Repair/mechanic tricks and or tips?

[Olmike]

I'm not sure there is A best way to improvise A repair.The best stuff I've used is Silver powder.Comes in A small tube & if you can pinch A tube thats thats leakin it will seal a pretty big hole & won't plug up anything else.Along the same line,way back when the kids were little were on our way to see relatives about 40 miles away.The fan belt on the 61 chevy broke.Cut one leg off the wifes pantyhose & wrapped around w/p & crank pulley & made it in.

 

[patrick_g]

Olmike, After having survived by using cereal, I bought and carried the silver powder for years and years but never got the chance to use it. How 'bout that, panty hose is good for more things than just straining paint!

Pat

 

[6sunset6]

I read somewhere that you can use Tootsie Roll to fix gas tank leaks.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Can't you put that stuff in the radiator to begin with and it will fill holes as they appear?

 

[patrick_g]

I read somewhere that you can use Tootsie Roll to fix gas tank leaks.

The conventional approach is to use a bar of soap to caulk the leak from the outside.

Pat

 

[Soundguy]

Soundguy, It sounds like either you have a faulty gauge or the vehicle started out with lots of reserve cooling capability.

I had a Lincoln Versailles (main rival of the Cadillac Seville) that overheated in desert or pulling steep grades in the mountains. Cleaning the radiator did not help as the problem was inadequate cooling as designed and built. I nearly baked myself turning off the A/C and running the heater to get additional cooling (with all windows open of course.) I bought a custom radiator with a lot more capacity and more rows of core and then the car would climb a steep grade in the desert at high speed with A/C on and never heat up more than during gentle driving.

Pat

I'm figuring good reserve cooling capacity. Most of the early fords had WAY oversized radiators.. most notably the N series. The temp gauge seems to be reading at least close to wha the air temp at the radiator core 'should' feel like. I have a 660 that runs a tad cooler.. same gauge.. but 100% radiator.

I keep saying I'm gonna repalce the radiator -anyway- as it looks ugly with all the solder.. however.. it's hard to repalce something that still works and has never boiled over... I do know if I ever think it's getting hot.. it will be the first thing to go along with hoses, and a thermostat.. and perhaps a pulldown on the WPump.. etc.

Soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

I'm not sure there is A best way to improvise A repair.The best stuff I've used is Silver powder.Comes in A small tube & if you can pinch A tube thats thats leakin it will seal a pretty big hole & won't plug up anything else.Along the same line,way back when the kids were little were on our way to see relatives about 40 miles away.The fan belt on the 61 chevy broke.Cut one leg off the wifes pantyhose & wrapped around w/p & crank pulley & made it in.

I had thought that was a myth, but our truck driver once lost a belt on his rig.. on an accy pump.. and he flagged down a woman and ?somehow? talked her out of her hose.. and he said it also got him to a rest stop down the road.

Go figure.. i'd not have believed that had I not heard it twice now...

What I'd like to know really though.. is what magic words a trucker told some gall to make her hand over her nylons.. not THAT INFO may be usefull!

Soundguy

 

[PitbullMidwest]

A trick I learned a few years ago helps keep extension cords from getting tangled. Drill a hole near the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket and run the plug and about 2 foot of cord out the hole and coil the rest of the extension cord inside the bucket. Set the bucket next to an outlet, plug it in and feed out as much or little cord as you need. A 5 gallon bucket will hold a lot of joined extension cords. When you're done simply coil the cords back into the bucket. No fuss and no tangles and it's easier to carry one bucket than multiple cords.

 

[Olmike]

Pitbull,Thats A neat tip But not as much fun as gettin pantyhose leg!

 

[Farwell]

A friend of mine took a deer antler in the radiator of his older pick-up. He managed to get the truck to a Grand Auto where the repair guy cut the two tubes that were damaged and rolled them up about an inch and crimped the ends. Five years later the radiator is still doing fine.
Remember back when radiators had metal tops and bottoms? When I had an overheating problem and had eliminated the thermostat as the cause, I would de-solder the the top and bottom and rod out the radiator tubes with a cut off piece of band saw blade while running water through the unit with a garden hose. I would clean up the parts that needed to be re-soldered and solder the radiator back together. I haven't worked on any of the plastic topped radiators.