MECHANICAL WIZARDRY

have been based on equipment or tools that you may want to consider having in your own enclosed concrete paradise. This time, we’re going to cover a few tools that we had to grab for nut and bolt repairs after I started the install of the “Merican Metal Menace” 401 motor into my beloved trail stroller “Stinky Jeep”.

With my 304 ci lump dropping oil pressure and power numbers like a stripper drops underpants, time was of the essence. The old build-up of Stinky Jeep utilized quality hardware and plenty of anti-seize at the time, but that was a decade of abuse ago. Rusty, striped, scraped, sandblasted and weather fasteners were found from one end of the rig to the other during the teardown.

GARAGE GEAR EDITORIALS IN THE PAST

Hardware isn’t cheap, but we are, so pitching it all in the scrap heap and delving into our better half ’s “shoe fund” was a good way to eat through a straw for a week.

We scooped a cool widget we spied at SEMA 2015 to help clean up the threads of all the bolts we took out. The Thread Wizard was designed by Alaskan master mechanic Gary Taylor and works so well and is so simple, we can’t believe it hasn’t been tried before. We have all gone to the trusty manual wire brush and sawed away for eons cleaning fasteners and stripping finger flesh. Some of us have even mounted a wire wheel to a grinder to speed up the process… yours truly shot a 3/8-in bolt across the shop and into the side of his daily driver. Judging by the dent, I was lucky I