lots of screws from a '30 Fordor sedan he had just bought. Each time one would come out we were amazed at how quickly it worked. You could also use any of the other tips available that fit the same socket to loosen a wide range of screws.

Here are some pictures of the tool he made and the Tudor coming apart. The Sedan had a bunch of screws in it and came apart in about an hour. He spent a week getting his Fordor apart before he made this tool. Try it, I guarantee you will love it.

Don

 

[donsrods]

Ok, since we are doing garage tips, here is another one.

About three years ago I was working on my '39 Dodge pickup and when I lifted the corner of the cab to shim the body up something unwound in my left arm. Long story short, I had detached the bicep . The next week I had to have surgery to reattach it.

Dan decided I wasn't going to be lifting heavy stuff anymore (old age is a bear) so he made a gantry crane for us to use. Basically, it is just a large, four legged structure about 8 feet high, and it rolls on wheels. We added two 440 lb each electric winches from Harbor Freight that are controlled by remote switches. Now, when we need to lift a frame or body or anything heavy we just hook up the cables and the crane does it all for us.

This thing has proven to be a lifesaver, and lots of nights one of us will be working alone at the shop with no one to help, but with this we can do all kinds of stuff that normally would take 4 guys to do.

Here are some pictures of it. I know it seems like it might be a little job to build one, but it really is pretty simple, and once you have one you will wonder how you ever got along without it. I was married for 28 years, so I know how much the little ladies LOVE to come help lift stuff on and off ! :razz:

Don

 

[EX JUNK]

Don, I truly admire the ingenuity and craftsmanship that you and your boys exhibit. I also would like to thank you for being so kind as to show it off to all of us. It is guys like you that make this thing we call "street rodding" so great a hobby.

 

[donsrods]

Thank you Ex. That is what I love about these forums, lots of very nice people that you will never probably meet in person, but who are all willing to help a fellow rodder out. None of us really invent anything new, we just find stuff somebody else has already done and make it our own.

To be honest, I sometimes am a little reluctant to post as much as I do because I don't want to come across as a post hog. But I know that every forum gets a little slow at times so I figure if I toss out something it might let other guys who do not post much feel they can do the same. When I started joining forums a few years ago I felt intimidated also, but once you jump in the fray it really becomes very comfortable.

I like this forum a lot, all of the people are extremely nice and are a good cross section of rodders.......some new and some who have been around the block a few times. I know I learn something every time I turn on my computer and tune in.

Don