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...
Cylinder Sleeve Flange Failures May Go Unnoticed Cylinder sleeve flange failures may go unnoticed if the sleeve body stays in position, but if it is pulled down the cylinder, the result can be catastrophic. Cylinder sleeves are usually made from centrifugally cast...
Making Non-Hydraulic Lash Adjustments Quick, Easy On DOHC cylinder heads that have solid or shim lash adjusters, you can speed up your adjustments by scribing each valve with a number and numbering the corresponding cup. Grinding the valve, cutting the tip and cutting...
Making Your Own Custom Wrench for Headers For starters, find an old wrench you will not feel bad about bending and manipulating into the desired handle configuration. Then, I recommend a new sparkplug socket. (Make sure the wrench you choose will butt up to the...
Get Organized! Looking around for tools and parts wastes a lot of time and money. There is a great benefit to being organized and having the tools you need where you need them. Our head resurfacer for instance used to have a roll cart next to it piled with adapters,...