I was at my buddy's garage in Akron last Saturday trying to get the fan clutch off a '72 Chevelle 350. The 3/8 ratchet just slipped and I ended up skinning my knuckles on the alternator bracket (ouch). Had to go home and grab my 18 inch breaker bar plus a dose of PB Blaster, let it sit 20 minutes, and it finally cracked loose. Any of you guys have a go-to trick for stuck fan clutch nuts on these old small blocks?
Was just sorting through a Craftsman set I picked up at a yard sale and decided to count everything I own. Ended up with 503 sockets total. Thats when I realized I have way more 3/8 drive stuff than I will ever need so I started pulling out duplicates to sell.
I was at a swap meet in Tulsa last Saturday and this guy was selling a beat up old Craftsman ratchet for $40 because he swore it was a Snap-on. I tried to show him the model number on the shaft but he wouldn't even look at it. It's getting real common lately where folks just slap a brand name on anything with a round handle. How do you handle telling someone their tool is worth $5 without starting an argument?
Last spring I bought a rebuilt distributor off a flea market table for my 1965 Mustang. The guy swore it was bench tested and ready to go. I threw it in, spent two hours setting timing, and the car ran worse than with the original 50 year old one. Turns out the vacuum advance was seized and the points gap was way off. I had to scrap it and buy a proper unit from a known parts shop for $120. Learned my lesson about buying electrical parts from random booths. Anybody else get burned by junk yard or swap meet ignition pieces?
I was in my buddy's garage in Tucson last Saturday, trying to swap out a timing gear on a '72 Chevy C10. I didn't have the right puller, so I figured I'd rig it with a dent puller and a pry bar. That gear came off like a rocket and nailed the drywall two feet from my neighbor's face. We ended up drilling two holes in the gear and using a $12 harmonic balancer puller from Autozone - worked like a charm. Has anyone else learned a lesson the hard way about using the wrong tool for a timing job?
I was trying to get a stuck lug nut off my 1972 Chevy pickup and snapped a cheap 1/2 inch breaker bar. Then I bought a better one and cracked that too. Finally a guy at the parts store explained I needed impact sockets that flex more instead of regular ones that shatter. Has anyone else been burned trying to save money on sockets and ended up spending twice as much?