Cheap Tricks

[68C15]

I have a tool cart also. mine is 3'x2' and about 45" tall. I was going to buy a tool guy one but at $600+ I decided to make my own. it has 2 shelves plus a drawer, side shelf, and everything. total cost including wheels was about $80

[RenoKeene]

Coat Hangers. You can bend these any way you want and they hold a lot of weight, great for painting small parts.

[RenoKeene]

Quick Release Agent. When you peel a sticker off your new parts or whatever this stuff works wonders in getting rid of the adhesive gummed up residue. Comes in real handy when you leave duct tape on something too long! We also used it to take the rubber donuts off of the doors on our late model race car, didn't hurt the vinyl decals or the paint. C.R. laurence sells it. If you want some and can't find it let me know and I can get it for you from where I work...it doesn't cost much.

[RenoKeene]

Blue Painter's Tape. I wouldn't kiss the guy who invented this stuff but I would let my girlfriend! This is the best tape ever...will not hurt your paint and leaves no residue. One use I have for it is keeping the edges of my body panels from getting nicked up. In the pic below I covered the edges of my door while I adjusted it to fit, I doubled it up where I knew it would be a tight fit. Worked like a charm!

[RenoKeene]

Need to pry a little on your new paint job? Put a small piece of vacuum line over the end of your flat blade screwdriver.

[RenoKeene]

I used these A/C compressor shims to shim out my door hinges to get the fit right. They were between the pump and the lower t-shaped bracket on my parts truck. I just cut them to fit and slipped em in behind the hinge. They are real thin and worked perfectly. I left them stick up a bit so you could see them, then I pushed them down and tightened up the bolts. A little touch up paint and I'm done.
No more slamming this door shut!

[maskale]

Originally Posted by Chris4x4Gill2

Storage tip: for those large oddball shaped tools that dont come with a storage case, things like circular saws, sawzalls, etc., an old filing cabinet is great to put them in. Works great for any large bulky item.

i been using filing cabinets for yrs, they are cheap used and easy to get and stack neatly against a wall.


for small stuff, libray card holders, yes just like at the library, they are called file indexes, card files, index files and a host of other names.

however they are not near as easy to come buy and cost more.

[maskale]

Originally Posted by 100%Chevy

O.K.,here's a few of mine-
Have your cell in your pocket when working alone in the shop.

yep, happened to me, hurt my back, laid their for 15min trying to stretch and get up, had to call for help.



use my cell for all my pics also.

use the note pad on my phone also for list of parts i need to get and those little odd things that must be done but easy to forget. and use it to list wire colors and what they do.

[RenoKeene]

Glad you were ok. Thanks for sharing.
Posted via Mobile Device

[magwakeenercew2jh]

+2.

I'm under than darn truck way too much. Tomorrow, again. From now on, when I do, I'm going to put my cell phone in my front jeans pocket.

Thanks.

[rpmerf]

coat hangers make great hangers all around the garage!

http://www.publicsurplus.com/ is good for finding desks, filing cabinets, card holders

[Maxxd07]

Some lotion from the wifey/gf before going to work will make cleanup on the hands easy.
Gojo, without pumice, works great for hoses and o-rings that will be used with antifreeze or water where grease shouldnt be used, I keep a small tub in the shop to wipe my hands with before going in the house.
Baby food jars for small screws electrical connectors and things, Screw the lids on a chunk of wood and mount it on the wall so you can unscrew the jar and take it with if needed.
Di-electric grease on all bulbs, spark plug boots and connectors keep moisture out and make removal much easier.
Multi-colored zip ties can be used to mark hoses, connections and wire locations so they dont get mixed up.
Also having a variety of paint pens helps too.
In a pinch welding rods or welding wire works to hold parts for paint.
Fuel hose over the jaws of a needle nose vice grips makes a great hose pinch off tool that wont leave marks in your hose, as in being able to change a heater core without draining the coolant.
Keep a set of dirt cheap wrenches around to make specialty tools. Bend a 9/16 and weld a chunk of rod on it to make your own distributor wrench for example.
Take a 20oz pop bottle and put a tiny hole in the cap and put some oil in there for a cheap oil can for chains or for lubing drill bits.

