Stuff you have fixed today

[OJCar]

^ Hellermann Sleeve tools do the job nicely.

And can also be used for Hellermann Sleeves ...

 

[Windy Miller]

^ Hellermann Sleeve tools do the job nicely.
View attachment 511816
And can also be used for Hellermann Sleeves ...

I wouldn’t like to use the Hellermann pliers for anything other than Hellermann sleeves. I was able to score some virtually new ones just like those illustrated above at an absolutely bargain price, and snapped off one of the prongs misusing them as described above!

Seriously ****** off didn’t come anywhere near it!

 

[Robotstar5]

I wouldn’t like to use the Hellermann pliers for anything other than Hellermann sleeves. I was able to score some virtually new ones just like those illustrated above at an absolutely bargain price, and snapped off one of the prongs misusing them as described above!

Seriously ****** off didn’t come anywhere near it!

One of mine has replaceable prongs, can't remember if it's Hellerman branded though.

 

[OJCar]

I wouldn’t like to use the Hellermann pliers for anything other than Hellermann sleeves. I was able to score some virtually new ones just like those illustrated above at an absolutely bargain price, and snapped off one of the prongs misusing them as described above!

Seriously ****** off didn’t come anywhere near it!

I dread to imagine what sort of thing you were expanding that broke off the prong !


Was the Camel very upset ?

 

[Dcal]

I’m doing some maintenance and repairs to my old, but recently-acquired New Holland GT18 garden tractor.

The old steering tie rod ends had a lot of play in them, and one of them even had a washer welded onto it to keep the joint from falling apart.

View attachment 511793

Replacement OEM joints were insanely expensive, so I searched a bit and found some general-purpose low-cost tie rod ends that had the same thread sizes and outside dimensions. However, when I slid back the dust boots on one of the old tie rod ends and compared the 'innards' with a new one, I found that the old one was heavier duty, with a larger ball and a larger neck where the stud meets the ball.

View attachment 511794

I don't like to replace original parts with lighter-duty parts, and not having any comparative load rating data, I decided against using those new tie-rod ends.

Instead, I found some studded spherical rod ends (commonly called Heim joints here) that should have a higher load rating and also looked like they would fit well (threads, dimensions, and ball swivel angle range). I wanted to install dust boots on the joints, and I finally found some that I thought 'might' fit, although one of the holes would have to be stretched quite a bit to fit over the large-diameter female-threaded body of the joint, preferably without tearing.

View attachment 511795

Some of the merchants who were selling dust boots were also hawking what they called a "boot installation tool" for stretching dust boots over a rod end joint. Some of you who have worked with livestock might recognize this tool as what is politely known as 'goat banding tool,' used for attaching strong rubber bands to facilitate the removal of certain, shall we say, 'unwanted anatomical appendages' from farm animals. Anyway, I found this tool in the veterinary supply section of a local farm store for about half the price of a so-called "boot installation tool."

View attachment 511796

It did a good job stretching the neoprene rubber boots over the joints. I purposely stretched one of the boots even farther than shown in the photo below to make sure that it would not tear, and I managed to install all four boots without tearing any of them. As to how long the boots will actually last without tearing or splitting, only time will tell.

View attachment 511797

Here's one of the rod end joints after installing the boot, greasing it, and adding cable ties:

View attachment 511798

Here are the completed tie rods with their new spherical rod ends:

View attachment 511814

And one of the tie rods installed on the tractor:

View attachment 511815

The steering is nice and snug now, with virtually no play in it.

Lovely, proper job.

I'd a similar problem on my MTD 906 ride on mower a couple of months ago.
The tie rod fell off mid cut so I clamped it back on with vice grips to finish the cut.

I'm more of a scrap heap challenge person, so I made a new link out of a 10mm turnbuckle, a Fiat Punto drop link and some 10mm ID tube. All of which I had laying around.

I didn't take a photo at the time so took one just now in the dark to show the redneck fix.

I should do a proper repair like yours, but I probably won't until it (or something else) breaks.

Speaking of which....

 

[Blue Chips]

Lovely, proper job.

I'd a similar problem on my MTD 906 ride on mower a couple of months ago.
The tie rod fell off mid cut so I clamped it back on with vice grips to finish the cut.

Thanks.
I've done more than my share of repairs over the years with my emergency toolkit: Gaffer tape, baling wire, vice grips, pocket knife, and a hammer (or fairly sturdy rock). Most of those repairs were meant to be temporary, but a few are still hanging in there.

 

[Dcal]

Yesterday, I fixed my MTD ride on again.
I hit a stone while cutting which causes a lot of vibration and uneven cutting.

