The tools you may not know existed thread

[Lexi]

After I wrote my post I realised that there would be more to the story, thanks for explaining. If I understand you correctly you had tried a lot of ways to remove it and it snapped? Out of interest did you try heat? A welder I worked with would weld a bar to the top of a seized stud and use it as a handle to undo it. The heat of the welding would loosen it.

I did not try heat, though in retrospect, I could have tried that first and borrowed my son-in-law's induction coil, or used my torch. The stud was JB welded in place and it's melting point is only about 60 degrees shy of aluminum if memory serves. Some people have even used it to repair engine block cracks. It is also rather impervious to chemical attack. So, I was worried about distortion especially as JBW is also heat resistant, so rightly or wrongly, flame or coil heat was going to be my last chance choice. Prior to trying heat, I clamped the rod into the biggest bench vise I had and worked it back and forth by hand, by using the carb as the turning handle, so to speak. Tons of torque. All that did was snap off the rod which then reduced my options including heat. Had that not happened, I would have used some heat, but the rod was broken off, level with the top of the aluminum. I don't think it was a good candidate to weld a piece to as I probably would have damaged the aluminum carb core that it was stuck in. Generally, that is a good option, but was negated this time not only by breaking but where it broke. It was not a good day. It was one of those times where you get so screwed, you hardly even cuss it out. Just depressing.

The drilling took about 4 hours spread out over 2 days. In the end, my mistake as I should have thought out the procedure better and tried heat first. Nothing even budged it. Doing anything like this again, lesson learned; try at least some heat first, as you suggested, (which most of the time I do). Learned my lesson, (again), and next job was tearing down a spare front bumper clip. Lots of stubborn 70 year old rusted fasteners. Brough on the heat and my son-in-law's induction coil. At the end even used some of those half sized sockets I wrote about earlier. Borrowed those. I was so impressed, that Santa got me a set for Christmas, (see earlier post for a picture of them). Still plagued by horrific carburetor nightmares and how I almost ruined a piece of  virutal unobtainium. 2024 was not a good year in so many ways. Clay/Lexi

[Cadman-iac]

 Hey Clay,

 Did you ever consider taking the carburetor apart to expose the rod? If I remember correctly, you can take the top (air horn) off of the bowl assembly which would give you something like an inch or so of the rod to try the other remedies such as heat.
 I don't remember if that stud/rod threads into the bowl or if it went through to the base assembly (throttle body), but I do know it only passes through the air horn.
 Not that you will ever have to deal with this issue again, but if it does happen again, you can try this before resorting to the drill press.

 Glad you got it out without causing damage to the carburetor.

 Rick

[Lexi]

Hey Clay,

 Did you ever consider taking the carburetor apart to expose the rod? If I remember correctly, you can take the top (air horn) off of the bowl assembly which would give you something like an inch or so of the rod to try the other remedies such as heat.
 I don't remember if that stud/rod threads into the bowl or if it went through to the base assembly (throttle body), but I do know it only passes through the air horn.
 Not that you will ever have to deal with this issue again, but if it does happen again, you can try this before resorting to the drill press.

 Glad you got it out without causing damage to the carburetor.

 Rick

The epoxy was not only at the bottom end of the threaded base but up the stem around the rod. So, it had effectively bonded the rod not only to the lower carb but also to the top. It could not come apart as both sections were bonded together. As usual, you are extremely astute Cadman-iac, as under normal circumstances one would be able to separate the two halfs, thus revealing more rod to work with as you suggested. But not in this case.    I also looked at my Rochester parts supply and determined that the rod ends within the aluminum carburetor bowl, and not in the cast iron base. Trying to think back, but even if I had been able to remove the cast iron base, it would not have helped. At any rate, my only choice was to engage in what was probably the most delicate and nerve wracking drilling operation of my life. Again, glad I had my large cross vise with it's wide enough throat to hold this carburetor. As they say, "Go big or go home". Clay/Lexi

[Cadman-iac]

  That really sucks, who would have been so blind as to JBW that rod in and basically welding the whole carburetor together.
 You couldn't rebuild that if you had to! If you hadn't been able to drill it out that would have become a really cool, but absolutely worthless paperweight.
 I take it that you bought it that way?

