Tools, Tips and Tricks

:grinning::grinning::grinning:why is that guy so violant. I do the same without smashing. Twice today. I had to improvise :frowning:. I hate that. It means you f&@ked up if you cant do it the normal way :grinning:

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No. Improvise is good. When you come up to a wall and just keep walking into it because you can’t figure out how to get around it or over it, That’s bad. That would be the majority of people. “How come the government doesn’t build me a door or bring me a ladder”?

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:grinning::grinning::grinning:your point of view. Ok. Correct. I have a collegae that starts improvising and never works the normal way :frowning:. My polski friend, ex- collegae, ex partner but friends for life :grinning:. He installed a pv system for my parents for free. Good man with good heart. But he starts improvising when he doesnt have to. Fun but unnecessary.
He changed the headgasket of our forklift ( twice actually). The first time he was finished and up and running before some company even could make an offer/ quote. :grinning: that was needed improvising.

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Practicing unnecessary improvisation will get you a long ways in a shtf scenario, look at all us playing with woodgas, tractors, growing gardens, sollar arrays, battery banks ECT. We are outside the proverbial “box” we just do it before the poo starts flying :wink:

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Several points of view. I see a person taking the safety guards away of an automatic saw. Why? Somebody put them there for a reason. The same with a grinder. Why take the cap off? I never do that unless I have to improvise and put it back as soon as possible.
And I think of you Marcus, standing on the side of the road. Things have to get fixed at that moment in that situation. Then you need to improvise :ok_hand:

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Anything not involving a tow truck? That’s a win in my book haha even if its just limped to the next off ramp so i don’t get smacked by a passing car while giving something a proper fix!

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Or dead if you don’t know what you are doing. :slight_smile:

It is kind of like improvisation in music, if you know what you are doing you sound great, but if you don’t, chances are no one will ever want to hear you again. And if you know what you are doing, you can also cover up your mistakes by making it sound like that is what you meant to do. :slight_smile:

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Balance is the key to life. To avoid being to rigid and avoid being to impulsive and erratic will overcome most problems. You and your friend balance each other out Joep, I always buy the manuals for machines. Sometimes I don’t read all the words. :crazy_face:

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Perhaps you are saying improvise/experiment>learn before an emergency. Then if the emergency comes it will not really be an emergency, because you will know what to do? This is my method, just work and more work.
Rindert

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Exactly what I meant. And at the same time its just learning what you dont know should a situation ever arise where you might need to know how to do something, in a much less stressful environment

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Good Morning All,
The Project Farm guy has a new tools video out comparing 1/4" drive hand ratchet tools.
I like this guy a lot.
Watch and enjoy. Learn. And then I’ll show you want I learned to use to get best access, make-time and earn a living wrenching on modern vehicles:

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Here is the reality of working on modern vehicles . . . you really need 3-4 different 1/4" drive ratchets plus some very special extensions and adapters to get accesses; and get the jobs done quickest, and safest:


That fine toothed, round headed, yoke swivel handle ratchet, is SnapOn. My #1 go-to. Always teamed up with a good all-the-way through durable plastic handle extension. This one a MAC. I first had one in Metrinch brand. The best part of that whole tools set.
Watch how I can shift from power breaking free; to finger tips speed:


And then figuring the other hand is part holding, and positioning even able to one hand pop it off and catch the ratchet and still be able to finger tips spin off a nut, or spin out a bolt:

The other hand then holding freed up; able to reach down to catch that loosen nut or bold from dropping off, and disappearing.

Back to my primary use three:


Note the head thicknesses and the reversing flipper stick-outs.
The L.H. one, the most versatile, expensive SnapOn.
The center one a simple straight forwards Craftsman used ONLY for brake nipples bleeding. The squirting brake fluid corrosive; and rubber and plastics reactive. So’s I WILL Not trasnfer this as a later same ratchet use problem to under hood. Or Worse! Inside the vehicle. This Craftsman easy to wash out with break clean spray or even snap ring disassemble, clean, and re-lubricate.
The R.H. ratchet is my two handed, lower arms and shoulders power break free ratchet. Been replaced a few times. Broken. This current one? Hmm. A Craftsman made-in-Taiwan I think. Has held up.

