Mechanical Tricks

[BF]

Re: Mechanical Tricks

If you want to run wiring between floors in a house, you can cut a metal coat hanger with wire cutters to get a piece about 18" long (or longer if need be). Chuck it up in your drill and zap it right through the floor. (hold it with your hand near the floor to stop the wobbling) Take it out of the chuck, (still stuck through floor) and see where it pokes out in basement (or where ever). If it doesn't come through were you want it to, then try again. If you're wrong about the placement, it's only about a 1/8" hole in the floor which is pretty much un-noticable. I've done it right at the junction of the baseboard and a hardwood flooring.

Got this trick from a friend who watched an alarm installer run wires all through his house. I've used it 1/2 dozen times with great success.

 

[Nova II 260]

Re: Mechanical Tricks

While using your favorite knuckle buster and you happen to spring a leak in your epidermis, you can use crazy glue to stop the bleeding. Burns a little, harmless and you won't be dripping on the wife's carpet. "New Skin" (same thing) is drugstore available and should be sitting next to your WD40.

 

[dolluper]

Re: Mechanical Tricks

Having a tough time taking studs out,of a water pump or other locations.Stop forget your vise grips!! Double nut it instead,put one nut on leave your wrench on it ,then tighten your second nut down on the first.Now turn it out with the first nut and wrench,it will come out like butter,reverse the procedure to install

 

[lakelivin]

Re: Mechanical Tricks

While using your favorite knuckle buster and you happen to spring a leak in your epidermis, you can use crazy glue to stop the bleeding. Burns a little, harmless and you won't be dripping on the wife's carpet. "New Skin" (same thing) is drugstore available and should be sitting next to your WD40.

Great tip, but note that crazy glue & New Skin are not the same thing. Crazy glue is, well, crazy glue. Can be used in place of stitches to hold shallow cuts closed until they heal (a much more expensive version of the same thing is used by doctors). Just make sure the cut isn't so deep that it shouldn't be sealed because it needs to drain. Hard to remove without whatever solvent it is you use to remove crazy glue.

Nu Skin is great for small cuts, blisters, & abrasions. Often if makes it feel like the cut isn't even there. But it's not strong enough to keep 'split' skin closed like super glue is, and doesn't stay very well if used on something that stretches or contracts the skin, like a joint. You can easily peel it off if you want to, and it doesn't last nearly as long as super glue. Plus it's alot more expensive (you can get three small tubes of super glue at The Dollar Store for, well, a dollar).

Tip: Nu Skin stings when you first put it on for a bit. Don't know why, but I do know from experience that it stings alot longer if you blow on it trying to get it to dry quicker. This is important to remember if using on a younger child. You might get them to endure the stinging for 30-60 seconds, but good luck if you keep blowing on it and the stinging keeps up for several minutes.

 

[xtraham]

Re: Mechanical Tricks


I spray all automotive/marine 12 volt connections with aerosol disc brake quite, they will not corrode, even battery cable ends at the battery never corrode, it's sticky for a few days, but it works

 

[Mark42]

Re: Mechanical Tricks

I have heard of people squirting some lighter fluid around the bead and throwing a match on it. The "woosh" is supposed to be able to seat the tire on the rim.


Cool topic.

Have seen the same done with starting fluid……………………………. ‘coarse ya could end up in SHT section if you aren’t careful.

I have done it many times with starting fluid. Mostly on garden tractor tires and low pressure off road tires (ATV). Works well. Spray the staring fluid inside the tire. Then press the tire away from the bead leaving the largest opening possable. Then toss the match. A "whosh" inflates the tire and presses it on to the rim. Then inflate to desired pressure with a pump. Careful! Often the tire is hot.

 

[lakelivin]

Re: Mechanical Tricks

For those that have had a problem getting a tire to inflate: did you try to fill the tire when it was in a vertical position or lying flat on the ground?

I'm curious, because a neighbor tried the rope trick on a lawnmower tire but we still couldn't get it inflated using a 12v dc electric car pump, even though we tightened the rope pretty well (he filled it later by taking it to a gas station where the air pressure was much stronger). When we tried the 12v pump at home I'm pretty sure he had the tire upright.

I had a similar tire that was completely out of air (one side of the tire was literally centered in the middle of the wheel). But when I took it off and laid it flat, even though there was a noticable gap between the rim and the top side of the tire, the same 12v pump that wouldn't work on his did the trick on mine.

I know a sample size of 1 is too small to draw a conclusion from, but it did make me curious as to whether the position of the tire when it's filled malkes a difference. If so, useful to know if you don't have lighter fluid around [ that definately sounds like the easiest and most fun method :devil: ].