Took the deck off and found a blade was bent half an inch off with loads of lift in the spindles.
I removed the blades and spindles, straightened and sharpened the blades.
The spindle bearings were ok but slack in their housings.

So took them apart and put the old bearings back in with loctite. That took care of the lift.
I also machined off the mounting faces for the blades.

I was in a rush to get it back together because rain was imminent but it ran better than it has in years.

I went to cut the grass and something wasn't right, yes I'd put the blades on the wrong spindles.
Swapped the blades over and it's all good again.

The spindle bearing housings are pressed steel, I might machine new ones but that's definitely a winter job.

 

[malcolm]

Perfect fix

 

[Cobbler]

I remember in the distant past a couple of lads I worked with took an engine out of a J4 pickup and converted an Austin Cambridge to diesel.

BMC sold diesel Oxfords & Cambridges, I recall one being used as a taxi.

 

[RWD3M]

BMC sold diesel Oxfords & Cambridges, I recall one being used as a taxi.

I didn't know that!

 

[Cobbler]

I didn't know that!

The "BMC Oxford diesel"
refers to the Morris Oxford Series VI, a variant of the Morris Oxford "Farina" car model that was produced from 1961 until 1971 and offered with a 1.5-litre BMC B-series diesel engine as an option. While known for its poor performance, including slow acceleration and a high top speed of around 66 mph, the diesel engine was popular for its exceptional fuel economy (around 37-40 mpg) and was often used in taxi services and marine applications

 

[Beanwood]

Well yesterday rather than today... replaced the siphon on the toilet.
What are the golden rules of plumbing! Don't start when the plumbing shops have shut for the night? So 7pm Saturday may not have been ideal then.

What did I learn:
1. Close coupled toilets need a new donut seal kit..
2. Screws holding the cistern to the wall rust to nothing after 20 years...
3. Rawlplugs with broken off rusted screws are a pain to remove - but a bit of heat even works on them!
4. Rotten rusted screws holding the cistern to the wall are a pain to remove from the cistern - daren't hit them with a hammer...
5. To save £6, extracting the operating lever from the handle requires a puller (Did I mention 20 years of limescale build up) which I had to make.
6. A job I thought would take an hour took nearer 4, over an elapsed 20 hours
7. I have replaced the siphon with a new type, so siphon replacement should take minutes in future, as per the recent post on here.

Still - not all bad - it now flushes normally, and I had some workshop fun making a puller...

 

[Craig-SM]

Well yesterday rather than today... replaced the siphon on the toilet.
What are the golden rules of plumbing! Don't start when the plumbing shops have shut for the night? So 7pm Saturday may not have been ideal then.

What did I learn:
1. Close coupled toilets need a new donut seal kit..
2. Screws holding the cistern to the wall rust to nothing after 20 years...
3. Rawlplugs with broken off rusted screws are a pain to remove - but a bit of heat even works on them!
4. Rotten rusted screws holding the cistern to the wall are a pain to remove from the cistern - daren't hit them with a hammer...
5. To save £6, extracting the operating lever from the handle requires a puller (Did I mention 20 years of limescale build up) which I had to make.
6. A job I thought would take an hour took nearer 4, over an elapsed 20 hours
7. I have replaced the siphon with a new type, so siphon replacement should take minutes in future, as per the recent post on here.

Still - not all bad - it now flushes normally, and I had some workshop fun making a puller...

I had similar issues when tired of replacing faulty seats that due to the shape can only be originals so replaced the whole toilet instead. I used all stainless steel fittings just incase I need to work on it in the future. BTW to add to your list

8. Ting isn't the sound you want to hear when tightening fixtures on a toilet.

 

[bricol]

I had similar issues when tired of replacing faulty seats that due to the shape can only be originals so replaced the whole toilet instead. I used all stainless steel fittings just incase I need to work on it in the future. BTW to add to your list

8. Ting isn't the sound you want to hear when tightening fixtures on a toilet.

Yep, every house I've owned, having worked on my mums as a kid, stainless fixings for the loo, cistern etc.

 

[qwakers]

in readiness of the mot next month i wanted to grease the kingpins and check the brake adjustment. the side id previously rebuilt and setup again was fine, didn't need adjustment. the drivers side, however, was totally stripped and unable to be adjusted. luckily id kept the old mechanism which was replace simply because the self adjusting spring and retaining clip where missing.

having stripped and replaced the mech with the spare from the other caliper, with the spring a clip from this one, regreased and reassembled, and its all working again.

old

all fixed.

just gotta needle gun and repaint it as i have time and after the mot ill pull and repaint the other side.