The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest What was the last tool that you MADE?

Very Nice. I'll have to build one of those when it comes time to paint wheels.

Great idea Tim!...and a tool that deserves to be remembered.

I had to "dial in" and lock down that centering wheel spud to make sure it ran concentric to the bearing. Something your idea had built in.

An engine stand is a tool, sort of. After I made the 235->261 swap in 2004, I surely wouldn't need it anymore so I converted it with 2-by stock to hold 3 classic Merc outboards. (If removing one, it has to be the one on the right first!)

Well, I still need it for outboards so I just bought another engine stand for the pulling the 261 and reinstalling it after checking it out, rebuilding, ??

Lm7 / Ls flywheel holder jig/tool. I finally torqued my balancer tonight and I couldn’t have done it alone without this tool. You REALLY have to crank on these harmonic balancers to get tight (TTY bolt method: old bolt to seat it: 240 ft/lbs, new bolt + 37 ft/lbs more,THEN + 140° more rotation! GOOD GRIEF! ARP Bolt uses 235 ft/lbs even and some lube- route I took ) and I’ve seen some homemade tools but I feel mine was easier and faster to make. My torque wrench is a 3/4” drive that is just over 3’ long! I have posted this in my journal but someone might find this useful in a more general forum for future reference.
1. I took a piece of angle iron, clamped it lightly to the flywheel, marked /measured holes on the starter bolts mount area, removed and drilled. Reinstalled.
2. Then, I made teeth in a small chunk of 1/2” plate and grinded it to fit the flywheel teeth. If you have an old chunk of flywheel kicking around, this would speed you up considerably.
3. Mesh with the teeth of flywheel, clamp to angle iron. Weld it on.
4. Install and torque your balancer bolt.

Remove jig.

This worked unbelievably well. All work was done on an engine stand.

Brake pressure bleeder for the Chev. .

I make one like that to accept a small clear hose coming off of a small garden sprayer which I fill will brake fluid and pump it up to deliver the fluid while I am under the truck cracking the bleeders.
What you have would be great for blowing all of the bad fluid out before a fresh refill. I may have to dig out another spare cap and put an air fitting on it.

Dusty Another way; drilled thru a bleeder, then drilled it big enuogh to press in a short piece of 3/16 steel line,put it the farthest away cylinder ,get clear tube at the farm store long enough to reach the master cylinder. Pump by hand you will get air,then white foam,then clear, if its dirty let it go on the ground and add fluid continue till all are bled you'll have brakes and nice clean fluid. 2 cents worth.

Fox, I love that flywheel holder. I'm going to copy that. Handy for torquing the flywheel bolts too!

Had to make clutch head screwdriver out of and old chinese common screw driver (flathead). Apparently O'Rielys NAPA and Harbor freight employees don't know what a clutch head driver is. Napa said I could order a set of 100 screw drivers and that had 2 clutch heads in the set. 5 minutes with a grinder and bam! got myself a new clutch head, made removing the clutch head screws that held in the return spring for the horn easy and without any damage to anything (other than that cheap screw driver witch in my opinion is much a much better tool now).

I know a guy, a genius in his own right, a bit of an oddball as well, who made a test light out of an old screwdriver. It had a transparent orange handle which made a beautiful glow.
He, of course, ground the bit end to a skinny sharp point. He then cut the end of the handle off, drilled the interior of the handle, and somehow created very neat threads on the inside. He then cut the end off of another similar screwdriver handle and threaded it to fit. He soldered a wire to the shaft inside of the handle to add the light bulb and a wire with an alligator clip on it which passed through the cap.
My words do not do justice to the quality of work that went into the creation of this tool. I did not know Paul all that well. He was very secretive of his past. I suspect that he did some time in The Big House, and may very well have broken out of it.
I informed him that I was very interested in buying it from him. He informed me that there was no amount of money that he would take for it. He probably used it to crack the electric lock on his prison cell or something like that.

Reminds me of my Volkswagen days. One side 6v, the other 12v.

Well, it isn't the last tool I've built. I built this stand 8-ish years ago? I pulled it out of storage yesterday to help with the 292 I'm starting to tear apart for a full rebuild. I see I need to make a longer drip pan...

I had the same problem, not having the "Timing Gear Centering Gauge" so was casting around the hardware looking for something that could be used. I came up with a 1-1/4" PVC plug that glues into a socket fitting. Had nearly the exact ID of the crank snout and 8 flats on the outer edge, so I drilled out the end and filed a taper the high points of the octagon. Worked nicely, and cheap too.

I just recently made my dad a centering tool or drill bit guide so he could drill and tap the end of the crank on a old tecumseh engine. The one he swapped out was already drilled to hold the primary clutch sheave on. I spun it up quick on the old 30’s south bend 9” lathe. It worked out perfect he said.

