Section for shop tips and advice...

[167luckycharm]

Been wanting to post some useful tips on this site for a long time, and finally have the chance...but nowhere to list them. I suppose it could be relocated to the right place by the right people. Anyone else can chime in and add their own input too! What to do with those short pieces of rubber fuel line (about 2 to 3" long)? Stick them on the handle end of steel files to prevent injuring your hand while filing. I like to rummage through junk cars and take the skinny vacuum lines and windshield washer hoses. These are great for making a brake line bleeder kit (2-person version). Even those 1/8" rubber hoses can be used on the skinny 3-sided files or rat-tail files as handles. I have a piece on the pointed end of my 12volt continuity tester. It keeps me from jabbing my hand when digging thru my tool bag. I keep my chrome valve covers from getting scratched up by placing a strip of plastic between the cover and the hold-down bail. Two strips 5/8" wide by 3" long, cut from clear hard plastic sheet. These are from any store-bought merchandise (usually toys) that are encased in. Always discarded after opening, always needs a knife to cut into first, and work great. Each strip goes under the bend in the wire bail where it touches the valve cover. The plastic slides on the chrome cover as the bail is pulled up into the locking groove, capturing the plastic in between. To hide it, simply swing the strip sideways so it lays under the center of the bail. Make extras, 'cause they don't last long in the heat. Cheap stuff anyway. When polishing aluminum, don't keep rubbing the darkened spot on the cloth on the metal for too long. Find a clean spot on the cloth, add a spot of polish ( I like "Wicked Products" metal polish) and rub until the cloth turns gray. Any more polishing will cause the tiny metal particles you just buffed off to create scratches in the metal piece it came from. Here's proof; File a piece of aluminum with a flat file. As the surface gets nice and smooth, you'll notice that the teeth of the file will get some aluminum chips stuck in them. Continue to file with clogged teeth will result in scratches in the piece...done by those very pieces of metal that were part of the work piece. So, polishing is the same principle, only in smaller scale. I'll add more when I get back...