Daily Slideshow: Top 8 Parts-Handling Tips
Pluck a few parts handling tips from the tree of knowledge. We'd call them 'Hacks' but that's so 2015.
1. Oil Cartons
Ever get sick of throwing out all those empty oil "cans" and the cardboard boxes they come in? Stop doing that! Those suckers are the best and free-est way to organize parts ever invented by man. They are a thousand times easier to see into and move around than any plastic parts drawers or rack-mounted bins. They fit perfectly on shelves, and you can bring a whole project out onto your bench in just one box. Drain as much of the oil out of the cans as you can and wash the rest out, cut the top off, and voilà, you have a box with 24 leak-proof bins just waiting to be filled with nuts, bolts, rocker arms, bearings, seals, distributor parts, springs... anything. Put parts in there dirty then return them nice and clean into the same carton. But bag them first, which brings us to slide #2...
2. Ziplocks
Or Glad Bags, or no-name bags in bulk. Mechanics have been known to use hundreds of these, not one on anything edible. Especially nice is the variety that has a printed-on white label, perfect for writing important info like right and left. They keep moist, corrosion-inducing air off your bits, and dust too, but somehow bugs can pass right through their plastic walls. It's a good idea to add a few drops of oil to cleaned-and-vulnerable things like bearings or shafts to keep them protected, particularly if they are going to sit around a while before they are installed—the film can be quickly washed off before you apply whatever final lubrication is called for.
3. Scribe/Engrave
Not all parts have a surface suitable for scribing, stamping, punching or engraving, but there's a long line of those that do. Many high-performance pistons, rockers, etc. come unmarked but need to go back in the same place every time your engine is reassembled—those are the parts that need to be marked. Orientation can be marked too, to show which side faces where. Even bearing shells can be scribed on their hard backing to make sure they go back from whence they came, just make sure you remove any metal raised by scribing them with a fine stone. Used parts that aren't going back into the build are fair game for marking too—very often you'll want to go back and inspect the parts to check things like wear patterns. It's all too easy to wash away magic marker, some sort of permanent marking ensures Tab A will go back into Slot B. One last tip: some of the engravers on the market are louder than you think, and you are often holding them close to your head when you use them, so wear hearing protection.
4. Photos, Photos, Photos
How did we ever remember the way things went back together before digital photos? Well... we can't remember. Better than any manual, okay... an essential companion to any manual, photos are key because they make you remember something you already did. The more times you do something the better you'll remember it, and photos add a step or two to that process. Take more than you need. And write labels for things on masking tape or post-its, and get that in the photo too. The best way to label a photo is to not have to.
5. Leave Stuff Oily
You need to clean everything before you can inspect it, and for sure before you can assemble it, but if you aren't going to do any of that right away it's totally cool to just leave things oily. In most cases, the oil will protect the part from corrosion. This has to be the easiest tip ever: Don't clean it! Tell all your friends that you heard it here first.
6. Lay Things Out on Masking Paper
Even if you keep a tidy shop, your bench-tops might not be clean enough to assemble persnickety parts on. Enter the body shop's friend—masking paper. A roll of the yard-wide stuff can be had for not a lot of cash and it transforms any flat surface into a surgically-clean workstation. That red cloth fender covers you get from your rag supplier work too, but tend to hold onto the dirt. The paper is not only great for keeping your parts clean, but it makes small parts hyper-visible, and you can take notes on it or jot down numbers corresponding to the position, cylinder, weight, etc. Space is indeed the greatest luxury and you can buy a roll of it for your home-away-from-home (your shop).
7. Do Only One Side First
You aren't Ransom E. Olds so you don't have to do things assembly-line style (sorry Ford fans, Olds beat ol' Henry to that particular innovation). Sometimes remembering is more important than efficiency. Favorite candidates are brake caliper rebuilds and multi-carburetor set-ups. Leaving one together while you take the others apart, rebuild, and reassemble them is almost as good as having photos. Put the two together and you're a rockstar.
8. Cover Gaping Maws
Do this before the horse gets out of the barn, not after, like 51% of us. Tape-up or cap carb tops, intake ports, spark plug holes—anything that opens into the delicate interior of your engine. If we didn't know better we'd swear that pistons were magnetic and could attract a nut from several feet away. This is where we remind you that no one is immune and that's why they call accidents 'accidents'. If you need a little added initiative, look up the price of a Snap-On borescope, or try fishing a tiny magnet tied to a piece of safety wire down past an open intake valve, you know, just for fun.
So that's eight. Eight out of a possible 100? 200? Let's hear your hacks tips, your community needs you!
For help with service of your car, check out the how-to section of our sister site MustangForums.com