Hot Rod Forum banner

show me your home made tools so I can copy them!

290K views 238 replies 67 participants last post by  OneMoreTime 
#1 ·
home made tools that worked

I just thought it would be cool to hear of peoples home made tools that worked to do the job, or even better if it worked better than the actual tool did.
 
#53 ·
cboy said:
No, but speaking of cutting down trees reminds me of another tool I forgot to mention. This is my "stump set".

Back in the old days bodies were often formed by hammering and shaping metal using stumps and beater bags. Many of the early Ferrari and other sports car coaches were made this way. The tradition goes back for eons.

So after doing a little reading on the subject, I headed out to the woods and took down a dying oak tree to make these metal forming stumps. I cut mine at about 36" tall so they are at a comfortable workbench height. Then I cut and formed various shapes into the top and sides of each stump (I made three altogether). These shapes are then used as a form or solid backing to hammer the metal against. Hopefully the pictures will explain the usefullness of this addition to my "crude tool" collection.

The last 3 pictures show how the stump formed metal technique was put to use on my sedan delivery forming some of the more difficult compound curves like the rear corner...and the final outcome. Not a bad tool for $.00 cost.

















I'm totaly impressed.... :thumbup: :thumbup:I'm making some...Stolen by DBM
 
#54 ·
deadbodyman said:
Ok I really like the brake bleeder and I have a need for it right now,So,since I'm not much of a mechanic ,can you explain where tthis goes and how to use it? Thanks ,Mike
Mike,

Remove the master cylinder cover and clamp it down (rubber gasket included) with a large C-clamp. Use regulated shop air to put 20 PSI on it, then bleed you brakes as usual...

Russ
 
#55 ·
S10xGN said:
Mike,

Remove the master cylinder cover and clamp it down (rubber gasket included) with a large C-clamp. Use regulated shop air to put 20 PSI on it, then bleed you brakes as usual...

Russ
no need to touch the pedal? my master is a 89 camero with a plastic tank ....still 20lbs? I'll pm you....thanks S10,I think I got a mudd daubber problem that'll help locate the plug in the front brakes,had the wife pumping the other day....what a nightmare....you may have saved my life too...if I asked her again.... :( :( :(
 
#56 ·
deadbodyman said:
no need to touch the pedal? my master is a 89 camero with a plastic tank ....still 20lbs? I'll pm you....thanks S10,I think I got a mudd daubber problem that'll help locate the plug in the front brakes,had the wife pumping the other day....what a nightmare....you may have saved my life too...if I asked her again.... :( :( :(
Ohhh, mine's cast iron, never thought about the newer plastic reservoirs... It should be okay. You might try a couple PSI (watch it close!), upping the pressure and checking for any deformation. Once you get pressure on the fluid, you won't need to pump the pedal. It's like gravity bleeding on speed!

Russ
 
#58 ·
CBoy, here are the pics of the modified gun. I used a clear chemical feed hose so I could see the progress of the paint in the long tube. It effectively increased the capacity of the little can some what at the same time get the pot completely out of the way. I have not installed the elbow, but will get one in the near future.

Trees
 

Attachments

#59 ·
Russ, just finished the brakes... the air bleeder worked great,started with 5lbs but it didnt need any more to work...I just loosend the fittings till I found where no fluid came out and as I suspected the rubber lines were pluged.they work fine now,Thanks,I owe ya one...Mike :thumbup: :thumbup:
 
#60 ·
since I owe ya's one ,heres two a simple ones a scissor jack with a 1/2" drive scoket welded on for very fast jacking with an impact wrench or air ratchet and it really comes in handy in tight spots like when jacking out a crushed 1/4 to remove it....and a pair of vice grips with half round tube welded on for making wheel wells and tight curves
 

Attachments

#61 ·
Here is the latest thing I used. Painting wheels has always been a PITA for me. I have tried hanging them, bolting them to an old axle, spreading them out on a table etc etc. I always have managed to get paint on my hands, runs, two day jobs etc. I was dreading painting the 5 new wheels for the 37 Pick Up project (see my journal), but JB, who is not a car guy, came up with an ideal that worked slick. He built a jig from scrap OSB and cut 5 sections of carpet roll tubes. He then split each one so he could twist them to fit in the axle/spindle hole. After inserting them into the 5 rims, we laid them out on saw horses and the "big tool" buggy. He would place a rim in the jig and I would proceed to paint it while turning the tube. When I finished a coat, he would remove the wheel by lifting each end of the tube and put it back in place on the saw horses/"big tool" and place another rim in the jig. It took less time to paint the rims with two coats than to mix the paint and clean up.

Trees
 

Attachments

#63 ·
trees said:
Here is the latest thing I used. Painting wheels has always been a PITA for me. I have tried hanging them, bolting them to an old axle, spreading them out on a table etc etc. I always have managed to get paint on my hands, runs, two day jobs etc. I was dreading painting the 5 new wheels for the 37 Pick Up project (see my journal), but JB, who is not a car guy, came up with an ideal that worked slick. He built a jig from scrap OSB and cut 5 sections of carpet roll tubes. He then split each one so he could twist them to fit in the axle/spindle hole. After inserting them into the 5 rims, we laid them out on saw horses and the "big tool" buggy. He would place a rim in the jig and I would proceed to paint it while turning the tube. When I finished a coat, he would remove the wheel by lifting each end of the tube and put it back in place on the saw horses/"big tool" and place another rim in the jig. It took less time to paint the rims with two coats than to mix the paint and clean up.

Trees
Let me share with you the ultimate trick to painting wheels, mount the tire first! Yep, prime the wheel, paint the inside if you want. Then mount your tire but don't bead it. Just mount it leaving it loose on the rim. Now you can easily mask it off tucking the paper into the rim. After painting the outside you fill up the tire beading it! No scratches in your new paint, pretty as a peach.

