There’s a few items that most every car guy or gal have in arms reach at all times when working in their shop. For me one of those is Sharpie marker. They work great to write notes on things as I work or to mark out measurements, trace lines for bead rolling, etc, etc. These work great when sharp, but they tend to wear out and get dull quickly. The more dull they get the wider the mark will be that it leaves.
Tag: Restoration
How to Safely setup Jack Stands on Blacktop, Stone, Dirt
We all wish we could have TV quality fully equipped garages with fancy lifts and all of the tools a guy could dream of, but in reality many of us (me included) are still working on our back under a car in the driveway from time to time. Every time you get under a car lifted up in the driveway it can be very risky. There’s a few precautions you can take to assure your car is properly supported before doing work underneath of it.
How to Quickly Clean stubborn Dirty Whitewall Tires
Nothing can make a car look better than a nice set of wheels and tires. Wide whitewall tires are the kings of cool when it comes to old cars and they really make your ride standout. But nothing can be a bigger bummer than when they get stained from a dirt, grease, or road grime. I’ve heard numerous methods for cleaning whitewalls but I’ve learned a few tips that will easily make your whitewalls shine again.
Buyers Guide: When to Use Rust Encapsulator VS. Rust Converter
Our tech team answers a lot of technical calls and emails each day, and there are a lot of common questions asked and advice given. Many of them are about when and where to use our different coatings and paints. Rust products might be the most confusing as far as […]
Quick Tech Tip- Extend Your Spark Plug Life
It’s a known fact that engine components need to be maintained periodically. In this day and age we have a “throw away and replace” mentality in which we’re taught to just replace parts and toss the old ones. In the early days of automobiles just about EVERYTHING was rebuildable or serviceable. For pennies on the dollar you could buy new seals and brake components, fuel pumps, etc. In those days being a DIY guy or gal was a necessity and not a choice.
Quick TIG Tungsten Setup Tips
When you’re a beginner at TIG Welding there’s a lot of steps to go through to lay a nice weld down. Getting a setting incorrect, or setting something up just a little off can be the difference between a gray mess of bird-turd welds and rainbow colored stacks of dimes. […]
How to Diagnose your Sick Plasma Cutter
What does this mean to you? That small, intense plasma beam is extremely powerful and can cut through metal with ease. This also means it can wear out consumables. We get calls from time to time about customers that have had issues with their plasma cutters. The symptoms are often that the plasma cutter won’t initiate an arc on the metal, or the arc will start and stop erratically while you’re cutting. I decided to put together a few causes for those sort of issues. Hopefully one of them can save you time when diagnosing an issue with your plasma cutter.
Step up your Hammer Game! Using Intermediate Body hammers and Dollies
Back when cars were made of heavy metal and had lots of beautiful curves guys took the time to repair a fender rather than just replace it. Any good metal worker will tell you that you need to match the hammer and dolly as close as possible with the shape of your panel you’re working on. When you’re working on a curvy car like something from the late 1930’s through the 1950’s you will be hard pressed to find a flat panel on the vehicle. This means that you will need to use tools to match. Back in those days the selection of specialty hammers were vast, some being specifically used for one type of car or type of repair!
Build a chassis/fixture Table on a budget
In a effort to make my life easier I decided I would build a table that I could build and modify chassis on in the future. I only had a few simple rules; it needed to be mobile, I needed to be able to easily level it, and it needed to be AFFORDABLE. If you haven’t checked, the metal required to build a heavy fabrication or chassis table new is big bucks. I’d rather save that cash for my project cars and repurpose some metal from my local scrap metal yard.