[Fred T]

The factory heater fan motors on these trucks had a bearing that would dry up and start squealing. Drill a small hole in the end of the motor next to the bushing. Apply a couple drops of light oil and cover the hole with clay.

[RenoKeene]

Fuel hose over the jaws of a needle nose vice grips makes a great hose pinch off tool that wont leave marks in your hose, as in being able to change a heater core without draining the coolant.

^That's pretty slick right there.

[RenoKeene]

Originally Posted by Fred T

The factory heater fan motors on these trucks had a bearing that would dry up and start squealing. Drill a small hole in the end of the motor next to the bushing. Apply a couple drops of light oil and cover the hole with clay.

Thanks Fred, real good idea!

[bigsnookmaster]

Electrical tape will temporarily fix a bad radiator hose

Black pepper will stop a hole in a radiator. For a while!

During the mockup of my truck, after lining up the panels, we tig welded the shims, for the fenders and cowl, smoothed and painted. Then you need no shimming during re-assembly. Also, we drilled a small guide hole through the fender mounting locations,door hinges, etc. Then you just use a locater pin to line things back up after paint.

[RenoKeene]

Originally Posted by bigsnookmaster

Electrical tape will temporarily fix a bad radiator hose

Black pepper will stop a hole in a radiator. For a while!

During the mockup of my truck, after lining up the panels, we tig welded the shims, for the fenders and cowl, smoothed and painted. Then you need no shimming during re-assembly. Also, we drilled a small guide hole through the fender mounting locations,door hinges, etc. Then you just use a locater pin to line things back up after paint.

Thanks for sharing some of your mad skills Greg, I was wondering when you would find this thread.
I plan on driving down to see ya right after the first of the year. WOOHOO!

[bigsnookmaster]

That would be cool! Looking forward to meeting you and hanging out a bit!

[VA72C10]

Originally Posted by bigsnookmaster

after lining up the panels, we tig welded the shims, for the fenders and cowl, smoothed and painted. Then you need no shimming during re-assembly.

Awesome idea!!! Thanks!

[RenoKeene]

Lots of knowlege in here. My next build is going to be alot easier. Thanks everyone for posting.

[fryer1979]

My wife used to own a 2002 Mazda Protege. Right around 150K miles the air intake tube began to rot, and was letting air leak into the intake causing a really rough idle. Instead of paying the $170 Mazda wanted for the replacement tube, I just wrapped the rotted rubber tightly in duct tape. We drove the car another 60K miles and never had another issue. The car even passed smog and was sold with the tape still on there, (I had completely forgotten about it).

Never leave home without a roll of duct tape, and a roll of bailing wire! I know it's redneck, but these two things have gotten me home SOOOOOO many times.

[chevy_man5]

I was thinking last night, and remember one of the guys I went to college with had said he filled in a crack in the housing of his transmission with JB weld. He drove it all through school, and for at least a couple of years after that. Must have worked! That was before the quick set stuff out now, so if using as a temporary fix, probably use the 24 hour stuff.

This is third party info though, so I can't personally attest to it!!

[rpmerf]

you never know how long a 'temporary' fix will be used before doing something better. If you have the time, don't half ass it!

[flashed]

If you are working in a tight area in your shop but need the doors open slit a short section of heater hose and slide it on your doors to protect the paint on the doors edge.

[RenoKeene]

Back in 75 me and a buddy of mine drove his 69 Torino from Tenn to Florida, along the way we ran over something that put a small round hole in the bottom of the gas tank. He carved a plug out of a bar of motel soap and screwed it in the hole. Not only did it get us back home but he drove it around for months like that...true story.