Tool, shop and garage tips!!

Werecow

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I've noticed that we've all been tossing around a lot of tips around lately, shop garage and tool tips... I don't know if there was a thread for all this to go in one place, so I thought is make one for everyone to drop any lil tips they run into or think of while they are working on their ride.... Fixing up the shop... Even stuff you may have come across that makes it easier to do (insert stuff here). So go ahead and let's get this started!!
 
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Werecow

Werecow

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Now see!! Perfect example right there!! Thanks @evilcw311 first tip for this thread!! If you've got a gravel driveway to make it easier to get around under your ride use a piece of 3/4 plywood under the car first then your creeper, moving blanket or what have you to get around under your ride to avoid rock pain!! That's tip no 1 and a great one!!
 

Boostr1

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If your by yourself and want to see if your popping out 12 volts after the Inertia switch when switching on the ignition:

When I was testing my new fuel hat and pumps, I grounded one lead, and had the other plugged into the wire feeding the Inertia switch. I placed my cell phone next to the meter hit record and went and turned the ignition on. Came back and played back the recording making sure I was getting 12 volts
 

MyLittlePony

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Buy a label maker. Label all your tool drawers. I don’t care how many times you’ve gone for the wrench drawer, you will never find it until after you’ve checked the screwdrivers, hammers, sockets, and other drawers. Plus, if you have someone else that uses it, even if it’s just to grab things for you, it helps a bunch!!!

Also, buy a red label maker... ...they print faster!
 

ttocs

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Buy a label maker. Label all your tool drawers. I don’t care how many times you’ve gone for the wrench drawer, you will never find it until after you’ve checked the screwdrivers, hammers, sockets, and other drawers. Plus, if you have someone else that uses it, even if it’s just to grab things for you, it helps a bunch!!!

Also, buy a red label maker... ...they print faster!
if you do invest in one, spend a few extra bucks and they make them so that they can write on heat shrink. I have found this amazingly valuable to label wires so that years later they are still easy to identify. I label all my wires with it now. DYMO is the brand I have
 

MyLittlePony

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Probably not new to any of you, but just in case it is, kitty litter. Always keep kitty litter. I remember when I was 19yo, cashiering at a grocery store. Someone came in and bought bags and bags of it. It was for their restaurant. My eyes grew big! W.T.F. Those poor cats!!! I think I finally told someone about it, as I couldn’t believe it, and they knew what was up. Kitchens deal with a lot of grease and cooking oil. It was being purchased to soak it up in the event of spilling.

Also get yourself a floormate. It’s an amazing tool, both in the home and in the garage. After everything’s soaked up, and swept up, run the floormate over the garage floors to make them super clean. People will wonder if you do any garage work at all, or, if you film reality shows, as those garages are always somehow spotless despite all the work.
 

PinkieT

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Buy a dozen 10 mm sockets. Old kitchen cabinets make great garage cabinets. A cheap stereo cranking out tunes can make the work go faster. I lined my entire garage with pegboard which lets me customize my storage and change it around when I need to in a snap. I'll second the kitty litter - cheap clay kitty litter works just as well to soak up grease, oil, gas spills as the special stuff you get at the auto parts store but is a heck of a lot cheaper.
 

apsmith49921

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Organize your tools... and adding to what mylittlepony said, label them. Any idiot can come into my garage and find exactly what they want. If you want to do this to you bix with the foam and such let me know I'll help you out.
280c0f0978bcb02b487053b03f5c2f2d.jpg


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ttocs

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Organize your tools... and adding to what mylittlepony said, label them. Any idiot can come into my garage and find exactly what they want. If you want to do this to you bix with the foam and such let me know I'll help you out.
280c0f0978bcb02b487053b03f5c2f2d.jpg


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see I use some pre manf carriers for mine for the times I just grab the whole set to be sure I have what I need.

Also if you just turn your tools on their side, you can fit 2 or 3 times as many in yer box. This was one of my first welding projects when I was learning. I went to the local sheet metal supplier and while I was buying a few pieces I asked them if they had any scrap pieces I could get to practice on. They pointed me to a HUGE box and said to have at it and I found these strips. I welded nails to them so that I can slide my pliers and other tools between them.
az9IKaC.jpg
 
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apsmith49921

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Each metric and standard wrench set is a proto set that costs 400 a piece. And all they gave me was a shitty roll up bag

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MustangChris

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if you do invest in one, spend a few extra bucks and they make them so that they can write on heat shrink. I have found this amazingly valuable to label wires so that years later they are still easy to identify. I label all my wires with it now. DYMO is the brand I have

dude -- good to know!!!
 

MustangChris

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My advise: Get rid of stuff. Seriously. Wife's done having kids? Get rid of the stroller. Old paint can? Open it, let it dry, and throw it away (unless it's lead-based, then dispose of it properly). Box of taxes from 1994 - shred.

We clean our shop about once a month and 99% of it is just moving clutter from one side of the shop to the other. If it were my clutter, I'd just throw it all away. But its not my shop, my clutter, or my choice - so we just move it from shelf to shelf or from front of shop to storage container. Repeat.
 
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Werecow

Werecow

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^^^ agree with this!!!! You will use the 3/8 and 1/4 a lot more than you think and it'll save you a lot of aggravation and stripped out bolts and threads on sensitive stuff using them!!
 

PinkieT

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Good lighting. I was given an old fluorescent shop light and went with retrofit LED bulbs, $12 for the pair of bulbs is cheaper than buying a new LED light. I painted the walls and ceiling white, which also helps. Some of the handiest tools I have are magnetic hardware retrievers - if I drop a screw, nut, engine block, etc. (just kidding about the block) instead of getting on my hands and knees I just have to sweep the area like using a metal detector. Putting a piece of cloth over the head makes it easier to get the hardware off after you found it - instead of pulling it off piece by piece, just pull the whole cloth off.
 

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