Fabricating chassis and suspension parts often requires a builder to bend tubing, and today we took a look a the new Eastwood Pro Former Tubing Bender and how it works.
In the old days, one could pull dents by drilling holes in panels and yanking them out with a slide hammer. Today, tools like the HTP Stud Setter allow you to not only pull dents without leaving holes in them, but also to shrink metal and install trim studs with the same tool. (Anyone restoring a muscle car knows what a pain replacing those welded-on trim studs can be!) Here, Nathan Newberry takes us through the process of fixing some dings in a hood structure with the HTP tool .
They call them Body Hammers for a reason... you're not supposed to use your regular claw hammer to straighten out body panels, and here are the reasons why. Body tech Nathan Newberry takes us through a variety of different body hammers and dolleys, including a new kit from Eastwood, and shows us how they are used. Look for some good tips to fix dents, as demonstrated on our 1968 Camaro hood.
Sometimes you need hardware store-grade nuts and bolts for your project, and they often times come with colored dye on them. This stuff can be a pain and a time killer to remove, but we found that Eastwood Fast Etch zaps it off quickly.
Setting the proper wire speed and heat settings is easy if you know how to do it. This video will show you the fastest and easist way to dial-in your MIG welder properly. We're using an HTP MIG 130 welder, as it's a great example of a capable 110 volt MIG welder that can be used in virtually any home garage.
The benefits of Royal Purple high performance synthetic engine oil are well known, mostly decreased friction resulting in increased power and less wear and heat. Recently, they've been touting increased oil change intervals thanks to the oil's ability to resist breakdown. However, they realized normal oil filters are not up to the task of an extended oil change interval. We cracked one open and compared it to a regular filter to see the differences for ourselves.
Polishing parts can be very rewarding if you know how to do it and have the right gear. We picked up an Eastwood buffing motor, stand, and polishing kit to be able to do this kind of work in-house. We learned that there are a variety of different kinds of buffing and polishing wheels, and the various compounds can only be used with one wheel. Here's some tricks to help your polishing projects go smoothly.
Cutting perfect circles in steel is easy with the HTPPlasma Cutter Circle Cutting attachment. You can adjust the size of the circle you want to cut and choose from 3 different base types to hold the compass in place. The plasma torch guide end is on wheels allowing it to glide over the work. Then, just set the torch in the guide, pull the trigger, and you're cutting perfect circles in seconds. It's really that easy. We proved it!
We received an email about one of our
Ingersoll Rand grinders and how we attach a 3M Roloc disc to it...
Kelle's here to explain how. Send your questions to
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today!
Abrasive blasting is one of the best ways to remove rust, paint, and other unwanted surfaces from parts and panels. Eastwood just came out with a new 2-tank blaster that allows you to switch between an aggressive media and a less abrasive bicarbonate soda media on the fly! We tested it, now we use it all the time.
Flaring lines for brakes and fuel systems can be a pain, and properly sealing double flared fittings are essential for safety. Traditional clamp-style flare tools can be tricky to master, often times creating imperfect double flares forcing you to re-bend a new line. However, we'll never have a bad flare again in our shop.. this Eastwood Professional double flare tool not only makes perfect double flares every time, but it's so easy to use, you could do it blindfolded. Really.
Here's a quick tip on welding exhaust tubing with your MIG welder... do it HOT and FAST! This technique shows how to burn deep-penetrating, low-profile welds that look great on their own or can be easily dressed for polishing or coating. The secret is to use high amperage (or heat) and a series of quick tack welds, and give the work time to cool between each tack! Resist the urge to seam-weld the whole tube... you'll have to run your welder too "cold" to prevent burn through, resulting in welds that are stacked high on the tubing, not only looking poorly, but also not penetrating as deep as you'd like.
We've talked about the welding techniques used from the factory in another video, and now here's a demonstration of how to make clean plug welds with a MIG welder or how to make factory -appearing resistance spot welds using the HTP Quickspot II spotwelder.
All the welding tools - the MIG welder, the spotweld tip for MIGs,
the Quickspot II welder, and the punch / flange tool - even the helmet
and gloves are available from HTP America.
TIG welding is all about precision - and you need to keep that tungsten point sharp when welding. Bench grinders work, but unless you have one dedicated to your tungsten sharpening, you may be contaminating your tungsten with debris from your grinding wheel. The solution is this tungsten sharpener from HTP.
Cars are full of hard-to-reach places, so SK Tools created these trick flexible ratcheting wrenches to bend around obsticls. Their 4-degree ratchet mechanism and locking flex feature help turn aggrivating jobs into easy ones.
Modifying aluminum engine parts - head porting, intake polishing, etc., can improve performance and looks. Here are some tricks to making it easier from Rad Rides by Troy and Tap Magic.
According to Nick Scavo, an organized race trailer does more than help hold your stuff... it helps you win. In this 2-part video, we learn all about organizing your race trailer and see how to install the organization solutions properly.
So you want to add air power to your garage or shop, or maybe you’d like to upgrade to a larger, more efficient air compressor. Here are some tips from Ingersoll Rand to help determine your needs and the kind of unit best for you.
The right tools make all the difference; great tools help you to enjoy the journey! These three videos take you through the basics of three important tools used in restoration and fabrication, the Plasma Cutter, the MIG welder, and the TIG welder. Jeff Noland from HTP America shows Kelle some tricks on how to set up and use each of these machines.
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