Cheap Tricks

[ChefCy]

bump

[Gumby]

Almost the 4th, tis the season to jam a pack of firecrackers between the cat and shield................

[midniteblues]

this is a great thread

I'm all about "cheap"

not sure if this was mentioned yet.

wadded newspaper and windex for cleaning windows.

[BADAZ chevy guy]

Go to your local thrift store and ask if they have any office chairs in the back that are broken (unsaleable) but still have a good rolling base. I've found several for FREE! Fit or weld a pole to the base and mount a 4' florescent fixture to it vertically. Now you have a rolling light that doesn't take up to much floor space.
Put some Vaseline in the end of a heater or radiator hoses before installing it. Helps them seal and makes them a lot easier to remove later.
Use your hubcap as a basin to wash out parts on the fly with a little gasoline.
This one won't work for everyone. If you're lucky enough to have running water in your garage, A used dishwasher (garage sale or thrift store) can be used whenever small parts need cleaning. It doesn't need a cabinet to work and you can attach a board to the top as a small work bench.
Old school tip. Installing spark plugs with the gap facing the piston top. Mark your socket with a black felt pen on the side opposite of where the plug gap is and find the plug that tightens with the mark on top. It may take trying a few plugs in each hole, but you can gain a few extra horse power this way.
That's all I can remember just now, but I'll keep thinking.
Love this thread!!!

[powerdriver 1958]

Not sure if this was covered , I forgot about this until I needed it ... Have a leaky threaded fitting but are out of thread tape or sealant .

Try another style of thread .
.

[BADAZ chevy guy]

Originally Posted by powerdriver 1958

Not sure if this was covered , I forgot about this until I needed it ... Have a leaky threaded fitting but are out of thread tape or sealant .

Try another style of thread .
.

That's cool. Thread thread. lol

[ERASER5]

Originally Posted by powerdriver 1958

Not sure if this was covered , I forgot about this until I needed it ... Have a leaky threaded fitting but are out of thread tape or sealant .

Try another style of thread .
.

Two things. First, What a line! Second, lose 2 point from your man card. PINK thread? Really?

[ole dollor]

Originally Posted by ERASER5

Two things. First, What a line! Second, lose 2 point from your man card. PINK thread? Really?

Well it does take a real man to use pink..... right

[ERASER5]

Originally Posted by ole dollor

Well it does take a real man to use pink..... right

and an even bigger real man to point and laugh!

[powerdriver 1958]

Originally Posted by ERASER5

Two things. First, What a line! Second, lose 2 point from your man card. PINK thread? Really?

Well , When I asked my wife about a spool of thread the 1st thing she asked me was " what color do you need ?" ..

So I said it makes no difference for what I had planned . .. And the rest is history .

[GOPAPA]

Here is one for hot weather...when you park your car and the sun is beating down on it ,,turn your steering wheel 180 degrees so when you get back into your car the steering wheel where you hold onto it with your hands isn't as hot being away from the sun.

[19Chevy67C10]

Microwave a hot bowl of water and dip the end of the hose your trying to get on the part in the hot water for a while and slide the hose onto the part, I don't know if this has already been mentioned but it does work.

Peace!

[DPowers]

Originally Posted by Gumby

90* plug boot end, replace the gas can spout little plastic cap that falls off....

Valve stems work for this also

[67swb72klb]

saw this on a C/L add
replacement heater switch on the cheap!

[EdSevered]

OK...this one is not automotive, but I want to contribute my skills as a way of saying thanks to everyone on this forum that contribute theirs.

So anyway, this trick is Windows-based (may work on Linux or Apple) computer related and has seriously saved me and my customers countless times, over the last 25 years, from permanently lost dollars and data, usually email, valuable pictures and documents.

One of the most common computer failures is in the mechanical hard drive. If you do not know which component that is, I would suggest using Google to find some pictures and hard drive replacement info, before troubleshooting.
Just to be clear this is purely about getting whatever data you can off of a failed mechanical hard drive.

A faulty hard drive usually presents itself as a computer that has stopped booting properly, and you are very likely to get an error or two on the screen referencing something like: "no boot device found", "no operating system found", etc. during the power up sequence.

Generally, during the boot process and normal operations a healthy mechanical hard drive will sound like there is something spinning very fast inside, which of course is true, with intermittent clicking, that sound is the read/write heads moving very quickly over the faces of the platters reading and writing data. Too technical? Just pay attention to the sound. If your hard drive fails and is not making those healthy sounds, but instead is making a fairly steady clicking, that is spaced farther apart, say 2-3 times a second, without the whirring, then your hard drive is probably locked up and this trick might work for you.

First, you will require another computer, most likely a desktop, that boots Windows properly, that you can connect your failed hard drive to, as a second hard drive, after this trick. You may have to investigate the types of hard drive technologies (IDE, SATA, etc.) and connectors, and simply get an adaptor, as in the case of a bad laptop hard drive going in to a desktop computer, or make sure that the other computer supports the technology, connector type and numbers of drives needed to connect the faulty hard drive.

Second, remove the faulty hard drive from your computer, let it cool for a few minutes if it is warm. Then put the drive into a zip-lock bag, removing as much air as you can with your hands, and seal the bag. The bag must be sealed airtight to keep out any moisture. Next put the hard drive into your freezer. Yes, the freezer. Let it stay in there undisturbed overnight, or 8-12 hours.

