How I do it

[Roger Walling 350]

I am going to start a thread on unusual ways to get that impossible job done.ffi

<O:p

I will start it with how to cut small round rubber washers.<O:p

<O:p

Take your sheet of rubber and place it in a large vise with a socket of the correct diameter and tighten the vise until you hear a snap. <O:p

That is the socket cutting through. Rotate the rubber before unclamping to get all of the loose ends cut.<O:p

<O:p

Next use a smaller socket to cut the inside hole

This works very well even with 1/2" thick rubber

<O:p

Another way is to use a hose and cut it on your chop saw to the require thickness. You can get some nice "O" rings this way.

You can also use the hose to obtain a flat piece of sheet rubber by spliting the hose lengthwise.<O:p

<O:p

Who will supply the next impossible job solution?

[ChaplainLar 0]

To make gaskets for my carburetor, I got the correct size drill bit (1 3/4")

& put oversized gasket material between two 3/8'' thick pieces of scrap wood (nailed together) and just drilled down. Cut the outside LAST to fit perfect!

[Restorer32 1,418]

Neat trick to install pins into the hood hinges of an early car is to chuck the pin in your electric drill, lube and spin while pushing.

[West Peterson 418]

Great idea, Roger.

Air conditioning hose makes for good bushing material. I used it on my split driveshaft cradle.

[keiser31 3,266]

Neat trick to install pins into the hood hinges of an early car is to chuck the pin in your electric drill, lube and spin while pushing.

That is the best idea I have ever heard on the hood hinge subject. Those things are a bear to move by hand and tapped with a hammer could damage the actual hood pieces.

[Restorer32 1,418]

Works to remove them as well.

[Shop Rat 2]

Just used this trick yesterday and this morning.

Bill needed to remove the back/side windows in the 450SL to reseal them without risking damage to the glass. He couldn't get the old sealer to let go in the areas where it was still attached.

I remembered the trick that my friend Cristine had told me about to remove photos from scrapbooks. Dental floss or dental tape.

We used waxed dental tape since it is thicker and is flat. Bill was able to get it through an opening where the sealer had let go and then with a sawing motion cut through the remaining sealer. It took several sections of tape to finish the job but there was no damage and the window came out so that he could clean the window opening and the glass and get a good seal when he replaced it.

[windjamer 5]

Have you ever tryed to slide a new cover over the rubber on a bucket seat back or the seat back of a split bench and not tear the rubber or get it out of place?? After fighting for over an hr. I took a plastic garbage bag and put it over the back first. Then I was able to just slide the cover on like stufing a pillow in a case. Slick as snot on a door knob.

[keiser31 3,266]

Have you ever tryed to slide a new cover over the rubber on a bucket seat back or the seat back of a split bench and not tear the rubber or get it out of place?? After fighting for over an hr. I took a plastic garbage bag and put it over the back first. Then I was able to just slide the cover on like stufing a pillow in a case. Slick as snot on a door knob.

Does the plastic bag make a rustling noise when you sit on it?

[Shop Rat 2]

Have you ever tryed to slide a new cover over the rubber on a bucket seat back or the seat back of a split bench and not tear the rubber or get it out of place?? After fighting for over an hr. I took a plastic garbage bag and put it over the back first. Then I was able to just slide the cover on like stufing a pillow in a case. Slick as snot on a door knob.

Hmmm, I wonder if a heavy mil trash bag could be cut down the sides to go over the center of the foam rubber seat back, but not stay on the seat back. That way the new cover could slide into place and then the piece of trash bag be removed. Maybe even put a very light coat of baby powder or corn starch so that the trash bag wouldn't stick to the foam rubber.

[windjamer 5]

Keiser not a sound. My wife ask me how I would get it off, I said why??? I buy cheap garbage bags.

[MochetVelo 187]

To punch small holes in leather, rubber or other soft material, just grind a nail or a solid steel punch flat and to the diameter you want. Use this as a punch, backing your material with a piece of end-grain lumber.

Phil

[rick60 5]

I also use the plastic garbage bag to install seat covers. I wrap the open end around my shop vac and seal it with tape. Turn on the vac, the material compresses, install the cover and align it, turn off the vac and the padding is in place with a very nice fit. It allows you to fully pad the backrest with no aggravation.

[rick60 5]

I forgot to mention that I trim off the remaining plastic and leave the bag in the seat assembly. There are no noises. You don't know the bag is there.

[Skyking 96]

Another way to cut a gasket, especially if it has multiple holes. Place the gasket material over the part that has the holes and tap the holes very lightly with a ball-peen hammer. It will cut them perfect.

Another trick I learned for drilling a small hole through a threaded rod for a cotter pin is screw a nut onto the rod and center punch one of the nut flats and drill through the nut and rod. Unscrew the nut and you have a perfect center hole for your cotter pin.

Edited September 24, 2009 by Skyking (see edit history)

[Barry Wolk 48]

Ever have a piece of glass that was slightly too large for a gauge bezel? Trim it with a pair of scissors. You will be able to successfully trim a circle out of a square piece of window glass, if you'd like, by simply nipping away at the edges with sharp scissors. Oh yeah, don't try this without immersing the glass and scissors in a bucket of water. Try this in the open air and the glass will shatter. Do it under water to make it work.

Glass is an amorphous liquid. Cutting it in a liquid prevents the cracks that lead to shattered glass.

This is a great bar bet, by the way.

[Dave_B 47]

To remove a pilot bushing...... Pack the cavity behind the bushing full of grease. Take a bolt that fits closely in the center of the bushing and hit it with a hammer forcing the grease in and the bushing out. Works every time

Dave

[D Yaros 176]

I replaced the side window quarter seals in my Caddy this summer. The old came out in a breeze. Natch, right? I greased the new sea and track before installation. Even so, I could only get about 1/16" of movement at a time, no matter how much effort I applied. I must have spent an hour or more getting that seal in place.

For the second one, I coated the surfaces with STP. It slid right in, in less than 10 secs.!