KEEPING THE WASTE OIL OUT When I disassemble an engine, I always leave it upright until I’ve removed and dropped the oil pan. The rest of the disassembly will be much cleaner as the parts won’t be dripping with the remaining tramp oil that doesn’t all get fully...

ANOTHER SILLY HEAT TRICK We all heat our oil plugs, studs and bolts to free them up. I found another heat solution, removing stubborn valve seals. I just warm them up with a propane torch to soften the rubber and they pull right off. This works great! Randy Torvinen...

HEX HEAD VALVE NUT Disassembling an old stuck engine can be challenging. When valves are stuck in the valve guides, try welding a nut to the face of the valve. Now you can rotate it to help free it from the guide.  Dave Matton  D and D Auto Machine  Bloomington, MN...

CONVOLUTED IDEA On many spray-wash machines, the "parts tree" will scuff up a freshly surfaced cylinder head if it is allowed to touch it. I simply slide some Convoluted Wire Tube over the branches of the tree and the heads are safe. Sometimes it can be difficult to...

SOUND CLEANING SOLUTIONS If you use an ultrasonic cleaner you can use smaller containers with various cleaning solutions in them within the water-filled ultrasonic cleaner. It will clean various materials simultaneously and reduce cleanup mess, time, and expense....

BLASTING OBSERVATIONS Here’s a couple of tips regarding soda blasting. Soda is very fine and it can become very cloudy and difficult to observe your work. I have drilled fresh air intake holes around the periphery of the viewing window, which helps keep the area...