Brian
 
#65 ·
I learned a lot of stuff at a restoration shop I worked at back in the seventies, that was one of the things that I have never forgot. We also had a tool to paint them on. It was a stand with a old spindle on it with a hub. The hub had metal rods welded off the top of the studs on the hub. Those rods were about 7/16" round and had a knotch ground in it at the top on the outer side. You would flex the rods togther and slip the rim over them at the lug holes. The rods pressure going out on the edge of the rim right at the knotch would hold the rims on. You could spin the rim as you painted it. Once the tire is mounted you just roll the wheel on the paper masked tire to get all the edges.

That guy was full of some great ideas, we had a rotating frame painting rack years before I ever saw one anywhere else.

Brian
 
#66 ·
Brian, So many ingenious tools these old timers made have been lost forever.Its to bad the internet wasnt around then,if you hadnt saw that and rememberd it it would have been thrown out after he died because no one knew what it was and lost with all the other stuff.I love making tools and equipment,as does most of us...problem solving and solutions...thats what its all about...I wish more guys would share thier ideas here insted of keeping them secret...I made a tool for replacing the inner structure of a deck lid or door bottom that saves the outer skin leaving it intact. I found it the other day but i keep forgetting to take a pic of it..Sometimes the inner structure rusts out and the skin is still perfect for instance a mustang deck lid.I'll post it tonight.its so simple you'll laugh...But then I'm simple minded so it all makes cents. :mwink:
 
#67 ·
You know, just a few years ago I called him to thank him for the things he taught me. I wouldn't be nearly the bodyman I am today if not for Nick, he is a brilliant mind. I have worked for two of these guys in my life, the other one was the last job I had about eight years ago. What a thinker!

How about this for an idea, and he built everything he thought of, we used it in the shop.

He made a "hook" style puller for the frame rake. You know, one of those "J" shaped tools you would use to pull out a rear body panel? The thing was he added a tube at the front of the J to insert a port-o-power ram! So, you could put this hook around the panel and pump on the port-o-power until its foot was against the outer side of the panel while the end of the J was on the inside!

I'll draw it up and post it, it is hard to explain. But this guy is literally a genious, there is nothing else to call him, he came up with all kinds of stuff.

The problem with him, like most geniouses he thought TOO MUCH. He would make a simple process complicated with his ideas. :)

Brian
 
#68 ·
deadbodyman said:
Russ, just finished the brakes... the air bleeder worked great,started with 5lbs but it didnt need any more to work...I just loosend the fittings till I found where no fluid came out and as I suspected the rubber lines were pluged.they work fine now,Thanks,I owe ya one...Mike :thumbup: :thumbup:
I've always used a modified regular garden type pump sprayer to pressure bleed brakes.
 
#69 ·
HEY,That reminds me I've got a radiator support puller i made that everybody loves I'll go get it too.I save a lot of crushed rad supports ,Thier so flimsey they straighten right out with this thing,completly adjustable and also incorerates potapower attachments but its simple leverage that does all the work,it'll pull straight up sideways or any other angle you'll com across...Everybody says I should get a patent for it but if they only knew how complicated and expensive it was to get one they would know why I dont bother I think I got some pics of the lasy car I used it on...just a used car we bought and fixed only bought a hood and a light thats it....the cost of the light almost made me sheet myself....Apairently I dont have as many pics as I thought I did I'll post a couple tonight...the 48's calling me out...BTW,why do my pics always come out all jumbled up ,out of order ?can I put them back in the propper order?
 

Attachments

#70 ·
robin58 said:
I've always used a modified regular garden type pump sprayer to pressure bleed brakes.
The funny thing is ,I didnt even know they could be bled like that,I didnt know how a vacume bleeder worked ether,now I do ...49 yrs old and all the cars I've bled by pumping the pedal with someone else....man,what a waste of time.....This site is GREAT and so are you guys :thumbup: :thumbup:
 
#73 ·
Brian, we thought of the install tire, mask and paint, but decided against it. JB has friends through out this area and one of those has a wheel and tire shop. He took the new tires and freshly painted wheels to him. They installed the tires without the use of tools, only lots of slick'um so there was not a scratch on the rims. Additionally, they had pre spun the rims on the balancer to get an ideal as to how true they were. After they installed the tires, they spun the wheel and tire to check how much weight was required to balance. They would then reposition the tire and repeat until each wheel took the minimum weight. The end result was two wheels have no weight (they go on the front, two have less than 3/16 oz weight (they go on the back) and the spare has about 1/4 oz. Talk about service!!!

Trees
 
#74 ·
trees said:
Brian, we thought of the install tire, mask and paint, but decided against it. JB has friends through out this area and one of those has a wheel and tire shop. He took the new tires and freshly painted wheels to him. They installed the tires without the use of tools, only lots of slick'um so there was not a scratch on the rims. Additionally, they had pre spun the rims on the balancer to get an ideal as to how true they were. After they installed the tires, they spun the wheel and tire to check how much weight was required to balance. They would then reposition the tire and repeat until each wheel took the minimum weight. The end result was two wheels have no weight (they go on the front, two have less than 3/16 oz weight (they go on the back) and the spare has about 1/4 oz. Talk about service!!!

Trees
That is some service, few of us would ever dream of getting someone at a tire shop with so much passion.

Brian
 
#75 ·
My pics look like crap but heres the skinner....made from a ceramic tile nibbler,I sharpend one prong to slip under the skin and the other prong I ground flat then put a groove in it for the edgeof the skin to fit in...just squeeze ....of coarse if it has some welds ,they need to be ground first
 

Attachments

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top