Tips & Techniques: Mechanic's workarounds (McGyver stuff)

[85lebaront2]

Broken ribs when the step stool fly's out from under your feet and you land on the fender putting a dent in it.

Ooof!

I once had an empty compound bucket kick out and the hood latch caught me right in the solarplexus.

I was gaffed, and couldn't get enough wind to push myself up and off.

**Broke my sternum loose from some cartilage, but no ribs (knock wood)

Yes, the hood latch on these can be lethal.

[85lebaront2]

Yes, the hood latch on these can be lethal.

While on the hood latch, I have a nice, not really workaround, but trick from my NNS days, where I had a little desk sign that said "Work smarter, not harder". Pulling the heads on a 460, and I am sure the Diesels are right up there too, can be a real back breaker of a job. First the head bolts on a 460 are 9/16-12 and are torqued to 130 - 140 ft-lbs when assembled, after 20 + years of running they are stuck pretty well, the outer row, 4 of the 5 pass right next to an exhaust port and the oil from assembling the engine gets thoroughly coked from the exhaust heat. I have a very long Advance Auto breaker bar, and an old piece of exhaust pipe to break them loose.

That is only half of the battle, unless you are changing heads, you probably do not want to mess with the exhaust manifold bolts as they will probably break off flush with the head. The next problem comes in getting them off the block and out of the engine compartment. I don't know the exact weight, but it is enough to do serious damage to fingers, hands, toes etc. My workaround was to place a piece of 2X6 diagonally between the radiator support and the fender on the side I was removing. After breaking the gasket loose , the head can be lifted onto the board, then you climb down, carefully avoiding the hood latch, and pick the head off the board, I then stood it on end on a Harbor Freight hand truck for transport.

On reinstalling, or my case installing different heads, the process was reversed, roll the head over, lift it onto the board now covered with clean shop rags, climb back up and when everything has been wiped off and the new gasket placed, pick up the head and set it carefully in place and torque it properly.

[85lebaront2]

While on the hood latch, I have a nice, not really workaround, but trick from my NNS days, where I had a little desk sign that said "Work smarter, not harder". Pulling the heads on a 460, and I am sure the Diesels are right up there too, can be a real back breaker of a job. First the head bolts on a 460 are 9/16-12 and are torqued to 130 - 140 ft-lbs when assembled, after 20 + years of running they are stuck pretty well, the outer row, 4 of the 5 pass right next to an exhaust port and the oil from assembling the engine gets thoroughly coked from the exhaust heat. I have a very long Advance Auto breaker bar, and an old piece of exhaust pipe to break them loose.

That is only half of the battle, unless you are changing heads, you probably do not want to mess with the exhaust manifold bolts as they will probably break off flush with the head. The next problem comes in getting them off the block and out of the engine compartment. I don't know the exact weight, but it is enough to do serious damage to fingers, hands, toes etc. My workaround was to place a piece of 2X6 diagonally between the radiator support and the fender on the side I was removing. After breaking the gasket loose , the head can be lifted onto the board, then you climb down, carefully avoiding the hood latch, and pick the head off the board, I then stood it on end on a Harbor Freight hand truck for transport.

On reinstalling, or my case installing different heads, the process was reversed, roll the head over, lift it onto the board now covered with clean shop rags, climb back up and when everything has been wiped off and the new gasket placed, pick up the head and set it carefully in place and torque it properly.

One thing I do on transmission installations (I do have an actual Walker transmission jack) whatever thread the block, or in the case of some vehicles (Chrysler products) the transmission or transaxle case has, I find some extra long bolts, can be used or just cheap hardware store stuff. I insert these, with the heads removed and a slot cut for a screwdriver along with a slight taper ground on them, into the appropriate side. This allows the two pieces to stay fairly well aligned, you just have to watch that two faces stay parallel while you slide them together. This is what Ford tool xxxxx is just a pair of guide pins to facilitate alignment.

[ArdWrknTrk]

One thing I do on transmission installations (I do have an actual Walker transmission jack) whatever thread the block, or in the case of some vehicles (Chrysler products) the transmission or transaxle case has, I find some extra long bolts, can be used or just cheap hardware store stuff. I insert these, with the heads removed and a slot cut for a screwdriver along with a slight taper ground on them, into the appropriate side. This allows the two pieces to stay fairly well aligned, you just have to watch that two faces stay parallel while you slide them together. This is what Ford tool xxxxx is just a pair of guide pins to facilitate alignment.

All great tips Bill;

Thanks for sharing some wisdom.

[Gary Lewis]

All great tips Bill;

Thanks for sharing some wisdom.

Yes, thanks Bill!

I combine your two posts - not only do I use cut-off bolts to align a transmission to an engine, I also use them to align heads to blocks and intakes to heads.

But, the slots on the ends for a screwdriver are critical. I've had things together and couldn't get the studs out since they didn't have the slots - yet.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Yes, thanks Bill!

I combine your two posts - not only do I use cut-off bolts to align a transmission to an engine, I also use them to align heads to blocks and intakes to heads.

But, the slots on the ends for a screwdriver are critical. I've had things together and couldn't get the studs out since they didn't have the slots - yet.

How would you ever get them out without a slot?

Vice-Grips?

[Gary Lewis]

How would you ever get them out without a slot?

Vice-Grips?

That was the plan. But when you pick ones that aren't long enough to get on w/vice grips.....

They now have slots.

[JimJam300]

That was the plan. But when you pick ones that aren't long enough to get on w/vice grips.....

They now have slots.

I'm still a novice at auto repair, so I don't know if these are common knowledge or legitimate sneaky tricks. All this stuff I've learned from strangers on the internet and successfully used them. And there's a likelihood you might break something.

Fun with electric motors:

Potentially dangerous but it's a fast removal of a crankshaft pulley bolt. Remove fuel to the engine, position breaker bar against a 2x4 (or a sturdy component...) securely placed in your engine bay in the direction to loosen. Turn over the engine with the starter and let er rip. Don't let anyone be near the front of the vehicle. I'd imagine it may not work on certain vehicles, as I did it on a 4Runner I used to have but I used the rope trick on my Dodge. In a similar fashion if you bypass the clutch switch on an electric-start motorcycle, you can use the starter to get your bike out of a ditch or other obstacle. And if your bike is carb'd just switch off the fuel petcock so you can get off and walk the bike with motor assist. Just don't forget that your bike can now run away when you start it in gear.

Rag trick:

If stuck roller bearings are making your diff hard to take apart, stuff a rag in between the ring and pinion gears and crank the pinion yoke with huge channel locks/huge wrench/pry bar until they separate. It might pop out first try, it might need you to ball up the rag into gradually larger sizes until it starts to come out.

[chirkware]

Well this isn't really Bullnose specific, but I thought I'd show off a tool I made over 30 years ago when I was a teenager trying to work on my first car (a 1984 Mazda GLC... Who even remembers those?).

Worked great removing those hard to get to plastic snap together trim pieces. I think I used the flat end to get the window crank loose, but I don't recall.

Then there is the ultra-important hole... For hanging up the tool. 😂

Can you tell I had access to my dad's sheet metal shop and metal scrap pile? I still use this tool occasionally.