Thread: Old timmer tips or tricks!!!

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i am looking for all you gear heads old tips or cool tricks to help out building or fixing problems with old cars.
Like to glue a penny down to the Battery to attract the acid away from the battery cables. or peening the oil pan bolt holes from the inside out to help to seal the pan or keep it from leaking. another thing was back in the 70's we had people come in with thier old mid 70 ford that would say the car would just shut off after it drove a little ways. We would take a hair drier and turn the heat on and blow it on the brain which was on the wheel well. the if the car cut off in a couple minutes we knew the brain needed to be replaced. Stuff like this that people might not know today, thats what I would like to hear about.
Kurt

putting clothes pins on fuel lines to stop dodges and plymouths from vapor locking

Originally Posted by HOSS429

putting clothes pins on fuel lines to stop dodges and plymouths from vapor locking

Aluminum foil on fuel lines to help stop vapor lock. Do old Dodges and Plymouths really run long enough for this to be necessary? Just kidding of course! and V4, does This really work in today's world? I would like to try this. If I can find a couple of pennies.

Moth balls in your gas tank,old age here, can't remember why?

Take a permanent marker and write $ 5.00 on all those $ 200.00 parts you bought at the swap meet. You won't have to sleep with Fido tonight that way.

Don

This was shown to us "whipper snappers" by an oldtimer that owned a Parts House and Repair Shop on Washington Avenue in the Heights of North Houston during the 40's and 50's.

We were trying to get the tie rod end loose on a '49 Ford and had beat and banged everything including our knuckles when he came out and said "You boys move out of the way and let a Pro show you how it's done !" - - - then the old gentleman took a large shop hammer and another medium sized hammer and holding the heavy shop hammer on the back side of the female part of the tapered connection he sharply hit the opposite side with the other hammer and it came loose so easily. Then he just grinned like only a wise oldtimer can do and walked back in the house.

Those lessons you never forget !

Originally Posted by Oldmanb

Moth balls in your gas tank,old age here, can't remember why?

boost the octane

Down your carb. while the engine is running to remove a carbon deposit causing a knock.

Putting heaters in the tailgate's on Ford pickups to keep your hands warm while you push them... just kidding!

The mothball legend as an octane booster has been around for a long time. Prior to the mid 1940’s - WWII changed the demand for chemicals - naphthalene (which is a hydrocarbon, like gasoline) was the active ingredient in mothballs. “Modern mothballs” use para-dichlorobenzene in place of naphthalene – this is nasty stuff and really toxic. Poisoning can occur if you swallow or ingest this chemical in any manner. Due to the toxicity of para-dichlorobenzene, naphthalene based mothballs have again become available.

Early gasoline octane ratings (1920’s) were in the 40-60 range. During the 1930s and 40s, the ratings increased by approximately 20 units as alkyl leads and improved refining processes became widespread (again, thanks to the war machine and the need for higher octane fuels).

Naphthalene has a blending motor octane number of 90, so jamming a significant number of mothballs down the tank could increase the octane. The number of mothballs required to appreciably increase the octane could have some adverse effects. Because naphthalene has a very high melting point (175 F) it will stay as a residue in your gas filter or carburetor long after gasoline evaporates causing a gummy mess!

With modern gasoline (89 – 99 octane), naphthalene is more likely to reduce the octane rating, and the large number required for low octane fuels will probably create operational problems – not to mention emissions..

They do burn, so you will get some power out of them - but higher octane gas or a good additive/octane booster is probably a better and safer way to go. I sure wouldn't put them in anything I own..

My Two Cents,
Glenn

Here’s a tool tip – for years my father would immediately replace the cord on power tools with a nice long one. He would buy a 25 foot 12/3 extension cord (most tools were made of metal back then and required a ground) and snip off the receptacle end and install the cord in the new tool. I remember using electric drills and circular saws for years this way without the hassle of an extension. This also guaranteed that one wouldn’t use an extension that was too small for the tool.

New tools have gone “cordless” but I still have a few with cords, i.e., ½ inch drill motor, sawzall, grinder, etc. Still works.

Dg383500 you have to use the old lead pennies.
Kurt

Originally Posted by bluvelle65

Putting heaters in the tailgate's on Ford pickups to keep your hands warm while you push them... just kidding!

OH i do like that one .now thart thare is funny ..i do not care who you are.......less you push a ford

the best one of all, no matter what it is, put a chevy in it so you don't have to push! haha!

right on toofast....
I heard 95% of Chevy cars are still on the road










(the other 5% made it back ok)