 Rick

[PHIL WHYTE CLC 14192]

I did not try heat, though in retrospect, I could have tried that first and borrowed my son-in-law's induction coil, or used my torch. The stud was JB welded in place and it's melting point is only about 60 degrees shy of aluminum if memory serves. Some people have even used it to repair engine block cracks. It is also rather impervious to chemical attack. So, I was worried about distortion especially as JBW is also heat resistant, so rightly or wrongly, flame or coil heat was going to be my last chance choice. Prior to trying heat, I clamped the rod into the biggest bench vise I had and worked it back and forth by hand, by using the carb as the turning handle, so to speak. Tons of torque. All that did was snap off the rod which then reduced my options including heat. Had that not happened, I would have used some heat, but the rod was broken off, level with the top of the aluminum. I don't think it was a good candidate to weld a piece to as I probably would have damaged the aluminum carb core that it was stuck in. Generally, that is a good option, but was negated this time not only by breaking but where it broke. It was not a good day. It was one of those times where you get so screwed, you hardly even cuss it out. Just depressing.

The drilling took about 4 hours spread out over 2 days. In the end, my mistake as I should have thought out the procedure better and tried heat first. Nothing even budged it. Doing anything like this again, lesson learned; try at least some heat first, as you suggested, (which most of the time I do). Learned my lesson, (again), and next job was tearing down a spare front bumper clip. Lots of stubborn 70 year old rusted fasteners. Brough on the heat and my son-in-law's induction coil. At the end even used some of those half sized sockets I wrote about earlier. Borrowed those. I was so impressed, that Santa got me a set for Christmas, (see earlier post for a picture of them). Still plagued by horrific carburetor nightmares and how I almost ruined a piece of  virutal unobtainium. 2024 was not a good year in so many ways. Clay/Lexi

As we say here in England, you were on a hiding to nothing with the stud stuck in with JB weld. A good advert for the product though! Phil

[Lexi]

Here is another, of what I think will be a useful tool, especially for owners of vintage cars that are equipped with drum brakes. Gear Wrench has produced a tool that they call a "Brake Resetting Gauge", (#GW 3377). It is designed to assist in the adjustment of brake shoe-drum clearance. It is soley designed for this use, so I am assuming that it should yield good results.

With the drum off the car, you insert the inside caliper part of the gauge to get a profile measurement of the wear portion of the drum. Then lock the gauge using the lock nut. Next, using the outside portion of the gauge, place over the shoes to check for clearance. Should there be any, then adjust your star wheel to narrow the gap so that there is only a slight bit of contact between the drum and shoe.

This process transfers the measurement to ensure accuracy.

Works with drum sizes measuring from 6.5 inches to 14.25 inches, so good for our Cadillacs and I would assume some trucks as well. I assume this is an inner diameter spec. My 1956 drum specification as I recall is stated at 12 inches, and not to exceed. So this set is designed to be well within that range.

I just picked up this tool and have not had a chance to use it. If anyone has experience with this type of gauge, perhaps they could provide some comments? Blue Point (Snap On), has one, which appears to be a re-branded version of this tool. My Gear Wrench version appears to be well made, and has the updated sharps on the inside. This GW unit looks a lot like, if not exactly like the Blue Point example that I have seen.

This would work best on freshly turned drums, but I imagine could be applied to any used brake equipment. Images attached show the tool as well as the packaging with instructions. My son-in-law picked it up for me. He is a trained mechanic, and was introduced to this tool only recently as one of his mechanics in the shop that he manages, uses this same tool. He got to use it and like his mechanic, swears by it. Only deviance from the instructions is that the mechanic said when applied to the inside, first present the tool at a 45 degree angle, then straighten out to obtain your reading. Seems that using inside the drum first is the way to go.