2-ton Have made my own pullers (cobbleology) my big mistake was not tagging them as to what they were for. Really gripes me to make one then find a duplicate in my pile !!

I’m getting ready to remove my doors to rebuild the hinges. Being a one man band, I needed to be able to support the door while I remove and reinstall the hinges. I used a cheap yard sale engine stand, an old bed frame, various items I had laying around and fabricated a lift system. I think a picture is worth a thousand words so I won’t describe the build.

Nice job on the door lift. Supporting the door from the top makes good sense.

But I have one question: Do you think the hoist mechanism is up to the task?

Ha Ha!I Could have used a 2 ton cable winch but this one is much easier to operate!

Very ingenious, that is really work outside the box.

Phil, one suggestion if you could do that is to put swivel casters on that engine stand. That would give you way more flexibility in lining things up when you go to put the doors back on.

Like many of you, I'm a one man band and I needed a way to remove (and re-install) the cab on my '54 by myself so I fashioned a bracket out of angle iron that I attached to a 4x4 so that I could lift it from the inside:[img]https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/ubb/download/Number/36586/filename/cab jig 3.JPG[/img][img]https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/ubb/download/Number/36585/filename/cab jig 2.JPG[/img][img]https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/ubb/download/Number/36584/filename/Cab jig.jpg[/img]

Very nice, JVC

That technique has been described a few times in the past.
I have also used it several times - safe/secure/convenient.

Here is the lowest price I could find for that 2-ton "lift".
(but, they cleverly make you wait until registering before they tell you shipping cost)

I bought mine from Harbor Freight (maybe 15-20 years ago).

One-ton lifts are cheaper (and will pull/lift/hoist a Stovebolt engine).

I have lifted/pulled a stovebolt engine and an SM420 4-speed transmission (or, a heavier Hydra-Matic transmission) quite easily with a 2-ton lift.

Nicely done!

Just a suggestion- - - -it might be a good idea to install some temporary diagonal braces to avoid distorting the door openings when using that method of lifting the cab. My brother learned that lesson the hard way when he used a couple of engine stands to fabricate a rotisserie for his son's 68 Charger body.
Jerry

Now you tell me! Fortunately, my truck is made from REAL steel.

Had a boat trailer tongue jack blow out on me last summer, and being someone who never throws anything away, I built an engine leveler out of it. The inspiration for the mounting on the 216 was from Jerry. I still need to pick up a couple of spacers and nuts to fasten the leveler to the rocker perch studs. The valve cover will come off and the leveler bolted snugly to the rocker perches. Will test it out in the next day or so when I get around to installing bellhousing, flywheel and clutch on the engine.

Had to make up a little something to test a heater core. Radiator shops are non existent around these parts necessity is the mother of invention. Took a lower therm housing and cleaned it up. Made a little plate to block it off. Years ago when I was actively racing I had a dragster and I use to use this Moroso top instead of a thermostat. So I dug that piece out of retirement. Then I grabbed my vintage radiator pressure tester and ordered some hose block offs on ebay.

Hooked it all up, put a little pressure in, dunked the heater core in a bucket of water. Heater core tester!

Good idea, but a bit complicated-- - - - -I've always used a cut-off bicycle inner tube clamped to the hose nipples.
Jerry

Transfer punches work great for fabbing out the shut off plate.
Wish I still had access to a set.

Don

What size? My set goes from 1/16" to 33/64", and the post office still works! (just not as efficiently as they once did!)
Jerry

Thanks for the offer Jerry! But I don't have a shop like yours and really don't have much need to set one up.
Also I have never seen a set that goes 1/64 over a half inch. The next size set is from 33/64 to one inch.

Sorry Mike, not trying to steal your topic, but it does look like you are getting it done the right way.

Don

Even that is too complicated for me. I just ask the Ole Lady if her feet are wet from time to time.
This may not be practical for y'all who let your womenfolk wear shoes though...

Don I was mistaken about the sizes- - - -they're 3/32" to 17/32". Victor Machinery Co. has a racehorse deal on them! Just over 12 bucks, plus shipping. That Victor website is like a candy store- - - -it's hard to stop adding stuff to the shopping cart!

https://www.victornet.com/detail/TP-01.html

Jerry

Heavens no, you are not steeling the thread. I enjoy the banter and conversation.

Truth be told, I enjoyed the build as much as the use. I have two boys in their middle to late 20s. They both know how to work on old cars and trucks and that tool is just another piece in the tool box to help them maintenance the old iron. Two years ago I taught my youngest boy at age 24 how to rebuild and install new gears on a 56-64 drop out chevy center. Not many in that age cohort have the tools or the know how to do that job but he does.

The older boy I don’t get to see very often. He is a TSgt. In the Air Force. What does he work on you might ask, why the old Buff, the b-52. Having been around a fist full of old timers, old trucks, old cars and old race cares, he was almost ideally suited to those old planes, lol.