ivan
23-03-07, 06:02 PM
Tools/Parts/Items you should have
Items you should have for your car, garage and toolbox, and where to get them. Also a few things you shouldn't have.
In the garage:
Do yourself a big favour, and buy a decent trolley jack i.e. a professional quality one, not a $80 K-Mart one. During your motor racing career, you will jack your car up hundreds of times. A decent jack should cost you around $140 to $200 and jacks the car up higher and faster than a K-Mart jack, making the process a lot easier and more pleasant. Get it from any discount tool shop.
A mechanic's creeper is also a big time saver - you can move under the car quicker and easier than if you are on your back, as well as staying cleaner.
Speaking of being clean, setup a parts cleaner in your garage. It is much more pleasant working with clean parts than dirty ones. My parts cleaner cost $10, and is comprised of a siphon system using some windscreen washer tubing, a 4 litre can of kerosene suspended above an old sink, and a long handled pot scrubbing brush. The sink drains into another can, and when the top can is empty, I refill it with the bottom one. (I know all professional mechanics are laughing pretty hard as they read this, but you can all get stuffed - it works, and it doesn't cost much) If you want to get really fancy, rather than siphon, use an old electric fuel pump, a big foam filter and a 12 volt transformer, to replace the top can.
In the toolbox:
Permatex RTV is a silicone based sealant, and can be used for just about anything, from fixing quite large holes in sumps to a surrogate exhaust manifold gasket. Get it from almost any car parts shops, and carry at least two tubes. Costs about $7- $8 per tube. Don't do the lids up too tight, they seem to have a habit of breaking in half. About the only sealing job it won't do is where it is exposed to fuel, so don't use it on an intake manifold, or any fuel fittings. There are two other products in this range, which quote a higher temperature tolerances. They are Permatex Blue ($13/tube) and Permatex Ultra Copper ($18/tube). Given that the cheaper RTV works great as an exhaust manifold gasket, the only application I have found for the higher priced Ultra Copper is for sealing between the exhaust manifold and the turbine housing on a turbo charged engine. Blue and Ultra Copper are also "sensor safe" ie they don't affect oxygen sensors, if you use one.
I have always wanted to own a pair of safety wire pliers, but had baulked at the $70 - $80 price. Safety wire pliers are used for doing a neat job of safety wiring sump, gearbox and diff plugs, and any bolts which have a habit of coming loose. I now own a pair, which I got from Aviall (a supplier to the aviation industry) in Bankstown for $42.
Great for a rainy day of racing, Rain-X is applied to the outside of the windscreen, and beats potatoes hands down. It stops the rain from adhering to the windscreen by breaking down the surface tension of the water droplets. This means you can race in the rain without using your wipers, which is great.
Fog-X is applied to the inside of all windows, and stops them fogging on a wet day. This sure beats the Scuba diver's idea of spitting on them.
I'm not sure you should keep them in your toolbox, but gumboots are great for wet race days, too. There is always water all over the place when it rains, and water is very bad for your race boots. If the soles are glued on, the glue is water based for fire resistance, so it dissolves when it gets wet.
Don't bother trying to use an ordinary 10 mm spanner on brake pipe fittings, it will only lead to tears. Get yourself a proper brake fitting spanner.
On the car:
Having just completely replumbed my car, I have a few tips to pass onto anyone contemplating the same exercise. Configure your plumbing for straight hose ends where possible. Hose fittings with bends are usually more than twice the price of straights. The Speedflex range of press fit hose fittings from Earls are not too outrageously priced, and the hose (non braided, from other hose suppliers such as Enzed and Pirtek) is cheaper too. Watching the Bathurst coverage, I noticed HRT had their fuel system done with this stuff. I wonder what Alan Jones uses? ENZED and Pirtek also have steel & brass hose fittings, not as light and pretty as Earls, but they work just as well. Fuel injection quality hose (250 psi), compatible with the Speedflex fittings, can be had from some of the hose outlets, as can hose suitable for oil coolers. It is much easier and quicker to plumb with flexible hose than with copper, aluminium or steel pipe. Be very careful using copper pipe. Vibration can cause it to work harden and crack. It is not recommended, but if you must use it, support it at regular intervals with "P" clips or a similar rigid mounting method.
Don't paint your engine bay black or a dark colour. It is much easier to see what you are doing in an engine bay which is a light colour, as it reflects more light.
For anyone contemplating making a fuel rail for an injected car, don't bother. Motec in Melbourne (ph 03 9761 5050) carry a special aluminium fuel rail extrusion. It isn't particularly cheap on a per metre basis, but you more than make up for the extra cost in labour savings. The extrusion is specially shaped so that all you have to do is drill holes to plug the injectors into, tap the ends for hose fittings, and hey presto, one fuel rail ready to bolt on.
Regards,
Ivan
Note: This article may have been copied from another website and revised to better suit the Starlet community. If you are the owner of the original article and would like us to remove it, please contact me via email with the subject "Remove Article" and i will remove it from this website as soon as possible.
