garage tool tricks and tips

[pebbles]

That pesky , but undenialbly important air hose keeps getting wound up under your tires as you work your way around the car......a brake shoe tucked neatly under each tire like a chock, works fantastic, to keep the hose sliding smoothly. And in a pinch, they make a good wheel chock if placed fore and aft.

[dynaguy]

Put it on wheels! I live in an area where snow tires are a must. Seeems like wherever I store them, they are in the way. I picked up a pair of furniture dollies at Costco, and can roll them out of the way and right to the car when needing to change. Also rigged up wheel dollies so I can move my Roadster frame around as I work on it or other projects.

Pat Mahoney

[Garm]

I have four dollies just like that, never thought to stack racing wheels on them so I can roll them over the car. Thank you..

[dbrick]

They go on sale at Harbor Freight for about $7.00 all the time. I brought some to work for a project and my boss made sure he got them right back to me. He said he didn't want me unable to roll the car around. I stared at him blankly. He said he thought I used them under the tires as dollies to move the car in the garage, they hold 800 pounds each. Duh, never thought of it, but I will NOW

[ideaman]

Ultrasonic cleaner for bolts and parts... preferably the heated ones. I have 2... one big 5 or 6 gallon for the big parts and one little bench top job for bolts and small stuff. Get the ZEP cleaner for it... capful is all you need per fill of the tank. Throw 'em in, set the timer and go about your repairs. When done... bingo... like new, totally grime and crud free stuff. You can buy them cheap from medical-oriented businesses going out of biz. No more parts scrubbing and nasty smelling cleaners. Just empty the tank every so often and refill with water.

[fixitman04]

Ever have a hole to drill that is close to a corner or sidewall... And not have a long enough drill bit to keep the drill from hitting the side?

Here is my solution. i just clamp the hex rod into the vise, take the desired drill bit... and drill into the center of the hex.. about an inch or so. then place the bit in the hole you just drilled. then spot weld the bit to the shaft.

it is important to keep the spot weld as small as possible to keep from over heating the bit and making it brittle. i tig weld mine

[dbrick]

To add to the above, you can get long drill bits with a flexible shaft at an alarm supply house, from 12" to 6 feet! The 6 footers are a handful, whip like a b@%*rd when the bit gets stuck

[fixitman04]

I just keep 10-20 ft of this hex shaft on hand.. Its only about $00.50 a foot and available at any metal supply place. I keep 3/8 and 1/2 inch on hand

[pebbles]

I could not get this fuel hose to budge. Tucked this dent puller in and worked it around. slid right off.
And those pliers. hose pliers. I usually cut old hoses, but if you had just installed new 6 mo ago and dont want to cut, slide them over the steel and squeeze, slick. Great for hard to reach areas as well.

[notoptoy]

They have a tool for that! $2.99 at Harbor freight- it's beefy and works great! Ive had variants of these over the years, and this one is pretty darn good. Plus look how fast it is with the fancy design on the handle.

[fj20spl311]

To add to the above, you can get long drill bits with a flexible shaft at an alarm supply house, from 12" to 6 feet! The 6 footers are a handful, whip like a b@%*rd when the bit gets stuck

The have them at my Home Depot over in the electrical section.

[fixitman04]

updated my post

[pebbles]

I could not get all the debris from the rear 1/4 B pillar, so I stuffed the shop vac hose through the top hole, and down as far as it would go, then stuffed the air blower in the middle hole and down as far as it would go, cranked em both up and in five minutes it was clean!

[fixitman04]

cool... il remember that one

[dbrick]

I could not get all the debris from the rear 1/4 B pillar, so I stuffed the shop vac hose through the top hole, and down as far as it would go, then stuffed the air blower in the middle hole and down as far as it would go, cranked em both up and in five minutes it was clean!

We had to do something similar on an ATV years ago. Had a bunch of mice nested and then die inside the backbone frame, which is also the airbox. Ended up using an air compressor, blower and vacuum every direction we could. Smell from the vacuum exhaust was awful. Suddenly there was a "Thud Thud Thuds Thud" all was good.

I've had a Snap-on cotter pin puller for 30 years, one of my top 10 best tool purchases. Even used it for a cotter pin once or twice!


Jegs sells a kit for $10.00, includes a "radiator hose tool"
http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/W235/10002/-1?CT=999