Community Question: Tools that make your work more professional?   I ask this question because, over the years, I learned to do jobs more complex than oil changes, tune ups, etc. and my cars had different needs as they matured. Needs that required specialized tools, and a smarter owner. 🙂   One of the bigger needs is to replace the battery terminals and/or upgrade the wiring to and from the battery. And while I could use a bench vise, a hammer, etc. to crimp a new end on a power/ground cable, a physical condition at the time encouraged me to bite the bullet and buy a hydraulic wire crimping tool. It allows for a perfect crimp, with little effort on my part.  This tool became invaluable when I used it on applications with tight spaces and complex wiring. I don't need to remove an otherwise sound negative battery cable from the chassis anymore! The end result? I used RV battery terminal connectors, 0 gauge battery cable ends, and my hand saving hydraulic crimper to perform a quick upgrade without needing to remove the cable. I didn't zoom in on purpose, just because I wanted to show how subtle the change is.    With all the old cars I work on (and aftermarket stereos I install) this tool has been a life saver.    So, tell me, what tools make your work more professional?  ... View more

No this isn't a rhetorical question, unless you don't own a vise and still want to participate. In that case, I was actually "in a vise" trying to get an appointment for the Takata airbag recall on my daily driver -- but seriously -- here's what I last had in my workbench's vise.    Thank goodness for shop rags... This is a steering wheel trim for a 1979 Continental Mark V, but it was used on a lot of 70s Ford products when ordered with cruise control. (And Econoline vans up until 1991.) And they all seem to crack/break over time, so I needed to put it in a vise to epoxy back together.    The end result was a good one, and I sincerely thank my little vise for making this happen for me.    So what was the last thing you put in a vise?  ... View more

This is an update to the original question here, because I finally learned how to weld plastic. The moral of this story is that you must always learn new things, because it makes your life so much easier afterwards!  Wouldn't you agree?    I have several issues with 30+ year old plastic on several vehicles. Or should I say "had" because I finally learned how to plastic weld?  The tipping point for me were two busted parts on my 1985 Ford Thunderbird.  So let's see what happened.  Time to get melty Repair #1 was a little plastic disc that separated from the interior trim panel, which essentially snugs down the panel to the dashboard.    So I fired up the "welder" to see how easy it would be to melt both parts so they would come back together. To be honest, it was so easy! The only hard part is waiting for the welder to heat up, and ensuring you do this in a well ventilated area.  Plastic is really, really easy to work on Repair #2 was a similar issue but using leftover plastic as a patch panel. I cut the patch panel with tin snips, melt/weld into position, and then drill a hole (drill bit) and clean everything up (Dremel tool).    The end result is a factory correct interior! And here's the end result of repair #2: a factory part that will look better on the Tbird, only because it wasn't drilled to have a cheeseball LED light in it (for an aftermarket alarm).    In theory, I coulda plasti-welded the drilled out hole too, but getting the texture and paint finish to match would have been challenging. Maybe next time?  ... View more