And it works best with long standing off wobbly-ended extensions:



I got these off of the MAC tools truck. My first exposures set of these were 3/8" in that Metrinch set bought. Still working.

My fourth 1/4" ratchet used is s-o-m-e-w-h-e-r-e about the farm . . . garden shed replacing the Stihl weed eater carburetor? As the first found, and grabbed?
It is a very thin headed version I got for some tight, tight, crosswise front end of engines working. Cadillac crosswise V-8’s water pumps. Tight, tight, tight. Branded a Craftsman. Made in Japan.

So just like woodgasifiers: one-for-all would be far too compromising, and use-limiting.

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Never had, never even seen an extension with a screw driver handle on it. What a great idea. First set of tools I ever owned were Craftsman. Built my first chopper with them. I guess that’s why I’ve always been so fond of them. I still have the original 1/2 drive ratchet. 58 years of use.

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I’ll put this one here,a trick I learned years ago for patching broken plastics back together

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Thanks Used the tip right away. Fits perfect😀

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Mapp gets the staple too hot, and you burn away the plastic material and leave a carbon deposit layer on the staple.

They actually sell the hot staple guns on amazon for 10-30 dollars. But it is about the same price as buying actual plastic welding tips to attach to a hot air gun. Some plastics can’t be welded, and you have to identify the type of plastic first.

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I’d never have the patience to bend and insert all those menders. I’d just fiberglass over the old shell. Maybe a holster to fill up the old hole. :cowboy_hat_face:

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I finally got around to putting the third set of Iridium spark plugs in the Wife’s car at 199998 miles:


Ha! Ha! A wealth of evolved techniques in this picture.
Early summer morning in this maritime climate makes for lots of dripping wet dew down on everything. Look at the windshield and the dripping off of the hoods edge.https://dow.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/original/3X/9/3/931dcb74c3dffa2034f32f16b2ae1bac1673071e.jpeg
So what was learned was to start up and run the engine first a bit to generate some heat and drying off. Engine off then it warms the tools and parts therefore the hands for faster, safer working.
Yes I really do spray down the coil connctors and locks with silicone spray for ease of removals without breaking the time/age/heat made brittle plastics.
And yes aways use enough extensions to get far above to avoid whapping, breaking anything when two arms breaking loose those spark plugs married in after 100K in place:

Ha! This picture did not frame out well.
Was supposed to show you the gap widening wear differences.
Was supposed to show you the new plug illustrated box saying to ONLY 1/16th of a turn to seat down these metal to metal tapered seat type spark plugs.
Not shown was the modified bicycle pump I used to blow out the plug well before and after removal. Grits getting imbeded into aluminum head threads on installation are Bad. The hard burnt carbons built up between the old plug and threads is a hard shed grit! Blow it out of the cylinder head threads.

One very special tool used . . . my all metal touch-less spark plug socket. German, I think.
No rubber up inside to have gotten previously oily and dirty. Then contaminating the new plugs porcelain insulator end.
It’s been found especially on there deep well coil-over-plugs types that installation


contaminations is what is causing the majority of later carbons tracking made misfiring. Bad. Bad. You did not just trash the plug; but trashed the coil reach down stem too!! Easy dirty oily fingers handling the new porcelains! Hold by the threads only. Go real light on any never sieze used. It transfer terribly. The metals in them creates electrical energy shorting pathways.

Later OBDII’s, treat the plugs the way you would krypton and halogen headlights bulbs. Or your insides computers guts.
S.U.

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Your wife’s catching up to my wife’s 06 Escape, just turned 225k miles. She is retired now so mileage has slowed.

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Well, y’all got some catching up to do! MY wifes 2007 trailblazer has 350,000 miles an still going strong.

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