Reader Scott pointed us to his blog where he asks the following:

What are these little blue and grey caps called? What do they do? Are they part of the cooling system? What happens if they are not there?

Ellen’s 2001 Eclipse is overheating now and then. Her coolant reservoir is empty, we filled it. The radiator seemed to still be full of coolant. Near the coolant reservoir there is a metal pipe/line that looks like it has one of these little caps missing. There is also a short hose coming out of the reservoir that is not attached to anything but we assume this is an overflow hose, are we right?

Before I launch into some possible explanations, I’d like to point out that I’m not going to make fun of Scott. And I’d like to ask that you don’t either. Some of us were lucky enough to have parents or friends (or just plain situation) that gave us an understanding of basic automotive troubleshooting before we were old enough to drink legally. But some didn’t.

Our job as Toolmongers isn’t to deride them but to pass on that knowledge — to remind our less-experienced friends that they can figure it out by using the same reasoning they apply to other problems in life.

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Frank Ford, a luthier of some renown for Gryphon Stringed Instruments has a section of his website Frets.com devoted to home shop machining tips and projects. Many of the projects are related to his production of replacement parts for various guitars and other stringed instruments, while others are just general machining projects. His projects are far from run of the mill, including such things as making rope knurls, a 19mm tap,  or his latest, knurling 3′ of drill rod. The man is a master machinist and has the great ability to document his projects clearly with great photographs. It’s well worth procrastinating for a couple of hours and checking out all of his work, especially if you do any instrument repair.

Maverick of Maverick Solar put the IkePak together to help his son after Hurricane Ike. He did not spend time doing extensive calculations, but just used what was readily available — he runs a solar energy company, so he probably has a few relevant things available — or easily obtained at the local WalMart. The wheeled Igloo cooler holds a marine battery, a 400W inverter, a solar charge controller, an inline fuse for protection, and most of the wiring. It provides enough power for a few CFLs, a small TV, and a cell phone charger. The total cost was ~ $360; the most expensive item was the $175 20W solar panel.

Additional pictures and details are the link below.

IkePak [Maverick Solar]

The next series of steps in rebuilding the Eaton M90 requires some new parts and careful disassembly. An arbor press is a must for this stage. Once the snout’s removed, it needs to be disassembled. There are two bearings, a seal, a spring, and the drive shaft inside, all of which need to be removed without damaging the snout. Only two snout parts carry over from the old to the rebuilt blower: the drive shaft, and the press-on, three-stud coupler.

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Once you’ve sourced an M90, the next step is rebuilding it. For better or worse, most of the motors paired with the M90 were fantastically durable, which means high miles on the blower. At the very least, the snout should be rebuilt. While there are different lengths available depending on the original application, they all use the same seals, bearings, and coupler, which are the snout parts that should be replaced. I’ll frequently reference the photo above, which comes from an ongoing project by user NVA-AV6 at V6Performance.net, and there’s a high-resolution version for easier viewing.

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I recently rebuilt an Eaton M90 supercharger for a project engine, and a reader suggested I chronicle the process. For starters, I found lots of good information online but ran into a few problems that no one seemed to mention. Sources like Rolling Performance and Thunderbird Infoway served me well for both details and parts, but I’ve since located an even better source for rebuilt kits. More on that later.

The first thing you need to do is locate the supercharger itself. Mine was a decent eBay find selected more for the $90 price tag than for apparent quality. It’s in decent shape, but 170,000 miles is hard on any component. New or freshly-rebuilt M90s cost anywhere from $300 to $600, usually with a core charge tacked on if you don’t have an old blower.

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From Flickr via Charles & Hudson comes this beautiful staircase part of the restoration of a San Francisco Victorian home. The homeowners began by removing a wall that had been put up to separate the upstairs and the downstairs when the house was split into two units several years ago. They then duplicated an upstairs banister that was original to the house, and, after several long days of work, completed the staircase shown above.

The Flickr link has additional pictures and details.

