The Tips and Tricks thread

[Smokey228]

my mate has a proper jack, not one of those k-mart ones, its got a massive handle, like 1.5m-2m long... its hollow and passes over most wratchets easily, then use it to give u more tourqe to snap the bolt, works a charm, everytime ...

i jus went out and bought myself a sidchrome set but, quite nice indeed... but wen i say, tight bolts, i mean those ones where u gotta use the extra long breaker bar. eitherway, it was a 20$ wratchet set... hahaha

sorry, ON TOPIC...
heres a few to make up for it..
-degreaser isnt that expensive and makes everything sooo much easier, jus have some good ventilation...
-although dropping ur oil while its hot works well, to do it properly u can pick up a thinner of sum sort that is used to drop oil properly... ill get the name for everyone from my mate, he supposedly uses it. hes a mechanic...
-i jus wanna emphasize on the photo taking point. its incredibly important... especially if ur as forgetful as me...

[JustCallMeOrlando]

If you can't be arsed buying a special tool for removing a small bolt you broke the head off it cos you're lazy like me, get a small drill bit and drill a hole in the centre of it, then drive a flat-blade screwdriver a smidge larger in width than the diameter of the hole. Use a hammer to get it in if it's resisting too much. If it has trouble budging, use a ring spanner on the screwdriver handle for leverage.

Worked fine for a seatbelt bolt the previous owner had broken and a couple of sump bolts that...I...kinda broke

[JDM hachi]

just remembered another one....
when painting metal brackets etc. put them in an oven at about 160C for long enough to heat the part up, pull out and hit with your chosen spray paint, comes out like powder coating, dries quickly and you can dump a heap of paint on to it too. this method is ideal for newly fabricated bits but i'd be careful about existing paint on older parts catching fire, so try to get off as much old paint as possible.
i have painted the centres of a set of 2 piece wheels, so i guess if you have access to a LARGE oven then the skys the limit......
matty.

[FWD_Rolla]

going for a long driving? put some carwash or dishwashing detergent on your front bar, headlights etc. the bugs come off easy

Must try this 1 : sounds like a good idea.

[Matt-AE86]

Most people strugle when removing mcpherson struts with stock suspension or long springs in them. I have found getting a long bar, sticking the end under the back of the control arm that bolts onto the cross member then resting it over the castor rod and sway bar then pushing it down makes it alot easier, and the 2nd helper should be able to lift the strut out fairly easily.

[Nark]

remove auto grease from hands with baking soda and water. i find jiff good aswell

Also clothes washing powder does the trick brilliantly. Big granules for scrubbing and lots of oil lifting properites. If your skin is broken though, it'll sting like a bitch.

Another one is to moisturise your hands before doing work. The layer of oil will help keep other oil and grease off your skin.

[o_man_ra23]

Also clothes washing powder does the trick brilliantly. Big granules for scrubbing and lots of oil lifting properites. If your skin is broken though, it'll sting like a bitch.

Another one is to moisturise your hands before doing work. The layer of oil will help keep other oil and grease off your skin.

Dishwashing liquid too... trix does a great job of this. The stuff is designed not only to remove oil and grease easily from dishes so your dainty partner doesnt have to do any hard work, but it also utilises moisturisers etc to help get the next batch of grease off. I find if you wash your hands regularly, and keep your tools clean with a rag, you tend not to come out lookin like a coal miner after most jobs. Most commonwhores and foulcans that ive worked on were just too messy to come out clean after I tend not to use the washing powder nark, as my hands always have cuts one them cause of the amount i play with cars

Cheers, Owen

[o_man_ra23]

Use metho to clean brake fluid off anything. Be careful when using on paint, make sure you wash the metho off quickly. But this will help get all the grime etc off your callipers and so forth so you dont have to spend so much on brake kleen or other such products. As a bonus you can have a bit of a party after down the park with all that leftover metho just dont tell the other parkies you just wasted some on your brakes

Cheers, Owen

[Ben Wilson]

If you need to stop a motor turning (out of the car) to remove crank/flywheel bolts:

grab a decent sized allen key, stick the long end through a bellhousing hole and fit the short end into the flywheel teeth. works like a charm...

[o_man_ra23]

If you need to stop a motor turning (out of the car) to remove crank/flywheel bolts:

grab a decent sized allen key, stick the long end through a bellhousing hole and fit the short end into the flywheel teeth. works like a charm...

Or just use a rattle gun... make sure you use a six sided impact socket though, not a 12 point socket, or you will risk burring the threads. Trying to jam stuff in the flywheel teeth has led me to many bleeding hands and a dictionary of new curse words.

Cheers, Owen

[Hen]

Also on hand cleaning, I find you can get most of the crap off one way or another. But to get that last bit of ingrained black gunk out just grab some moisturiser and rub it in.

It's a win-win. It makes your battered skin feel heaps better and lifts the last little bit of grime.

Hen

[o_man_ra23]

Also on hand cleaning, I find you can get most of the crap off one way or another. But to get that last bit of ingrained black gunk out just grab some moisturiser and rub it in.

It's a win-win. It makes your battered skin feel heaps better and lifts the last little bit of grime.

Hen

Auto transmission fluid works a charm too. Dropped the sump from a foulcan on the driveway at work one afternoon after a long day, and just getting the motor out, and had to clean it up with only a few rags, by sopping up and squeezing into a container. Hands were clean as a whistle after that, and the tranny fluid was easy to get off with handcleaner and water.

Cheers, Owen

[Ben Wilson]

Trying to jam stuff in the flywheel teeth has led me to many bleeding hands and a dictionary of new curse words.

Try an allan key, no swearing involved. And you can do it late at night without upsetting the people living around you..

[mynameisrodney]

when buying a second hand car, take a fridge magnet with you. walk around the car and try to stick it to rust prone spots such as sills and doors etc. anywhere the magnet doesnt stick is either bog or fibreglass.

if you are having trouble pushing a car, try pushing on the top of the wheel. this acts like a lever and makes life a whole lot easier.

chris

[gearb0x]

Couple of pics of a variation of what takai said in action - clutch alignment tool

http://gb.detonated.org/gallery/TE71/P0003397
http://gb.detonated.org/gallery/TE71/P0003400

Not sure if anyone mentioned it yet, but a Spark plug socket with the sides cut out, a G clamp and duct tape make a geat valve spring compressor