Home made tools, you got any?
 

Was on a Garage Journal site and there was a post about guys who made tools for various jobs, Valve spring compressor from modified vice grips, sand blaster from a 45 gal. drum ( 55 gal south of the 49th ), some real cool stuff. I don't have any pics of my home made stuff and can't take any cause I'm not at home but lets see what you guys have done, for your car or shop or what ever. I'm sure there lots of good ideas, post your pic's and share the glory

I made myself a little tool kit for gutting catalytic converters. ;)

Tool #1 is a sharpened piece of 3' rebar. That, with a sledge hammer, will break up the cat.

Tool #2 is a modified 1" x 4' box girder. I cut a ½" x 4" slot out of one side. This is used to pull the large/medium chunks out of the exhaust.

Tool #3 is simply a 2" shop vac hose. It is used to collect the dust and medium/small chunks. I often found myself feeding this hose up into the cat, using it to latch on to a chunk too big to go down the hose, and feeding the hose back out and pulling the chunk off the end.

I made some tools to take off the rad fan on my e300d. The first is just a long rod with an allan key welded to the end, the other is a tool to grip & hold the fan pulley so you can loosen the nut with tool #1. Haaving a welder is great, because it's so much easier top whip up single-use tools like this

http://www.jakesgarage.ca/uploaded_i...fan-700158.JPG

http://www.jakesgarage.ca/uploaded_i...ver-742362.JPG

We made a valve spring compressor like this one: http://www.pureluckdesign.com/vw/vsc/

I also made a timing belt tensioning tool by welding a couple nails to a piece of angle steel from the scrap bucket. The nails fit in holes on the tensioner pulley.

We made a toe gauge by riveting a small carpenters square and a tape measure to a length of square aluminum tubing.

I made this welding cart and added a tool box to the top. Killed two birds with one cart.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1249146144.jpg

I worked in the plastics industry for many years an made many of my own tools out of soft brass to eliminate mold scratching.

Brass slide hammer
brass slide hammer using vise grips
clamp on pullers
spring compressors
brass hammers
special wrenches

All sorts of stuff.

Speedy:)

I have quite a few modified and homeade tools that belonged to my grandfather. I cherish them much more for sentimental reasons than practical ones.

Start rebuilding 911 engines or 915 transmissions and you'll quickly have a bunch of homemade specialized tools as many of the official "factory tools" or suggested standard tool methods are excessive in cost or work poorly, sometimes both.

Homemade ball joint nut removal too:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1109823594.jpg

I have a fan holder for Ford trucks that I made from flat metal with the MIG. Works like a charm and turns out covers a lot of different models. :)

I once rebuilt a TH350 auto trans and made a lot of the tools along the way. A welder and a grinder and there isn't much you can't make.

George

Ive got a butt load of homemade tools from pulley holders to belt tensioner compressors to a clutch alignment tool for a 924s and 944 made out of an old torque tube. and after dropping many sockets into unreachable places while changing plugs in the 911 we now have an extension pinned to the socket.

Scribes I made in Metal Shop in High School.:)

A re-deployed breast pump makes a fantastic brake bleeder.

Home made oil cooler flushing thingie

http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/576835.jpg
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/576836.jpg

The roof was sagging in the carport. I made some new supports but because they fit so well, they were damn near impossible to twist and lock into place. I needed more leverage and made it.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1249342281.jpg

Added 4" to my floor jack...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1249349206.jpg

the first tool is pretty obvious, it's a third hand. Used mostly for soldering, but handy for painting small stuff, that kind of thing.

The second pic needs some explanation; the alt belt on my pickup was slipping, it went on so long that eventually the pulley was worn very smooth, so I built a "bow" with a piece of wood and a section of an old fan belt (small side out) wrapped with 180grit emery cloth. The device can then be used to scuff up the pulley so the belt gets good traction. Worked like a charm

(and the wooden stick in the picture is a lever to help get proper tension.)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1249396614.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1249396629.jpg

Done it for years now and could not get things done without them.

My two hand made tools:

Tool #1:
http://www.photos-of-the-year.com/im...d_Rock-med.jpg

Tool #2: (Note: this is just an illustration, not an actual image of the tool):
http://www.wpclipart.com/recreation/...ding_stick.png

Tool #1 is used for banging things.
Tool #2 is a multi-purpose tool: purpose one- banging things. Purpose two: poking things, especially when something is thought to be dead.

That's about as creative I can get with making tools....

Now back to our regular serious discussion...
-Z-man.