REMOVING BOLTS BY CANDLE Removing broken bolts and studs can be surprisingly easy. First clean the area, then you heat up the broken bolt or stud. Let it cool for 5 minutes. Put a candle or paraffin wax on the broken bolt or stud. Let it sit for another 15 minutes...
RING ORGANIZER I made these piston ring organizer tabs for keeping rings in their perspective cylinders while final washing them in the sonic cleaner tank. Works great and saves time vs hand washing them in solvent. We also found some reusable zip ties, as I can't...
LATHE EFFICIENCY To boost efficiency on a job using a manual lathe, making custom valve cover nuts, we set up a center drill in a separate tail-stock chuck. Swapping the two chuck/drill is much faster and less work than swapping drill bits in and out of a single...
ODD LIFT LUGS With the proliferation of so many different engines, it seems you just don't have the correct length (LS engines) or metric pitch that you need to make the lifting and fixturing task easier. Being the pack rat that I am, I put my extra bolt drawer to...
To precisely shorten bolts in the lathe I made slotted collets for each bolt diameter. They are fractional in length to measure off the end, so you know where to cut for your length. I’ve used large o.d. valve guides and aluminum round stock. Just make the collet big...
BOLT COLLET To precisely shorten bolts in the lathe I made slotted collets for each bolt diameter. They are fractional in length to measure off the end, so you know where to cut for your length. I've used large o.d. valve guides and aluminum round stock. Just make the...