need tool advice
in [Technical]
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From: Steve W. on 18 Dec 2009 20:06 > > Reminds me I want some kind of right-angle drill or flex attachment. > My son and I put a new water pump on the '93 Grand Am a few days ago, > and he pulled out a hard-rubber or some synthetic bristled brush for > cleaning the gasket surface. Never saw one before. > He uses it at work and says it works real good, not scratching the > metal. > Problem was it's designed so the bristles are in line with the drill > shaft, so there wasn't enough room in the engine bay to get them onto > the gasket surface well. > Put it in my smallest drill, a 3/8" but it was too tight in there. > Ended up using a razor blade, like always. > > --Vic Sounds like a 3M bristle disc. Best item for gasket removal and surface cleaning. Easy power source is a right angle die grinder. I have about three of them of various makes. -- Steve W.
From: Vic Smith on 18 Dec 2009 22:22 On Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:44:11 -0600, Vic Smith <thismailautodeleted(a)comcast.net> wrote: >My son and I put a new water pump on the '93 Grand Am a few days ago, Couple other "tool notes" on this job. Had to prop the engine and remove a motor mount for this. Lining up the holes up to put it back together took some prying on the engine. Tried a 10' long wrench to grab the bracket and pull the engine. Hurt my hand, so I wrapped a rag around it and tried again. Moved fine but I felt a hernia coming on. Said "Hold it. I go in the house and get my pipe wrench" Then I saw a bunch of 2"x4" pieces I had in a corner. Grabbed a 4 footer and it worked good with the shock tower as fulcrum. No strain at all. Didn't have any pry bars around, and the wood was better in that it grabbed better. Too bad 2'x4"s don't usually fit in the toolbox. My kid pulled on a lower mount bolt with his ratchet with no success. Said he didn't bring a breaker bar, but he had a backup. Screwed a 18" piece of 1/2" steel rod on a different ratchet. I said, "Let me see that." Told me he had welded a nut on an old ratchet to take the threaded rod. Scrap metal from the suspension shop where he works. He quickly had the bolt out. I'd probably just keep a breaker bar around, but an extended ratchet does have advantages. Man, I feel a tool frenzy coming on. --Vic
From: cuhulin on 18 Dec 2009 23:27 Tool frenzy,,, same here.This afternoon, I was at the Sears store, looking at a Craftsman plunge cut 3'' mini circular saw.In the morning, I am going back over to the Sears store and buy one of those saws. cuhulin
From: Ad absurdum per aspera on 21 Dec 2009 10:37
[Rusted or rounded off: why choose when you can have both?] I just solved a couple of Christmas problems on the farm-and-ranch side of the family (implication: overtorqued, slightly bent and jammed, rusted, or messed-up-by-the-previous-owner machinery R us) with a "Universal" wrench set that Sears has now. Six pieces for $20 in your choice of metric or king's toes and barleycorns as of a few days ago -- probably still, but you couldn't winch me into the mall right now. They've got open-end on one end, box-end on another, and the box end is complicated on the inside. They claim to be good for (at least somewhat) rounded hex fasteners, among other things: external Torx, external spline, and square. They may be a bit thick for some automotive jobs, perhaps to make up for the thinness of the bitey bits inside the box end of each one, but the worst that can happen is they'll fall into the "oddball gadget you only need once, at which time it is priceless" end of the toolbox. Anyway, getting back to the original poster's question, quality tools are always a good gift in my opinion. However, I suspect that someone entering a formal training program as a mechanic these days is going to be doing a surprising amount of book learnin' and tube lookin' at, especially at first. If personally owned tools are needed at the outset, the course description or a call to the instructor might give some good hints. --Joe |