Items you should have for your car, garage and toolbox, and where to get them. Also a few things you shouldn't have.
In the garage:
Do yourself a big favour, and buy a decent trolley jack i.e. a professional quality one, not a $80 K-Mart one. During your motor racing career, you will jack your car up hundreds of times. A decent jack should cost you around $140 to $200 and jacks the car up higher and faster than a K-Mart jack, making the process a lot easier and more pleasant. Get it from any discount tool shop.
A mechanic's creeper is also a big time saver - you can move under the car quicker and easier than if you are on your back, as well as staying cleaner.
Speaking of being clean, setup a parts cleaner in your garage. It is much more pleasant working with clean parts than dirty ones. My parts cleaner cost $10, and is comprised of a siphon system using some windscreen washer tubing, a 4 litre can of kerosene suspended above an old sink, and a long handled pot scrubbing brush. The sink drains into another can, and when the top can is empty, I refill it with the bottom one. (I know all professional mechanics are laughing pretty hard as they read this, but you can all get stuffed - it works, and it doesn't cost much) If you want to get really fancy, rather than siphon, use an old electric fuel pump, a big foam filter and a 12 volt transformer, to replace the top can.
In the toolbox:
Permatex RTV is a silicone based sealant, and can be used for just about anything, from fixing quite large holes in sumps to a surrogate exhaust manifold gasket. Get it from almost any car parts shops, and carry at least two tubes. Costs about $7- $8 per tube. Don't do the lids up too tight, they seem to have a habit of breaking in half. About the only sealing job it won't do is where it is exposed to fuel, so don't use it on an intake manifold, or any fuel fittings. There are two other products in this range, which quote a higher temperature tolerances. They are Permatex Blue ($13/tube) and Permatex Ultra Copper ($18/tube). Given that the cheaper RTV works great as an exhaust manifold gasket, the only application I have found for the higher priced Ultra Copper is for sealing between the exhaust manifold and the turbine housing on a turbo charged engine. Blue and Ultra Copper are also "sensor safe" ie they don't affect oxygen sensors, if you use one.
I have always wanted to own a pair of safety wire pliers, but had baulked at the $70 - $80 price. Safety wire pliers are used for doing a neat job of safety wiring sump, gearbox and diff plugs, and any bolts which have a habit of coming loose. I now own a pair, which I got from Aviall (a supplier to the aviation industry) in Bankstown for $42.
Great for a rainy day of racing, Rain-X is applied to the outside of the windscreen, and beats potatoes hands down. It stops the rain from adhering to the windscreen by breaking down the surface tension of the water droplets. This means you can race in the rain without using your wipers, which is great.
Fog-X is applied to the inside of all windows, and stops them fogging on a wet day. This sure beats the Scuba diver's idea of spitting on them.
I'm not sure you should keep them in your toolbox, but gumboots are great for wet race days, too. There is always water all over the place when it rains, and water is very bad for your race boots. If the soles are glued on, the glue is water based for fire resistance, so it dissolves when it gets wet.
Don't bother trying to use an ordinary 10 mm spanner on brake pipe fittings, it will only lead to tears. Get yourself a proper brake fitting spanner.
On the car:
Having just completely replumbed my car, I have a few tips to pass onto anyone contemplating the same exercise. Configure your plumbing for straight hose ends where possible. Hose fittings with bends are usually more than twice the price of straights. The Speedflex range of press fit hose fittings from Earls are not too outrageously priced, and the hose (non braided, from other hose suppliers such as Enzed and Pirtek) is cheaper too. Watching the Bathurst coverage, I noticed HRT had their fuel system done with this stuff. I wonder what Alan Jones uses? ENZED and Pirtek also have steel & brass hose fittings, not as light and pretty as Earls, but they work just as well. Fuel injection quality hose (250 psi), compatible with the Speedflex fittings, can be had from some of the hose outlets, as can hose suitable for oil coolers. It is much easier and quicker to plumb with flexible hose than with copper, aluminium or steel pipe. Be very careful using copper pipe. Vibration can cause it to work harden and crack. It is not recommended, but if you must use it, support it at regular intervals with "P" clips or a similar rigid mounting method.
Don't paint your engine bay black or a dark colour. It is much easier to see what you are doing in an engine bay which is a light colour, as it reflects more light.
For anyone contemplating making a fuel rail for an injected car, don't bother. Motec in Melbourne (ph 03 9761 5050) carry a special aluminium fuel rail extrusion. It isn't particularly cheap on a per metre basis, but you more than make up for the extra cost in labour savings. The extrusion is specially shaped so that all you have to do is drill holes to plug the injectors into, tap the ends for hose fittings, and hey presto, one fuel rail ready to bolt on.
Regards,
Ivan
Note: This article may have been copied from another website and revised to better suit the Starlet community. If you are the owner of the original article and would like us to remove it, please contact me via email with the subject "Remove Article" and i will remove it from this website as soon as possible.