crazy old repair techniques

[pishta]

Remember brake guys grinding brake shoes to match oversized drums? Or guys rebuilding starters, back cutting the mica on a lathe, or knurling pistons? How about a Sun distributor machine or that vibrating bar they use to check a generator stator?
I saw a old guy turn down a rod throw to -.010 on an equally old car while the crank was still in the car on a lift! He used a sanding belt that he cut and turned inside out so the grit was on the inside, sort of like crocus cloth but heavier and it had a cloth cord that tied the belt ends together. He had a drill with a rubber skateboard wheel like thing on it and had it chucked with the belt over the rod bearing, he turned it on and his buddy turned the crank while the belt ran over the rod bearing. He kept checking it with a mic and it took about 10 minutes to turn it down .010. That seems to be a super fast way to recon 1 bad rod bearing, only need to pull the pan! What do you remember seeing?

 

[RustyRatRod]

Yup. I remember John Balkom's service station out on Vineville in Macon. He had an in the car crank grinder. Saw him use it once. It was really something.

 

[67Dart273]

Grinding brake shoes is called "arcing". Hell I used to arc shoes, and we used to rivet some oddball lining and also log truck trailer brakes. real dirty work. I've turned thousands of drums and rotors "in a previous life"

(I've still got an Ammco disk /drum lathe!!!)

I've got an Allen distributor machine if I ever get it together

A "growler" is used to test motor armatures

I came mighty close to buying an armature lathe of Craigslist sometime ago, I don't remember 50 bucks or something? But I've already got "more than one" lathe LOL

 

[TrailBeast]

Pepper stopped radiator leaks, and belt leather rod bearings for when you wanted to sell a car that knocked.

 

[67Dart273]

"Bon ami" overhaul LOL

 

[TrailBeast]

"Bon ami" overhaul LOL

Oh Crap, I had forgotten about that one.

 

[65cuda360]

I watched someone pour and fit babbit rods as a kid. We would knurl valve guides for .50 a hole. Sold lots of standard ignition x series starter bushings and RX series brushes. We would test and repair delcotron alternators on the counter. We had a GM HEI distributor under the counter hooked to a battery as a "test mule" to check customers components.

 

[magnumdart]

Bon Ami works good when mixed with Coke. (not the white stuff)

 

[Oklacarcollecto]

During WWII they would put old damaged used tires over bald tires since they couldn't buy new tires.

About 15 years ago there was still a man in OKC that had a machine to grind rods in the field and he was still doing it. He also poured babbit in his shop. I had him build a 1927 Buick engine for me. I loved talking to him so I could learn about the old techniques of doing things.

 

[LocuMob]

My friend picked up an old Sun distributor machine a few years ago to check his reworked timing slots. He needed to buy and adapter for elec ign. Works awesome. Beats putting in and pulling a distributor multiple times.

Also have a friend whose daughter rebuilds lifters.

 

[pishta]

Im rebuilding 16 dirty lifters right now. Bearing went bad and contaminated them all. I just need to find that Sioux valve grinder lifter refacer adapter.....

 

[74Dusted]

A few years back I fitted Ceramic Lining to the brake shoes for my 1978 Yamaha DT175E Motorcycle. It needed new Brake Shoes and at the time I wasn't having any luck finding brake shoes for such an old bike (I later found out I can get them).

So I made my own using the lining from Ceramic Shoes for a car.

Then about a month later I was talking with a friend who owned/operated the local Carquest store (was bought out by a corporation) and he was telling me about how when he cleaned out the warehouse when they had to move, he had to throw away stuff because no one wanted it. Huge rolls of Brake Lining Material, Wheel Cylinder Rebuild Kits, Points Ignition Tune Up Kits, Pertronix Kits, etc. Stuff that had been on the shelves in the warehouse for 30 to 60 years, still in the original boxes.

I almost cried, because I was looking for some of that stuff for my '48 Dodge

 

[pishta]

My old telephone yard mechanic recently tossed a bunch of stuff for the old Ford Couriers they used long ago and now I got one, a B-2000 brother. Like 7 crates full of service items. Weatherstrip, smog valves, dashpots, stuff that goes bad.

 

[ntsqd]

My second lathe came from my grandfather who did starter/generator/alternator repair work on the side. As a young buck he taught me how to do the armature work and how to use the growler. I have his growler and the special brass jawed 3 jaw "drill chuck" for the tail-stock so that I can do that work if necessary.

Have been looking for a dizzy machine for a while. I know where there is one in unknown condition, just need to convince them to sell it to me.

We had a shoe arcing machine in HS auto shop, but the instructors were reluctant to let anyone use it.

