When I started playing wheel-bearing games, I took myself down to the store and tried to buy a brass drift to tap the races out. $25 or something- yow! So I went to my friendly local hardware store (FLHS) and and bought a 3" brass rod either 3/8" or 1/2" diameter for something less than $25- more like $8 I think, and sawed it into 4, 9" sections. In the metric world, buy a meter of rod and saw it into 250mm sections. I then gave two away as presents and still have the other two. Of course I dressed the ends of the drifts I'd made with a file, but using the tool will dent and deform the end so don't get real attached to the flat, shiny, end. On the subject of Tools You Can Make, I also made myself a pucka brake bleeding jar- First buy the silicone rubber tubing from your local hobby shop- buy a short piece of each of the likely-looking sizes and try them for fit, go back and buy 2-3 feet of the size that fits snug over the bleeder nipple. Then buy a length of brass tubing that the silicone rubber is tight over. Marshmellow Cream jars are wider than they are tall, hold about a pint. Drill two holes in the lid, one centered and one half way out to the edge, that just clear the brass tubing you'll solder into them. Cut the brass tube into a long piece that goes to the bottom of the jar and sticks out about 2" (50mm) from the center hole, and a short piece that is about 2" (50mm) long for the off-center hole. Solder in the short tube first for practice, remembering to heat the work and touch the solder to it, not the iron. Then put a paper match or scrap of cardboard at the bottom of the jar as a spacer, screw the lid down and feed the long tube through the centered hole until its resting on the spacer at the bottom, centered, of the jar. Solder the long tube, take out the spacer, mark the jar "POISON, BRAKE FLUID" and you're done. The free end of the silicone tubing can be pushed onto the vent tube when not in use, and that keeps the system closed so anything in it doesn't spill. Bill
|
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.