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The old army surplus shop on 5th street finally made my toolkit make sense
I wandered into this dusty place near the bus depot last October, just killing time before a meeting. The owner, a retired machinist named Phil, showed me how to wrap a wrench handle with paracord so it doesn't slip when your hands are greasy. I've rebuilt two mowers and a broken garage door spring since then, and that $8 tip has outlasted every fancy ratchet set I bought online. Anyone else got a random repair trick from a stranger that beat all the YouTube tutorials? Does your local shop guy have one weird hack that just works?
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jordanc689d ago
My buddy Dave picked up a trick from an old timer at a flea market in Tulsa about six years back. The guy sold him a $3 oil can and told him to fill it with half diesel and half motor oil for freeing up rusty bolts. Dave used it on the exhaust manifold of his 89 Ford and those bolts came off like they were new. A shop quoted him $400 for that job and he did it in his driveway in an afternoon. He still mixes that stuff in a coffee can and swears by it over any store bought penetrant. The old guys just know stuff you can't find in a video.
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nora_wells589d ago
Did he ever try heating the bolts with a torch first? That diesel and oil mix works even better when the metal is warm, it pulls right into the threads instead of just sitting on top. I keep a squirt bottle of the same stuff in my garage and it has saved me more times than I can count on old farm equipment.
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