The tools you may not know existed thread

[Clewisiii]

200 per set of 2. I did not see them sold in any other way. But i had to call over a person to help me understand the tags. The actual price of these was 3ft over on the beam. The price directly under the beam was for a stand only(also yellow) that holds the wheel dollies.

[Cadman-iac]

You can use the offset tool on many other things. But it seemed it was great for getting under the heavy PCV hose and around the dizzy on the other side when peaking the air/fuel ratio. That and it kept you out of the heat and noise of the fan so you could hear and feel the change in the way the engine ran.

I have 2 of them. I found one under the hood laying on the fender, slid down toward the battery box on a customers car. In the meantime, I had bought another to replace the one I left under the hood. Kick me in the head.   

I had seen one of these years ago and always wanted one, but I could never find one. I just happened across this one and grabbed it before anyone else could.

I know what you mean about losing tools in someone's car or truck. Unless they've fallen out somewhere along the road, I've got nearly a whole set of sockets that have fallen down inside, behind, around, under, whichever, and couldn't be located that are still driving around the country.
I really hate it when that happens!

[Cadman-iac]

Here's another tool that I've wanted for years now because of my back, and really didn't know where to find. I was on the internet last week and found this and ordered it. A real back saver. It's what I guess you'd call an over-the-fender creeper.



 Of course I've already had to modify it. It's made in China, so it was probably designed to fit a shorter person. I had to add another step between the two lowest ones because the bottom one was too low, but the next one was too high.
 And I had to grind down the top corners because they left a sharp edge on each side that would catch my hips as I tried to get down. But other than that, it's great.

[Clewisiii]

I had a 3/8 socket fall inside the body of my Fleetwood when I was trying to remove the rear window trim inside nuts. Eventually later after the body was on the rotisserie and I spun it around a few times it fell back out. If I lose another one when I go to reinstall that trim it will be in the body for life.

[TJ Hopland]

Yes topside creeper is a great tool.  You need one just to check the oil if you own a truck built in the last 15 or so years because they are all stupid tall for no good reason.  Also handy if you have a huge car and need to get to something like say the distributor if its not a Cadillac or Buick.

Those dollies look more handy than the 4 wheel ones as long as you don't need the surface area.  You can use the 4 wheel ones but take up a lot more space both when in use and being stored.

That looks like a really complete flaring kit.  I got a similar one but I went with a pistol style thinking it would be better in some tight places.  Mine also only came with the common automotive dies, looks like that one also has the HVAC style. They are available for mine and the case has the slots but it added a chunk of cost.

I have a carb tool that doesn't have the hard tube, its basically a screwdriver with the speedometer inner cable.  Has changeable bits and I think some of them are special in that they have kinda a sleeve to hold them on the screw.  The one pictured does too its just not as deep since its got the hard casing to help you hold it on the screw.     

[Cadman-iac]

 Yeah, mine won't work on the newer design idle mixture screws, just the old slotted ones, but I always change them to the old style anyway. That way if I'm out on the road and have an issue, I can just use a standard screwdriver.

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

Here is a top side creeper we can use when adjusting those hard to reach points on our flatheads..

This will get you to those hard to reach places !!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoA-m5iHG9s

Mike

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

I purchased this tool for a special task, and it has been very helpful many times over.   Especially for Rochester Mixture Adjustments.

I have lots of other "Special Tools", but I make them myself when required.   No broken tool gets thrown out.

Bruce.

[TJ Hopland]

That angle driver tool seems like it needs a camera built in so you can see what you are going after.

[bcroe]

One of the problems with cars is wheel alignment.  If you
do it infrequently, you may wear out more tires and have
poor handling.  If you do it often, it takes a lot of expensive
appointments, when in fact little to no adjustment usually is
needed. 

This is a TRIC-KEE TOOL CO model 52341
TRI ang-u-liner  57-A

This simple tool and a level floor allow me to set front end
caster and camber on any of my old iron, right thru 1985
Eldo front drivers.  Bought half a century ago for a few
dollars, it allows me to quickly check alignment, no
appointments.  Most times alignment is very close or no
adjustment needed, saving me a huge amount of time,
money, and tires.  Cars drive right and tires wear evenly,
meeting my expectations.  I also tighten steering and adjust
toe in with a spring loaded rod, if driving indicates a need. 

Perhaps this tool is no longer available, but I believe similar
tools are.  Bruce Roe

[bcroe]

Here is a tool I made to pull off the crank timing chain
sprocket.  As I constantly recommend, the original set
will always get changed.  My regular pullers could not
get into the spot.  Bruce Roe

[TJ Hopland]

There are several options for a camber caster gauges.  Some are simple magnetic stick on and others maybe clamp into the rims and have more options to also assist in tow.   The most common ones and most common use these days is when changing struts.  Idea is you stick the gauge on before then after you install the new strut you set it back to your initial reading and it should be pretty close to where it was before the new struts.

