Custom or home made tools? Lets see them!

[Kern Dog]

I'm doing a cam swap in the 440/493 in the Charger. This will include changing the valvesprings. I wanted a PowerMaster valve spring compressor, but Summit didn't expect to have them for 2 weeks. I figured I'd try to make my own.












I made the loop narrow enough for this to work on both big blocks and small. Please forgive the sloppy welds!
Materials cost: About $5. The Powermaster tool is over $100. SCORE!

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I wanted to give the tool a high visibilty color. It didn't occur to me that it turned out Harbor Freight orange...
Uuuuugh!

 

[5.7 hemi]

Neccessity is the mother of inventions....good job!!!

 

[Meep-Meep]

Yeah, good job on the spring compressor.

I had to change the distributor bushing in my hemi and make a tool to remove it. The long bar is and old cluster gear shaft that became my tap wrench and I used a slide hammer to remove the bushing. It worked slicker than snot.



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Then a buddy needed some major head work on his SBC marine heads so I made a holding fixture that also allows easy leveling adjustment. It will also work on many other heads if I drill the proper bolt pattern on the long bars. I've been wanting to do this anyway and this was a good excuse to come up with a fixture for my mill. Worked great!

 

[Kern Dog]

I enjoy the challenge of making a tool or jig rather than buying one.

 

[Meep-Meep]

I enjoy the challenge of making a tool or jig rather than buying one.

Amen! That's why I have machine tools.

 

[747mopar]

Very cool, I also have a few home made tools, adjustable pushrod, solid lifter, oil primer, power steering pulley puller, rotisserie, engine stand (can run the motor) and several metal fab tools. Most are lent out the moment to a friend.

 

[khryslerkid]

Made myself a Piston Stop for finding TDC with the heads on. Things you will need:

Long reach spark plug

3/8 x 16 x 2 1/4 bolt

Hack saw

5/16 drill bit

3/8 x 16 tap

Cut the shoulder that's holding the porcelain all the way around. Don't saw straight through. Turn the plug as you go, stopping when you hit the porcelain. Tap around the hex on the plug to release the glue that's holding it in. Cut off the ground strap and tap the electrode and porcelain out. Also remove the sealing ring on the threads.

Useing a 5/16 drill bit, drill through the center. The inside diameter is already 5/16 but there is a shoulder halfway down. Follow up with a 3/8 x 16 thread tap.
Use a 2 1/4 bolt with at least 1 1/4 of thread.

That's all there is to it

To use the stop:

Remove all the spark plugs in the engine.

Find the piston top, by turning the crank by hand, useing a wire, or what I like to use, a plastic wire tie, in the #1 plug hole. Try to find the TDC by hand first before inserting the tool. Then back if off just a little. Then insert the tool with the bolt backed off. Run the bolt in until you feel it just touch the piston. Make a mark on the damper.

Now rotate the crank in the opposite direction until you feel it touch the stop. Go slow and let the compression bleed off. When the piston contacts the stop, make a mark on the damper.

Half the distance between the marks is your TDC.

Fine tuning where you set the bolt, can narrow the distance between your marks. A little practice and patience will get you good results. Great for checking your dampner's accuracy.