LET IN THE LIGHT(ER) When vacuum checking 4 valve per cylinder heads, its hard to tell if its both or just one valve that’s leaking. Use your vacuum tester and one of those long inexpensive BBQ or candlestick lighters. Hold the lighter close to the valves and the...
BALANCING ACT I installed pulleys at the top of my 20-ton press. I ran cables from the bed up and over the top. I welded up the ends of 2 pieces of 4” square pipe to form 2 bucket which I loaded with enough lead tire weights to act as a counterbalance to the bed. Now...
LAP IT UP Allen head bolts get stripped out easily. If they are showing signs of wear, before trying to remove them fill the recess with lapping compound then install the proper allen bit. This will make it a little tighter and have better grab so it doesn’t strip as...
CORN IN THE GASTANK I left my 2007 Harley Davidson sitting in storage with a half of a tank of gasoline, without an additive to combat the effects of Ethanol fuel. With all the press releases and articles warning about the corrosive effects of condensation and...
TWO HAND TIPPING I’ve found an easy way to set the valve stem height on heads. I get the two end valves to spec, then install light springs and retainers. This way I can hold the ruler across the top of the tips to adjust the others without needing 3 hands. Randy...
ANOTHER DOWEL PULLER We were trying to remove the alignment dowels from some “H” beam rods and our usual method of using a head dowel puller wasn’t working on the stubborn ones. I was trying to figure out a more precision collet set to use when I decided that my mill...