"special" tools

[rolmops]

In every manual you will find a list of special tools that the average shade tree mechanic does not buy because they are often expensive and he will probably not use them very often.
Most of us make do with what we have in the tool box,or we improvise and come up with very interesting tools often made from pieces of tin or even water bottles.
I described one of my own inventions,a tool to make it easy to slide pistons and piston rings into a cylinder in the mercury board a few days ago.
Now I am curious as to what other special tools you guys have come up with and how effective they are.
So please describe your special inventions and explain what you use(d) them for and how well they work.
I would love to find out about special plywood inventions from the father of all plywood here on our board.

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: "special" tools

I'm not PW, but I made this out of plywood. It's a jig to hold the prop shaft oil seal retainer housing while you punch out the oil seal for big twins.

 

[puddle jumper]

Re: "special" tools

Lets see thay dont call me McGyver for nothing.

Bleach bottle cut to the right size used for a not so quick disconect tool on fuel lines.

Old jig saw blades to cut shapes in your pumpkin.

A piece of hose with a slit in it on one end. Then put your blow gun end in the slit. Put the other end in the liquid your going to sifen. Blow your gun in the direction you want to sifen. No more mouth fulls of gas.

 

[bassboy1]

Re: "special" tools

Got a bilge pump attached to a big ole' garden hose to pump water from the bathtubs to the trees outside (our way to help with the water ban - recycle the bathwater)

1 foot long piece of railroad makes the greatest anvil. Dad cut it off himself, back when he layed spur lines as a high school summer job.

Whenever we loose the wrench for a certain tool, we just make another out of a piece of steel barstock, or flat plate, depending on the thickness needed.

We have many many router jigs, and other jigs, made out of plexiglass, for every sort of furniture we have made. I have never seen most of them in use, but we have them.

I know for sure we have more - definitely better than the aforementioned ones, but they have become so commonplace, I can't think of them off the top of my head. As yall post some, it may, or may not remind me of them.

 

[bubbashotus]

Re: "special" tools

Future brother in law has a 200hp merc he wanted to test before he hit the lake. Needed a water clapper for the motor so we took a heavy duty work glove that was rubberized and cut one finger tip off and inserted the garden hose into it and clamped it down then used a bungee cord on the hand entry side and strapped it around the motor intake for water. Worked great but my garden hose is missing now along with the glove and bungee. The cost for a dealer part is around $40. Guess I'll have to charge him a 12 pack of my favorite beverage for the missing parts

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: "special" tools

I recently had to take apart my hydraulic trim/tilt cylinder. I could not find the proper sized spanner wrench anywhere I looked, so I purchased a spanner wrench for a Ford fan(?) which was of a similar size, then drilled new holes and sawed some steel dowel stock of the correct length and tacked it into the new holes. Presto! a Mercury trim/tilt spanner.

A couple of years ago I was rebuilding an Evinrude lower-unit and couldn't find the proper snap ring pliers; I purchased a set of long needle-nosed pliers and ground the tips down to fit inside the holes in the snap ring. It worked really well.​

 

[Bass Man Bruce]

Re: "special" tools

I made a router jig for putting a 12" radius on guitar fret boards and one for accuratley cutting fret slots in fret boards. Amazingly they both work pretty well.

 

[Turin]

Re: "special" tools

I Used a piece of PVC tube and PVC end caps to make a filter for my turtles.
It Filters better than any filter you can find

 

[Caveman Charlie]

Re: "special" tools

Lets see they don't call me McGyver for nothing.


A piece of hose with a slit in it on one end. Then put your blow gun end in the slit. Put the other end in the liquid your going to sifen. Blow your gun in the direction you want to sifen. No more mouth fulls of gas.

Hey!! That sounds like a good idea. I've been wondering how to get that old gas out of my boat.

As far a home made tools I keep a set of cheap open end/box end wrenches around. When I get into a spot where a straight wrench will not work I use the acetylene torch to heat up the cheap wrench and bend it into the shape needed. Often this is a real time saver. Sometimes it weakens them but, if they brake you just pitch them and try again.

 

[puddle jumper]

Re: "special" tools

Ive done that a few times with my wrenches. Ive had to sacrifice some Snap On wrenches to the cause. Man that was like pulling my own teeth,
that's how much that hurt.

 

[rolmops]

Re: "special" tools

Ive done that a few times with my wrenches. Ive had to sacrifice some Snap On wrenches to the cause. Man that was like pulling my own teeth,
that's how much that hurt.

