We had a thermocouple living next door for a while. Glad they moved.

The answer has been worked out by engineers for decades. There are standards for sliding and press fits of mating parts. Sliding fits, of course, have to have more clearance than press fits. Tables are made with a range of tolerances for each class of fit. When an engineer or designer is creating t...

When I was 17, working on my '73 Ford Capri, I took some assembly apart and found a stripped bolt. Big bolt. Its a Sunday of course, no parts stores open in those days, and I need it Monday morning for work. Our neighbor across the alley, Bud Hashburger, was the retired head mechanic of the big down...

Oo! Oo! Yes!

One bit of advice from experience - DO NOT crank the bolts of the tool down into the camshafts - snug is fine. You only need the big teeth to engage with the slots in the cams. The bolts are only 7mm and made of cheap steel, and I sheared one off INSIDE the camshaft. It became an ordeal to fix.

matthew1 wrote: ↑24 Nov 2023, 16:10 Wow a Lotus. Question for you BB: what's the "tell" in the photo that it's a Lotus?

He told us. “Elan”. Trick question!

That was a nice car! Looks like it got hit hard and spun into something at the LR.

So, is it inside on that nice slab out of the rain while you work? That would be a huge difference from out in the mud in the yard. Is there a time limit on how long you can work on it?

When I put an engine in an Audi A4 in my cold garage through a winter, I bought some thin brown cotton gloves at Ace. $5, just throwaways, but they lasted and worked well. I got attached to those gloves.

^^^ yowch! VolvoDJ - I have some sawzall blades that will cut through anything - hardened steel, whatever. I was amazed when I tried them. Diablo brand "Steel Demon." 8 TPI. "6" extreme metal cutting" "Carbide tipped for thick metal cutting." They're bright red.