OK, so it may not strictly be a tool — although it is done using a computer, which is a tool we use for reading TM — but it is a lot of fun. The site offers other options including building, gas station, and highway signs. You can also do computer error messages:

Atom Smasher [Manufacturer's Site]

I’ve seen 2 references (Brian’s Blog & Cool Tools) recently about using paracord to wrap tool handles, so it must be significant. Peter Atwood has both a video and a short web tutorial showing his wrapping method. The picture above is from Brian’s Blog showing the Atwood-method wrap on a mini pry bar (the Pocket Widgy® from County Comm).

Given that you can get 50′ of paracord for around $3 and that its 550-lb. tensile strength is useful in many other areas, this looks like a neat application for it. Maybe paracord should join duct tape and vise grips as another universal solution?

Paracord Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Paracord Street Pricing [Google Products]

You Toolmongers have been holding out on me. How come no one told me — or, perhaps worse, why didn’t I discover before — that there are simple formulas for determining the nominal diameters and clearance holes of (Unified Thread Standard) machine screw sizes 0–14*? All those years I spent looking up that little table, or trying to find that plastic gauge thingy…

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If you’re looking for a good weekend project, Lowe’s website offers instructions on building your own backyard putting green. Using wood, sand, paver base, astroturf, PVC, and a few basic tools — plus some elbow grease/quality time spent with the kiddo — this looks like a project you could do even without the big box. In fact, one online magazine dedicates a whole section to building your own greens that go beyond the 8′ by 8′ square.

We see a few potential concerns, though:  warped wood over time, protecting the green in winter months, and drainage issues since the flat turf and raised border can retain water.  Do you have experience building a green or ideas about how to improve drainage?  Post in comments and let us know!

Weekend Projects [Lowe's]
DIY Backyard Putting Greens [Residential Putting Green Magazine]

Drill Press Ratchet Bolt Modification

I’ve been using this modified table lock bolt on my drill press for over a decade now and figured I should write it up.

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In the never-ending fight for truth, justice, and efficiently running 4-cycle engines, the newest arch nemesis of mowers and small lawn equipment everywhere has reared its ugly head:  ethanol!  As crude oil prices rise, gas companies are trying to cut costs and encourage renewable energy sources by adding ethanol to their gasoline mixture — up to 30% by volume in some parts of the U.S.  For an easy way to combat the negative effects of ethanol in your small engine, you can install an inline fuel filter.  Follow the jump to learn how.

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After seeing his how-to on Instructables, I’ve been saying, “Eggman, the Noisemaker,” Mentos-style, all morning.  I can see many places in everyday life where this thing and a hearty rebel yell would be appropriate:  office meetings, standing in line at the bank — you know, somber occasions that need a little livening up.

Joking aside, reader Eggman is the man.  I love this thing, and I might have to build one myself, but I’ll make mine a little bigger and more obnoxious –- just for the hell of it.  We tip our hats to you, sir, for a finely crafted piece of fun.

And remember, noisemakers don’t annoy people — people annoy people.

Wooden Ratchet Noisemaker [Instructables]
Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

I was watching a teenager try to remove the window crank from his first car the other day, and it struck me that there are folks out there who’ve never suffered through it before.  For anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure, let me assure you that you won’t need the above tool in most cases.

Ah, the old window-crank removal game — it can be super-frustrating and time-consuming, however I benefited from a cantankerous mechanic taking pity on me about 17 years ago, and I will now pass that knowledge on to you.  When I did the procedure this weekend the entire thing was over and done with before anyone could grab a camera, so these pics are some I found at ColoradoFans.com.

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I thought you’d like to see some pictures of how I tightened up this standard Enco ratcheting arbor press.  As it comes from Enco, the bolts in the front and the side press against the ram to tighten it up against the casting and prevent slop.  The problem is that it doesn’t work that well — it tends to be either too loose or too tight.

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Sean noticed a picture I uploaded to the Toolmonger Flickr pool showing a sight aperture I made the other day. One of my hobbies is tinkering with airguns, so I often undertake little projects like this for my enjoyment.

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