Here’s a couple of tips regarding soda blasting. Soda is very fine and it can become very cloudy and difficult to observe your work. I have drilled fresh air intake holes around the periphery of the viewing window, which helps keep the area clear. I also created a…
Archie Frangoudis Archies Racing Service Nashua, NH
I made a few of these simple scrapers to leave around the shop. They're really great for getting after rusty surfaces. An aluminum handle with used carbide tooling bolted on. They are simple to make. Repurpose your bits! Randy Torvinen Torvinen's Machine Shop Menahga, MN December, 2019
Randy Torvinen Torvinen's Machine Shop Menahga, MN
Some core plugs are notoriously tricky to remove. One example, that I see a lot of, is the deep plugs used in the back two positions of big block Chryslers where the cylinder wall is close to the plug hole. I simply tack weld a nut to…
Joe DeGraw Grawmondbecks Engine Rebuilding Mason City, IA
Some of the late model Gen 3 hemi engines have plastic plugs in place where the MDS solenoids locate in the valley. They need to come out for block cleaning. They can be stubborn or even break when trying to remove. There is a small oil port…
Nick Jones Automotive Machine Fraser, MI
I noticed a large area underneath the turntable in my spray washer, that I put to good use. I purchased some 16 gauge perforated sheetmetal and fabricated a 10" deep removable reservoir. The solution is already spraying everywhere so now I save alot of time and energy…
Dave Matton D and D Auto Machine Bloomington, MN
If you don't have a thread chaser for the right bolt hole size, it's pretty easy to make one. You can modify a bolt of the correct size and thread pitch. Cut the head off & cut a groove in the threads, length wise. Now put…
Rick Lake Lake's Machine Shop Needmore, PA
I have been taking photos of projects as customers drop them off. A picture from all sides will show any sensors, brackets etc. that the customer didn’t remove. A couple times a year a customer will tell me I forgot to give them back a…
Dan Matton D and D Auto Machine Bloomington, MN
I see a lot of pipe plugs today that don’t get removed or are all butchered up from guys struggling to get them out. I use a torch to heat up the tapered pipe plugs in the block until they glow red. Then I let it…
Lewis Andrews Andrews Automotive Savannah, MO
I always mark the flywheel when I’m done balancing so the customer will install it in the exact same spot as where I balanced it. I always shift it full right on the slop in the mounting bolts, opposite crankshaft rotation. Testing with a counterweighted flywheel shows…
Randy Torvinen Torvinen’s Machine Menahga, MN
If you have ever had to clean RTV off of a gasketless oil pan, timing cover or other parts, you know how hard and time consuming this task can be. We have found that running a round ball end Allen wrench, where the ball fits the groove…
Kevin Elam Liberty Auto Machine Shop Liberty, MO