Recent content by Rich in Tucson

If totally plugged a slowly hand turned drill bit and a source of vacuum to catch the debris.

I have done several cars, the clutches failed more or less suddenly and it was obvious (particularly after looking at them) that one or more clutch finger adjustments were never done during a clutch replacement or there were loose or lost nuts. I made a go/nogo gauge from appropriately bent wire...

Use the metal handles of disposable flux brushes as extensions for your control rods. Place a light down below and put those suckers through the holes from the top BEFORE seating your upper bushing.

Try to "stake" it first - place seat on anvil and tap needle with ball pein hammer face (don't hit hard, or soft, just let hammer fall on to it by relaxing your wrist), hit it once square (or twice if you reflexively held back!). I have lapped with toothpaste as a lapping medium or with valve...

Just a clarification from an old biochemist messing with metals in and on old Fords et al.: Sodium (or Potassium) Hydroxide solutions (lyes) are strong alkalis (not acids) and given enough time and at particularly elevated temperatures will attack and dissolve Tin, Aluminum, Zinc and Cadmium...

The new worm should be a press fit. I use a 20 ton press that is barely adequate to remove old gears but has no problem installing new ones. The gear is pressed on beyond the groove in the splines which is for a circular keeper which is covered by the recess in the gear. Your lower bearing...

Sounds like you need the steel tools, I was involved in removing one by which we had to use a cheater pipe out the passenger window; I put my weight on the pipe while the owner put his weight on pressing the tool inward so it would not slip. I feared we needed his wife on the driver's running...

I would reuse that or every original I found like that in a nanosecond. That goes for original rear wheel bearings too. Keep water out of your grease (for example, don't use original Mobil 600w steam cylinder oil in your transmission etc., (it is hydrophilic) use a mineral oil if you live...

Gas gauge - use cork not neoprene (black) gaskets. If it were mine, I could set it outside and it would be dry in a day but you might not be having 107-113° weather so I would suggest avoiding all alcohols, ketones, acetones, etc. and use a hair dryer set on the lowest possible heat setting...

I believe this type of advice arose with the advent of easily postable videos such as youtube. I saw one in which a guy had just finished installing his crate chevy motor in his rust-bucket street rod and filmed its first run. After a hearty "Hold my beer and watch this" it seized hard after a...

I needed and purchased 1/64" setting tape for an original Model A windshield frame (new safety glass ~.250 thick as I recall) and it was a tight fit. For Model A, 1926 Model T, and 1937 Hudson Terraplane window channels, the tape the Model vendors supply, which is 3/64" thick, works very well...

I have them honed by a machinist whose primary job is building racing engines. With the bushings supplied today (I always get them from the same source, a Model A vendor) he has never had to ream before honing, and then depending on the spindle the honing is often very light; some spindles are...

Just got a new Snyder's catalog today and they are selling the corner blocks made out of Delron (sic) also known as Delrin; $10.75 ea. They say originals were made of Bakelite so I am not sure how they were fastened.

I am.

Great point, all of the anti-squeak that I have encountered (frequently between metal and wood) was friction-tape consistency BUT was saturated with some tar-like substance. I may experiment with butyl caulk in some applications I need to address. One of the more interesting places I found this...