 

[Autotech1]

Re: Mechanical Tricks

sounds like you still had one bead seated and the other touching the wheel. Thats all u need to start it filling. Riding mowers and ATVs are altogether different. the beads dont like to stay out towards the rim. when i was working ar Les Schwab we had a tool called a cheeta. A 5 gallon tank with a 2" ball valve and outlet. youd fill this with line pressure (~150PSI) and hit it. same idea as starting fluid. This was the ONLY way to do some tires. wide wheels and skinny ties are the same problem. and I believe Bias-ply tires too.

 

[Autotech1]

Re: Mechanical Tricks

ok, heres a coulpe of small block chevty tricks.

Drill a 1/16" hole in the middle pipe plug above the camshaft sprocket. This will lube the timing set which has no other oil source. This will dramatically increase lifespan of Said timing set.

If you look at your distributor youll see 2 bosses above your gear. prior to removing your distro mark th location in a manner that u can judge its installed position while uninstalled. now, using a three sided file make a small groove straight up and down just forward of the location where the gears will mesh, This especially important when using a high flo/pressure oil pump. The space between the two bosses bisects the lifter-oil galley so this is pressurized oil. This will eliminate the gears ever going bad. Ive never seen one go bad, but it is cheap insurance anyways.

 

[puddle jumper]

Re: Mechanical Tricks

Ok another trick
If you have a bolt you need to get in to a hard to reach hole.Take your wire feed welder and zap the wire from the welder in the center of the bolt .Now run the welding wire out of the welder to the length you need and cut.Take the wire and feed it though the hole you need to get through and pull on it ontill your bolt comes out of`the hole.This can save you a lot of time and headache.

 

[stevieray]

Re: Mechanical Tricks

Changing lower unit gear oil on Alpha One drive - when pumping in the new lube, you have to get it to come out of the vent hole in an "air free stream". To catch the excess lube while watching for the air bubbles to disappear, I set a small (tomato paste size) tin can on top of the trim cylinder under the vent hole & the lube spills right in - makes clean-up a snap.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Mechanical Tricks

If you had an extra Fitting,+ a length of clear Tubing,......

You wouldn't Loose a Drop by screwing it into the Vent,+ running the Tubing into your Can...........

Myself,.......
I pump it til it's Overflowing,+ Call it Good.........
A Rag cleans up what I spill......

 

[dolluper]

Re: Mechanical Tricks

Need more torque from your wrenches, for those tight nuts,take the size you need wrench and slide one of a greater size,the box end over the first one ,this will lock it on Now you have 4 times the torque.....

 

[puddle jumper]

Re: Mechanical Tricks

A good one to get you out of the bush when your camping and you get a hole in your rad.Just take a couple of raw eggs and black pepper and put them in your rad .It works well as an comanche trick.

 

[dolluper]

Re: Mechanical Tricks

Don't have a ball joint compressor, throw your ball joint in the freezer overnight,then take it out when ready to install it [with gloves on]place a socket under the ball joint and use your jack under the socket,crank your jack up just till you have some weight pressure on,then tap with a hammer on the upper sides on the control arm where the ball stud is ,back and forth until the ball joint seats tightly

 

[whywhyzed]

Re: Mechanical Tricks

Tire changing tip-
If you ever step on your hubcap full of lugnuts and they go down the sewer:
Take 1 lugnut off each of the other 3 wheels....

(people who have heard the joke will be laughing right now)

 

[QC]

Re: Mechanical Tricks

I just used Skinnywater's WD40 on radiator hose and plastic nipple trick for a Dishwasher drain line into the Garbage disposer (plastic nipple). Worked awesome and I barely got any of the hose "up" with the screwdriver. Instead of cussing, I remembered something about this, came here and reread . . . voila. Great!! Thanks.

 

[Daddy O]

Re: Mechanical Tricks

Heres one that has helped me alot.Use vacume hose to remove spark plugs in and out of the engines hard to reach plug holes after the plug has been loosend off.Just slide the hose over the plug and turn.

Another one is
If you have to siphon a liquid.Take your hose and put a small hole in one end about 3 to 4 inches from the end.
Put the other end in the fluid as you would normaly.
Now take your air blow gun and insert it in the hole
and blow in the direction you wish to siphon.It causes a vacume in the hose and pulls the fluid down the hose.
Shure beats a mouth full of anything disgusting.

You can also use the end of an old spark plug boot, with wire attached to remove the loosened spark plug.