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Interested in doing my own car maintenance.. Advice?
Stoic Joker:
Non-clumping kitty-litter will help absorb these fluid puddles and it's cheaper that oil-dry.
-crabby3 (April 23, 2015, 05:34 PM)
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:D I've been doing that one for years (sand works ok in a pinch too). :Thmbsup:
Vurbal:
With a cheater bar over the breaker bar.-MilesAhead (April 23, 2015, 06:52 AM)
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If by cheater bar you mean a piece of pipe then yes, I've done both. Actually motorcycle front fork tubes work wonderfully for that. (Speaking of which...) Did you know that the lug nuts on the passenger side of a 64 Dodge polara are left hand thread?? I didn't ... And I snapped 2 Craftsman 1/2" ratchets and split 3 sockets before I figured it out.
-Stoic Joker (April 23, 2015, 05:05 PM)
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Yeah, for a long time Chrysler corp. had this weird idea that if the lugs were Left Hand Thread on one side and Right Hand Thread on the other somehow loose lugs would be less likely to spin all the way off while driving. A bizarre idea. It was a real pita because every time you trained a new guy to bust tires you had to watch out for him snapping a couple of lugs off the LHT side of those cars with the impact wrench. Some of those engineers must have been ahead of the curve when it came to water pipe usage. :)
-MilesAhead (April 23, 2015, 05:33 PM)
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There's certainly no shortage of incompetent engineers out there. A friend of mine had some great stories about one of his co-workers. They were both chemical engineers who designed pumping stations, mostly for rural water systems. One time this guy (the co-worker) decided that when he replaced the siding on his house, he was going to use sheetrock because it was cheaper and easier, and should insulate pretty well. He figured as long as he used greenboard, it would be fine. :huh:
On the subject of automotive oddities, though, are the old 6V positive ground electrical systems. They weren't unusual in their day, but, aside from International pickups, I haven't seen too many of them that haven't been converted.
Stoic Joker:
On the subject of automotive oddities, though, are the old 6V positive ground electrical systems.
-Vurbal (April 24, 2015, 07:52 AM)
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1960's era British motorcycles (like the 1969 Norton Commando I had years ago) were known for that configuration. They were also the driving force behind the popular then derisive phrase "Lucas, master of darkness".
crabby3:
@Mouser
A few more suggestions :)
WD-40 may help loosen rusty stuff. Like lug nuts.
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Anti-oxident compound will provide a lasting connection between the battery poles and the cables.
You apply it to the cleaned (wire brushed) poles and/or cable lugs and then connect the cables to the battery.
The Home Depot sells this brand. It's in the electrical dept. Possibly near the light-fixture parts; (pull-chains, toggle switches, etc).
When i asked my auto-parts store people about this type of stuff... they looked at me like i had three-heads.
Then tried to sell me some kind of liquid. :-\ Noalox is like toothpaste.
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Petroleum jelly will help prevent the white-powder from forming on the outside of battery connections.
MilesAhead:
Anyone remember the name of this mechanic's hand soap? It came in a can with a blue label. It looked just like Crisco. Like a white lard. Or like the white part of Dannon :fruit on the bottom" yogurt.
It escapes my memory. :-[
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