Repair/mechanic tricks and or tips?

[whodat90]

Never start work on a vehicle or house on a saturday unless you have no other choice. Guaranteed, late in the day you'll need a part, the stores are closed, and will still be closed on sunday.

Liquid floor wax (Mop&Glo, etc. ) will renew badly scratched plastics, even hard to work soft plastics like ATV fenders.
whodat

 

[Soundguy]

Same goes for a holiday. I.E. don't take apart your car in the driveway for a 'minor' repair the afternoon before a holiday/ holiday weekend.

9 out of 10, they parts house was in a hurry to get home and may have handed you the wrong brake shoes/water pump/starter/alternator/etc.. and when you get home and are in the middle of it 2hrs later.. you find it is wrong.. and that it is 1 minute past closing time...

Soundguy

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Make sure your girfriend and wife have the same pet name? eh. (grin)

Soundguy

And make certain it ISN'T Rover or Spot.

 

[Destructo_D]

Don't forget that gasoline vapors are heavier than air, and if you are heating your work space with anything that may be ignition source, be extrememly careful with your fuel. I've seen several garage fires due to fuel mishandling with electric or kerosene heaters. ( the most vivid memory was the 8" tall flame lazily burning out of the fuel fill opening on the rear deck of a Corvette under restoration after we put the fire in the garage out )

about 10 years ago we had a petro Canada Gas station burn down. In the shop the mechanic was working on a gas tank or something and they had a space heater in the shop. I don't remember if it was electric or propane... The closet fire department was 3 -4 blocks away. But even that close the building was a goner.... luckly the fire did not spread to the fuel pumps tho.. that could have been a real problem. It was located on a frontage road along the trans canada highway... a whole strip gas stations, fast food outlets, a furnature store....and a couple buildings down was a card lock gas station...

 

[jimainiac]

I don't think I saw this mentioned - I punch a hole in the top of a plastic five gallon pail of oil opposite the pour spout with an ice pick before pouring, then screw a screw into the hole to seal it up 'till next time.
Also, on pocket tools, I carry a Leatherman and a "baby visegrips", the smallest one they make. You wouldn't believe what you can accomplish with those.

 

[Soundguy]

Your bucket trick reminded me of one that I do.

For caulk guns.. sometimes you can save a partial tube of caulk 2 ways.. screw a big screw into the tip end.. or put a big wire nut on it.

Same for the pointy tipped gear oil bottles if you loose the cap.. a screw or wire nut.

Soundguy

 

[WALT]

Just came across this today, great list.
A very simple trick that has served me well for years is to clean up and put your tools away when you finish what your working on.

My father somewhat ingrained this into me, by his lack of doing this. He was a great man, but just didn't care or worry about such things. I found more than one of my good tools when mowing his lawn, and hitting them with my mower, on the ground where he left it. He tricked me into coming to work on his stuff rather than just loan him my tools it would appear, but as we both got older, it made for a reason to get together.


I know if a tool is broken or needs replacement, if I need more consumable stuff, and perhaps most importantly, where to find it for the next time. Driving away with your tools on the tractor/attachments means you'll be buying replacements soon. 10 minutes spent cleaning things up at the end of the job usually saves you 60 minutes searching for stuff at the start of your next job.

WALT

 

[Ifixcars]

Here's my help for torch work. When I get the torch around a car I'm working on, I hang my spray water bottle nearby. It's a handy, free method to put out little flames that pop up from time to time. Nice for cooling down burning bushings after cutting rusted shocks or stabilizers. I also have some small pieces of sheet metal for shielding other parts from heat when heating or cutting. Keeps surrounding rubber and plasting from popping up into flames

 

[BobRip]

Some times when troubleshooting something there is more than one thing wrong with it. Two problems can give systems that don't relate to either cause. If you find one problem cause, go ahead and fix that. Then start troubleshooting again.

 

[Farwell]

When I sweat copper fittings I keep a bucket of water, wet grease rag and a spray bottle of water with me. The spray bottle has put out a few minor joist fires while soldering in place.
After soldering the fitting I spray it to cool it down and then wipe it with the wet rag to clean off any soldering compound left behind. The solder joints look much better.
David B