Extracting Broken Bolts From Aluminum Broken bolts that are seized in aluminum with corrosion often do not break loose with penetrating oil or freeze spray because they are too tight. And we often shy away from using our torches for fear of melting aluminum since it...
Balloons Belong at Birthday Parties Not in Transmissions I rebuilt a 454 GM engine that went into a motorhome application. It ran well, and no problems immediately appeared. But later on, it was towed in with a main bearing failure in the thrust area. I gave the...
A Spectacular Method of Removing Broken or Seized Bolts I use a direct method to remove broken and seized bolts or studs in iron or steel; a cutting torch applied directly to the stub-end. Once the stub is glowing bright red, I hit the oxygen lever and a fountain of...
Factoid of the Month: Soybeans and Automobiles: From Henry Ford to Biodiesel In the ’30s and early ’40s Henry Ford was determined to make bodies and other car parts from soybean phenolic resin. By 1935 he was already growing 12,000 acres of soybeans. He planned to use...
Factoid of the Month: The Engine of the Future How accurate were predictions of 50 years ago about what would power the car of the future? The answer is: not very. An article in the Summer 1962 issue of Automobile Quarterly magazine predicted the dominant motive power...
Fuel System Corrosion Issues in Rarely Driven Vehicles The use of ethanol in modern gasoline has brought with it (among other things) the problem of corrosion in fuel systems, especially in seldom used older vehicles. Carburetors are especially vulnerable to ethanol...