Any comments? Again, this is one that I have yet to use but eagerly await trying it out. Clay/Lexi

[Lexi]

A fellow member triggered my response in another thread, where I thought this self priming siphon pump would come in handy. Attached are some of my comments on this tool:

...rather than having to start your car during the winter to burn some gas off, I can think of an alternative. There are a number of gasoline siphon/extracation tools available. The best would probably be one of those straight siphon tubes that are equipped with a copper manifold that is loaded with a ball bearing. You simply insert the flexible clear tube into the gas filler neck and push it down into the fuel. Then vigoresly shake the tube up and down which creates a temporary vacuum leading to a pressure differential at either end of the line. This triggers the the flow of gas through the tube. The secret behind this tool is that it is in reality a self priming pump, (caused by your shaking the line). Have it empty into a suitable container with enough room to accept the flow of fuel. Once it begins it flows quite fast, and you can stop shaking the tube and let it continue to siphon on it's own. This way, you don't get a mouthful of gasoline (as that technique is not required here), and you don't have to start your car in the frigid cold. Not good for our aging engines. Should probably add this to the tools we never heard of thread that TJ started. Clay/Lexi

And yes, I have one of these, (a couple actually), and they work quite well. It can be tricky to get them to start, but once the flow begins it is very rapid. Clay/Lexi

[TJ Hopland]

I have seen those brake calipers and thought they may be handy for pre adjusting shoes before you assemble things especially if its like a truck where the drums weigh a ton and don't just slide over studs.  You can waste a lot of time adjusting those one click at a time through the slot. 

I have also seen those rattle siphon deals but always heard they don't really work especially in the context of gas and cars that tend to have some sort of filler neck compared to say other equipment where the cap is often directly on the tank itself.  Maybe I will just have to give em a try.  One concern these days is what do they make the hose out of?  I suspect many that are available today are not going to be the right combination of flexibility and resistance to common fluids so its either going to be too stiff to work out of the box or get stiff after its first use?

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

I have two of those siphon tubes.   3/4" and 1".   The smaller one for decanting Jerry Cans into my cars when required, simply because the neck that fits the can leaks.

The problem with modern cars is that they have smaller orifices in the factory filler pipes, and flaps that have to be pushed in by the filling pipe to get fuel in.   I lent one to a friend and they lost the brass end inside the tank as the trap dor caught the end as he tried to pull it out.

The hose construction is plastic, and I have had mine for many years, and they are still very pliable, with no signs of deterioration.

When filling from a can, the secret is to not let the "jiggler" actually sit on the bottom of the container as it will pick up anything that is laying on the bottom.   One of my Jerry Cans is starting to lose its internal paint, and I have seen flakes of paint getting trapped in the bottom of the glass ball.   At least, with the clear plastic tube, one can see if there is any contaminant getting transferred, and can stop the flow.

Bruce.

[Lexi]

Bruce is correct in that gas filler necks in late model vehicles often do not accept such siphoning systems due to the filler flap. My Ford mechanic buddy said vehicles regularly come in for repair where someone used an improperly sized tube, funnel end, siphon or whatever, to add or extract fuel from a late model vehicle. Sometimes the unit gets stuck in the flap portion of the top of the filler neck opening and other times things break and fall inside the tank. The flap acts sort of like a barb or a hooked tooth of a predatory reptile as it does not permit movement of certain objects in reverse-once the flap has been depressed. Not good.

I recall that a salesman told me these were deseigned to discourage theft of fuel by siphoning. It is imperative to use the fill nozzle that Ford for example, provides to provide proper access to that port. Modern gas pump nozzles are not impacted by this "anti-theft" mechanism. Another Ford employee advised that Ford racing developed it years ago.

Regardless, my comments were directed at vintage Cadillac filler necks where this will not be a problem due to the diameter & design of the filler neck opening. Clay/Lexi