With your target computer prepared, turned off and open, remove the drive from the freezer, then from the zip-lock bag, and attach to the proper cables. Then boot the target computer, most modern computers will automatically configure themselves to accept the drive that just came out of the freezer as a second hard drive in the system. Your first clue as to whether this trick will work is to listen to that drive. Does it sound more like the healthy description above? A second clue would be boot errors, similar to: "hard drive not found", etc., though the system will usually boot from the first drive in the computer regardless of any errors.

If not, one last ditch effort is to power the computer down again, disconnect the drive and drop it frame-side down from no more than 4" on a solid surface, like a table. Then reconnect it to the computer, and reboot, if the computer acts the same, I recommend that you repeat the above procedure, including a longer stay in the freezer. If that does not help, the drive is most likely junk and the data is lost.

If the computer appears to boot up and into Windows without any issues, use "My Computer" to access the data stores on the machine, there should be a drive letter assigned to the faulty drive and hopefully it will be accessible. Even if it is, you're not out of the woods, yet. You need to search that drive to identify and copy your valuable data off to the first hard drive or a flash drive, ASAP. There's a reason that hard drive went bad and it may not keep spinning for long, usually you will have one chance to get your data off of it.

As I said above, if this process doesn't work the first time you can certainly try again.

Once your data is saved, that hard drive should be replaced in the original computer and reloaded with your software.

Believe it or not, this has worked for me about 9 out of every 10 times over the years. I credit my first boss in the computer business "Joe" with passing this knowledge on to me almost 25 years ago, when there were 10 Megabyte hard drives.

LAST TRICK: when disposing of a hard drive always protect your personal data, even on a defective hard drive by completely destroying it. The more destructive the better, like with a hammer or dynamite.

I know it's long-winded, and I hope you never need it.

Thank you all!

-Ed

[crossfire84]

nice

[69chevytrucker]

alot of you will be haters on this but i made stripes look cool and look like they were put there 40 yrs ago and added artwork with some lace fabric







fabric is re-useable and cost less then 30 bucks

[69chevytrucker]

dont know if last pic with black skulls is there that one didnt work out went to silver skulls

[Palf70Step]

Not too bad.

[GOPAPA]

This I have done and know it works,, I seen my dad do it with a 1941 Plymouth when I was a wee boy and so when I grew up I had to get my 56 Chevy truck started so I did it and ,,yes it worked for me too.

First of all this only works on standard shift transmission cars and trucks

The battery is dead,,you have no way to push start your car or truck and you are all alone with no jumper cables or battery charger starter..

Make sure the car or truck will not roll,,jack up the rear wheel on the drivers side a couple inches off the ground-put the transmission into a higher gear -turn the key on - and then be sure you don't have loose clothing and begin turning the wheel by hand until it crank starts the motor ,,shift it out of gear and there you have it ..after jacking it back down,,you have a running car that can take you to where ever you need to go to fix your stating problem..
I got my shirt caught by the hub cap clips and tore my shirt almost off.. I told this story some years ago on here ,, I have never met a anyone in person who has done this ..

[Gravityamp]

1st off ... I'm new here and this forum is awesome . There is so much knowledge and wisdom in the people here .That are willing to share their expertise and experiences . I just want to thank you all first and foremost for your input , so Thank you all

If someone has not already posted here are a few of my fave tricks

Egg whites in a leaking radiator will stop the leak within a few minutes when added to the radiator with engine running and at temp . ( careful opening that radiator cap with engine at temp)

Cordless drill battery can be used to jump start vehicle if in a bind (if the cordless batteries are charged and of 12 volt or more ) I make some jumpers to go either to battery itself or thru the cig lighter . 1 or 2 min connected 1 min off 1 or 2 min connected and then try to start ,all the while making sure your jumpers are not getting too hot . I have used this a few times in a pinch

Thanks again for sharing the knowledge and have a great one

Peace
Gravity

[ole dollor]

Originally Posted by Gravityamp

1st off ... I'm new here and this forum is awesome . There is so much knowledge and wisdom in the people here .That are willing to share their expertise and experiences . I just want to thank you all first and foremost for your input , so Thank you all

If someone has not already posted here are a few of my fave tricks

Egg whites in a leaking radiator will stop the leak within a few minutes when added to the radiator with engine running and at temp . ( careful opening that radiator cap with engine at temp)

Cordless drill battery can be used to jump start vehicle if in a bind (if the cordless batteries are charged and of 12 volt or more ) I make some jumpers to go either to battery itself or thru the cig lighter . 1 or 2 min connected 1 min off 1 or 2 min connected and then try to start ,all the while making sure your jumpers are not getting too hot . I have used this a few times in a pinch

Thanks again for sharing the knowledge and have a great one

Peace
Gravity

good tips and welcome to the forum from Texas. you are right about a bunch of great guys here....glad you could join in ....

[Liz]

Back where it needs to be

[463]

Old RX pill bottles for drill bits ,screws and driver bits for the cordless drill kits.
Use a hair dryer to heat the RX bottle then remove the sticker for a clean look.

[ole dollor]

Originally Posted by 463

Old RX pill bottles for drill bits ,screws and driver bits for the cordless drill kits.
Use a hair dryer to heat the RX bottle then remove the sticker for a clean look.

yes they work great....I also use the larger bottle with the screw on lids for crimp wire connectors . and fuses.