the shop tips thread

[firebird77clone]

Large Packing crates are a great source of light, thin, quality plywood for small projects

[johnboy]

Thick polystyrene foam from those same packing cases is useful for putting under those same plywood pieces when cutting intricate shapes with a sabre-saw / jig-saw.
No fears of hitting the edge of the bench with the blade.

[jerry clayton]

I use sheet strofoam of different thickness and waxws freezer paper to backup fiberglass when making some stuff------Also have saved a lot of sponge rubber packing from supercharger shipping boxes that is smooth on one side and egg carton humps/valleys other side for laying over trans (and other objects) with freezer paper to form panels that are pretty much 2 in clearance except for the occasional bump or projecting shape------

[jerry clayton]

I use plumbing plugs too plug header tubes for purging when building SS headers

[stovens]

I keep an old pallet around for a place to put engines or transmission on when they are out of the truck. Keeps the engine off the concrete, and dry when the cement floor gets wet.They are also a pretty good source for hard wood for wood working projects. I once made a antique style wood ice box out of old pallet hardwood. It took forever removing the nails without breaking the wood. I wish you could find nails like that for construction. They'd never come out!

[johnboy]

I wish you could find nails like that for construction. They'd never come out!

You can.
They're the type driven in with a nail gun, and have a thin layer of glue over them to hold them together in a 'belt' or 'strip'.
When the individual nail is driven in the friction created melts the glue, which then re-sets.
So they're actually glued in.

[34_40]

aka "Rosin Coated".

[stovens]

You can.
They're the type driven in with a nail gun, and have a thin layer of glue over them to hold them together in a 'belt' or 'strip'.
When the individual nail is driven in the friction created melts the glue, which then re-sets.
So they're actually glued in.

Also spiraled shanked which makes it even harder to pull out!

[40FordDeluxe]

Here's one I've been using for a long time, but haven't had to use for a long time. If you find your self needing to use an impact on a cheap o socket for some reason...... Wrap electric tape around the socket from top to bottom on the sides of the socket. That way if the socket cracks or shatters, the shards and mess is contained instead of getting you torn up. I used to have to do this a lot on odd heavy duty stuff.

[stovens]

Here's a great one a fellow ford owner shared. Have some rusty bolts and nuts that strip when you try to loosen them, even after soaking in penetrating oil, Take a pneumatic socket wrench and instead of trying to loosen nut from bolt , tighten it. Most of the time they'll snap off. If they don't your no worse for the wear, and no smashed knuckles!

[firebird77clone]

Rusty nuts are tough.

Heat sometimes helps. Heat the nut to dull red, then cool it with penetrating oil.

For a frozen plug in a threaded hole:
Heat plug with torch, then squirt the plug with water. Put an extension on the plug, see if it will break loose.

Broken stud
Weld a nut on the end of a stud. Try and turn it out.

Each of these techniques can be tried repeatedly.

[firebird77clone]

Nut clips are also fun. (threaded-shank clip nuts)
They typically don't strip, rather the back half will fracture away from the front half, and the bolt just spins. Always best not to put excessive force on the bolt.

Things to try: soak with penetrating oil well prior to removal attempt

Apply heat to nut, cool with penetrating oil.

Grip back side of nut with needle nosed vise grips

Rock it back and forth

If none of these work, or you already broke the clip, drill a hole in the nut equal to the shaft size. The head will fall off the bolt, and the bolt shaft and clip will fall out the back.

[firebird77clone]

Badly rusted carriage bolts are nearly impossible to remove. As soon as you back the nut off, the square head will spin in its hole. Always easiest to use a nut splitter or a gas axe. (cutting torch). If the back side is inaccessible, drill through the head to let the nut and shaft drop through the back side

[Mike P]

For bending odd sized tubing without kinking it (transmission dip stick tubes come to mind); tape off one end, and fill fine sand. Heat the tube red hot and slowly bend. Empty sand and rinse several times.

To hold a nut in a wrench or socket while starting a bolt, use a little paper or tape wedged between nut and side of the tool.

If the flex socket is too loose to hold a bolt at a correct angle (starting upper bellhousing bolts for example), a wrap of electrical tape around the joint works to tighten up the socket.

If you’re trying to get your kids/grandkids interested in working out in the shop with you set aside small projects or parts of the project that they can complete in a relatively short period of time (the younger the kid the shorter the attention span). That way they get a sense of accomplishment and tend to want to come back out to the shop.


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[40FordDeluxe]

Another thing that works good for holding nuts and screws in a socket/bit driver is butyl. We used that a lot in the body shop.

I have a question for all you that could make a good tip for everyone. How, or what is, a good practice to put painted bolts back together without scratching everything all up. Just putting a socket on a bolt head seems to do it. I had to repaint some sheet metal on a H Farmall and I tried like crazy to not scratch anything putting it together. The bolts still had some chip marks and scuffs so I touched them up. Have any good tips for that stuff?