DIY - making it easier hacks

[Al Zim]

Upper engine bolts can be done by one person. Tighten the bottom two nuts. First you place a small hose clamp around the head of the bolt but not further forward then the end of the head. We then but a lump of the tar like material that is used around air conditioning fittings in cars, around the shank of the bolt by the head. Push the bolt in place as you tighten the lower 17 mm nuts and it will stay in place as you put the washer and the nut on the top bolts. What a pain to do this untill they in vented the ratcheting box end wrench.

[Martin Benade]

The tar stuff is called dum-dum in some circles.

[Mike Wilson]

Or drill through the heads of the bolts and insert a roll pin that prevents the bolt from turning. One of our members used to make them up. The dum dum will prevent the bolts from being pushed back.

Mike

[Randy Mittelstet]

Thank you Mike, I'll check it out.

[John Brooks]

What Mike said.

[Jason Laster]

what make of ramps do you use for the rear tires?

I have had this set for years, but a quick search and I'm pretty sure that https://www.amazon.com/RhinoRamp-11905- ... B0002YTN4I is the set I have. I have a set of 2x10s cut at a few lengths to provide some beginning clearance if needed under the tires.

[John Brooks]

Ok. Here a complicated hack, you need a welder and some square tube, or angle. Cheap motor cycle jack, extend it 12" with swivel casters on each corner. The mount a tilting table top, perforated to accept the engine case sump and drain.

Now you have a solid engine jack, that tilts to match the transmission angle. Raised and lowers with your left foot. Lowering foot valve has a "very slow mode" when all the way down. Table tilts up and down to clear the heater horns on the axel tubes & fan pulley You can use both hands to move the engine around while lowering or installing it. Makes an engine drop take less than 15 minutes. I don't drop a lot of engines anymore, I wish I had this 50 years ago.

I can take a complete engine off the test/ run-in stand and stick it directly into the car with the shrouds installed.

[Jason Laster]

I have stayed clear of the motorcycle jacks b/c of the lack of good front castors. your solution is great John. I may need to pick up a jack now and start on this. Does the tilting threaded rod just rest under the plate the engine rests on, or is there any sort of bushing/wear block there?

[John Brooks]

Jason

Yes it's just a 7/16 threaded rod welded to a round piece of 3/8 plate, cut It out 3" ODA with finger grips and rounder edge. Goes through a nut on the back angle iron, It's tilts east. A couple bolts in the front for a pivot. 12" extension will lift it up into a engine stand with the yoke installed. the ground clearence is about 2" completely down

Also at the front legs, leave room to clear the center leg on your engine stand before the bottom front cross bar.

[Harlan Halsey]

The year was 1971 and I had drained the oil out of the convertible D transmision. I soon found that no container I had would fit up there to refil the transmission. I tried filling a rubber glove with oil and squeezing it around a tube. I got more oil on me than in the transmission. The solution was to solder a copper tube into a 2 quart can and pressurize the can through a bicycle Presta valve. But the can is weak and won't take more than a couple of pounds of pressure. But I had an air brush with a small compressor. A piece of hose over the compressor hose is a loose fit over the presta valve, allowing me to control the pressure and the flow.

IMG_0569 Transmission Filler.jpg (1.57 MiB) Viewed 558 times

That was nearly 50 years ago. Since I have used that system on Mercedes, BMWs, Miata, Lotus, Ginetta,and of course, 356s. The airbrush has yet to perform its proper function. And I have become a fan of Vermont and New Hampshire maple syrup.

[David Grubbs]

Never in much of a hurry, I fill the transmission overnight with a five foot length of vinyl tubing attached to a large funnel hanging from the rafters. Time and gravity beat viscosity eventually. And I can't overfill if I start with the proper volume of fluid.

[Ron LaDow]

John, this brought back memories:

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Long ago, I was one of the founders and owners of a company which produced industrial exhibits. As such, we had fork lifts to move crates of those products to and from storage and shipping and so forth.
As an owner, access to the floor space and the forklift was a given. Looped aluminum straps on two 1X1 sticks dropped over the control levers of the forklift allowed control of Y and Z axis of the fork lift blades from a the creeper under the car.
BINGO!

[Randy Mittelstet]

I'm doing a hood seal project now. Here is a really handy drill attachment by Dewalt $20 I came across for tight places. You also need a hex drill bit set for $24 from Home Depot.

Another tip I got that would be handy when under the hood and needing more space is to put a 66 inch board between the floor and the top hood latch. Best to run a wire through the board at the top and wire it to the latch..... to avoid a life insurance event in case you kick it etc.

[Randy Mittelstet]

almost forgot. It was Stephen Dempsey who told me about raising the hood. It's surprising how much higher it will go.

[Jon Schmid]

One of my 1st hacks for removing Zenith carbs when I bought my oxy-acetylene torch in 1975

12mm_stubbie.jpg

Grinding wheel cut works well, too...