Those who dare mistreat snap-on tools should be sent to prison and made to do hard labor with cheap tools that break.

 

[QC]

Re: "special" tools

I made a gimbal bearing and seal installer out of some big pipe couplings and a piece of pipe I had laying around. Works perfectly . . . Modified an Auto Zone loaner puller for the same with a weight from a dumbell and a couple of punches spread across the hole in the weight. Got the job done when the slide hammer didn't.

 

[puddle jumper]

Re: "special" tools

Those who dare mistreat snap-on tools should be sent to prison and made to do hard labor with cheap tools that break.

Welllllllll when your on the side of the mountain with nothing but the best and you need the tool and the job has to be done. AAAAAAAA you do it.
Did i mention that i shed a tear

There's one thing i hate cheep tools.

 

[Caveman Charlie]

Re: "special" tools

I had to change a exhaust valve spring on the 302 in my 78 Zephyr. First, I broke off the round wooden handle from a cheap foam paint brush and stuck that into the spark plug hole to hold up the valve. (remember all you chevy guys Ford small blocks have slanted spark plugs toward the exhaust valve) Then I removed the rocker arm. Then I took a piece of flat iron put a bend in it and a whole in it the right distance from the end so that it would fit on the rocker arm stud and push on the spring. Then I Cut a slit in the end over the valve tip so that I could push down on the spring and not the valve. I was then able to put the flat iron on the rocker arm stud and use it as a fulcrum to push down on the valve spring to remove the keeper. I then Let the force off slowly replaced the spring, and reversed the process. I'm not very good at explaining things so I hope you got what I mean.

 

[TD_Maker]

Re: "special" tools

Some of you may have heard about this one. After the Hurricanes blew through here a couple of years ago, electricity and gasoline was in short supply. I desperately needed gas to power my generator, and since there was no electricity, the gas stations were shut down. However, I did have about sixty gallons in my boat, but how was I going to get it out?

We had just installed a new electric fuel pump in my son's old truck, so I got an idea. I pulled the old pump and started a plan. The pump had an inlet and outlet of course, and with the appropriate fittings from my shed, I connected the inlet side of the pump to the fuel line which ran from my boat's fuel tank, and I ran a 6'piece of fuel line to a gas can. A 12 Volt battery powered the unit.

Boy, was I surprised. It worked like a charm, and it was a safe way to transfer fuel. I have used a better variation since then.

 

[Caveman Charlie]

Re: "special" tools

Some of you may have heard about this one. After the Hurricanes blew through here a couple of years ago, electricity and gasoline was in short supply. I desperately needed gas to power my generator, and since there was no electricity, the gas stations were shut down. However, I did have about sixty gallons in my boat, but how was I going to get it out?

We had just installed a new electric fuel pump in my son's old truck, so I got an idea. I pulled the old pump and started a plan. The pump had an inlet and outlet of course, and with the appropriate fittings from my shed, I connected the inlet side of the pump to the fuel line which ran from my boat's fuel tank, and I ran a 6'piece of fuel line to a gas can. A 12 Volt battery powered the unit.

Boy, was I surprised. It worked like a charm, and it was a safe way to transfer fuel. I have used a better variation since then.

Humm.... I need to get the old gas out of my boat before next year. I have to check the screen on the sediment bowl anyway. The fuel line is right there and I have a old electric fuel pump. Sounds like your plan would work for me. But, wouldn't the pump over heat and take a long time to pump out 10-15 gallons of gas?

 

[TD_Maker]

Re: "special" tools

Caveman,
To answer your question: No, it does not overheat, because the gas keeps it cooled off just as it would in a car. Remember, the fuel pump never stops working in a car either! As long as the key is on, the pump is working. it works very well, and the pump will surprise you with it's pumping capacity. I pumped 15 gallons at a time with no problems.

Also, I neglected to say I added about 6' of wire to the pump leads so it was far enough away from the gas in case there was a spark or something.

Look at the inlet and outlet fittings on your pump, for fuel line fitting areavailable at any auto parts store. Just be sure the inlet side fits onto your tank line of your boat.

 

[Caveman Charlie]

Re: "special" tools

Another way I get special tools is when a mechanic leaves them in a vehicle of mine they worked on. I know I should give them back but, for what they charge in labor I just keep them. I got my distributor wrench that way. I also got a 1/2 9/16 inch box end, snap on, wrench with a curve in it about a month ago.