Did you also buy turn plates?  I sometimes see them for sale but for how often I do it I just have a couple pieces of 12 gauge greased steel.  One down side to the steel is I have not tried to make any sort of locking mechanism so you can't really drive on them without them sliding so my work around is to jack the wheel up and slide the plates under after the car is in position. 

[Cadman-iac]

Here is a top side creeper we can use when adjusting those hard to reach points on our flatheads..

This will get you to those hard to reach places !!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoA-m5iHG9s

Mike

 Where can I get one of these? That'll put you anywhere you want or need to be, if you don't lose your cookies first, lol!

[Cadman-iac]

Bruce, I guess I'm not the only one who uses old tools to make new ones. Got lots of modified wrenches for specific jobs, some that I can't remember what they were for now because I haven't needed it since I used it the first time.

I still remember this one though. It's my Roosa-Master diesel injector pump mounting nut wrench for the 350 Olds engine. One of the first tools I ever modified, used it 3 or 4 times and haven't touched it in 45 years except to move it out of the way while looking for something else.

[Cadman-iac]

  Here's one that I'm sure everyone has. It's my engine powered tire inflator from 1953.



 Found this at a yard sale about 20 years ago and have used it twice. It works, but a portable compressor is faster and doesn't fill your tire with fuel vapors.

 Rick

[Cadman-iac]

 For highly specialized tools, here's a few more I've made.







 The first one is a transmission-holding fixture, the second is a press for the clutch packs, and the third is of several adapters for the press for the different sizes of clutches and drums.
 I don't use them often, but they are invaluable when needed.

 Rick

 (Still haven't figured out why some pictures post upside-down)

[TJ Hopland]

I have seen those 'air compressors' before.  Wasn't there a model or make of car where that was a standard accessory?  Like early 60's and either AMC or one of the brands that became AMC?  Much easier to do on most inline engines, a lot of the V8's had harder to get to spark plugs and tended to be closer to hot exhaust manifolds.

That reminds me of the 'jacks' that were a moderate sized air bag that came with a hose you attached to your tail pipe then used the engine to inflate it.  Guess that could have been sold as a combo pack with the inflator.  Since you were running the engine anyway might as well use it to inflate the spare and jack the car up at the same time. 

[Cadman-iac]

200 per set of 2. I did not see them sold in any other way. But i had to call over a person to help me understand the tags. The actual price of these was 3ft over on the beam. The price directly under the beam was for a stand only(also yellow) that holds the wheel dollies.

 Yeah, they aren't very good at putting the product with the tags. I looked at that for around 10 minutes to make sure I wasn't seeing things though. If I had had a need for them right away I'd have bought them that day and I'd have called their attention to the signage just to be sure it wasn't a mistake. It probably was, but who knows, it might have been legit too.

[Cadman-iac]

I have seen those 'air compressors' before.  Wasn't there a model or make of car where that was a standard accessory?  Like early 60's and either AMC or one of the brands that became AMC?  Much easier to do on most inline engines, a lot of the V8's had harder to get to spark plugs and tended to be closer to hot exhaust manifolds.

That reminds me of the 'jacks' that were a moderate sized air bag that came with a hose you attached to your tail pipe then used the engine to inflate it.  Guess that could have been sold as a combo pack with the inflator.  Since you were running the engine anyway might as well use it to inflate the spare and jack the car up at the same time. 

I've only had a couple of AMC products, one was a 1960 Rambler American coupe, the other a 1969 Ambassador sedan, and neither one had anything but the basic tools, a jack, a lug wrench, and a spare.

I would be leary of getting anywhere near an airbag as a jack, but I can see how that might work. Definitely would take up less space and it wouldn't rattle, lol!

The inflation tool has a check valve in it so that when the engine is on the intake stroke it doesn't just draw back the air it just pumped into the tire.
Neat idea, but with the advent of the portable compressor, which is much easier to use and less dangerous, and doesn't pump fuel vapors into the tire, they faded out quickly. They're just a novelty now.
If I ever build a new garage I'll put it on display.

 Rick

[TJ Hopland]

Harbor Freight will usually honor miss marked prices if you ask. I have had it happen and seen it happen enough over time and at different locations that its got to be policy.  Most common issue is they didn't take the sale tags off after the sale ends.   

Another nice thing about them along these lines is all of their branded stuff has those short item numbers so its easy to match the tag to an item.  Most other stores you are looking at the text which isn't quite the same and trying to see if the UPC matches to know you are looking at the right item.  So many times the deal item is out of stock but there are tons of something really close that are not on sale.