My dad drove a flathead Ford home to So CA from WA state with a piece of his belt as a rod bearing. My grandfather once had to fill a flat tire with water to get home. Said that as long as he kept the speed under 30 it rolled fine. Over 30 bounced around something awful.

 

[65cuda360]

Never tried it, but I've heard stories about using a piece of fuel line hose for a spark plug wire to replace a burned one. I have made it home before by putting an egg in a leaking radiator and leaving the cap loose.

 

[Abodybomber]

Great idea,for a thread. Haven't used a "growler" since 1982 auto shop(H.S.). Last time I was involved, with knurled piston skirts: 1986 . 1970 Mustang fastback, 351C 4v/Toploader/3:25 gears. The student/car owner(same), was a cheap *** bastard. Instead of good TRW's,or stock new replacement pistons,he knurls a set of 100'000 mile original pistons. Normally they hold up,under standard use. He likes shifting at 6500,on a Cleveland no less. Maiden voyage ,rubber all the way out of the school campus. Hit the freeway on ramp,screaming for all it's worth. Walks back on foot,an hour plus later. The piston/rod combo came through the cyl wall & side of the block,at 6500 in third. He learned his lesson,the next time around.

 

[67Dart273]

We had a shoe arcing machine in HS auto shop, but the instructors were reluctant to let anyone use it..

The "big thing" of course with an arcing machine, or even relining shoes, is the danger of asbestos dust. Why my father didn't die of lung related problems is beyond me. I was exposed to a fair amount, but not for the years he was. He also spend a fair amount of his younger years smoking--unfiltered Camels and a pipe.

My Dad only lived to 71. He died of a ruptured / weakened aorta, years of hypertension and high blood pressure, and complications of lupus and a few other things mixed in. His father lived a few days past his 100th birthday.

I've also used drum machines for "more useful" efforts, LOL. I've turned wheels in half to widen them for my old Landcruiser, "back then." These turned out to be "tubes only" after that, LOL but somehow or another those ran true as can be!!!

 

[pishta]

My high school was built in 1901 and my auto shop had some crazy old tools. Had that arcing machine (same deal, no one could use it except "Teach") all the stuff I mentioned plus a huge steam cleaner we called the "Steamin' Demon" Big as a porta-potty, Loud as hell and took 20 minutes to build pressure but could take paint off a panel and melted grease off a block as easy as washing mud off a wall. Pepper in the radiator, yeah. I kicked a piston out of a Cleveland too, stock pistons. Maybe they had issues? How about the old pantyhose for a fan belt trick? New thread......

 

[67Dart273]

When I was at Miramar, the auto hobby shop, we had an E-6 (don't remember his rating) who was GREAT. He took his billet seriously and went to salvage, etc, and got us a LOT of stuff, including a nice big compressor, and 2 or 3 of those air operated grease pumps. We had two of those in - the - ground hoists for oil changes and lube jobs, mounted OUTDOORS.

One day I was in the "tune up" stall and I think, no.........I 'know'........I hear the grease pumps working overtime. So I go out there and take a look

Here are a pair .......a matched pair by the way........of morons. These two matched morons are having a grease lobbin' contest, to see who can lob a grease luggie the furthest over the fence.............the STORAGE LOT FENCE. Now this is where cars were not only impounded, but it's where guys AND OFFICERS stored cars while out at sea on deployment. So there were Captain's, Commander's, 'Vetts, Mercedes, you name it, in that damn storage yard over that fence!!!

 

[66durgederp]

in college the professor i had made it a point to teach us how to use a growler for starters and alternators, how to clean up the brush surfaces, test voltage regulators, and how to re-line semi, loader, hydraulic winch, and grater brake shoes. pretty cool stuff. glad ive had the chance to do it. i rebuild my own starters and alternators for myself and my friends. they look at me like im nuts but its so much less expensive. my saving grace is that i have a local electrical rebuild shop whom is a great friend, i have full access to his shop when i need. that in-vehicle crank sander sounds completely badass! my great grandfather lived in the great depression during his 20s and early 30s. he told me stories about his old ford he had, and he spun a rod bearing, having literally next to nothing, he used a section of leather as a bearing. said it bought him a couple months until he could get it properly fixed. Another story i remember my old bosses dad told me, was in the late 40s he worked at a repair shop, and he had a brand new coronet come in with a grenaded head gasket. he said the head was warped so bad when he removed it that it would rock on a flat bench. the customer was in the middle of a road trip, and didnt have much money, so he said they took a weed burner or a rosebud (cant fully remember), roasted the head until it was "red hot" (im sure it took forever...) and pounded and pressed the head until it was straight enough in their eyes, threw in a new head gasket, and away they went.