1) When repairing or lengthening a wiring harness, stagger the splices to prevent shorts.

Cheap Tricks - 15 Low-Buck Resto Tips

by Jeff Shade

They say that necessity is the mother of invention, whoever “they” is. During the restorations I’ve done over the years, there have many times been times when the perfect tool or procedure just hadn’t been invented yet. However, in working with old pros, I’ve learned that most of them have developed a way to do just about anything that needs a tool or technique. If you look at the toolbox of any veteran restorer, you’ll find all sorts of odd-looking, homemade devices that have been fabricated to perform a specific task better than anything commercially available. These veterans of the resto-wars have also figured out clever ways, using simple items, to make things easier and faster in their shops. You can read books and magazines, and watch videos all you want, but there’s no substitute for hands-on experience. You can learn a lot by just watching and asking questions of someone with vast experience under their belt. If you can find someone to act as a mentor in this field, take advantage of the rare opportunity. Many of the tips and techniques shared here were gathered from mentors, sent to me by viewers of my TV show, and readers of my magazine stories. I give them all the credit. So without further fanfare, here are 15 of the many tips I’ve collected to add to your bag of tricks.

Hot or Not

If you have an overheating problem, you need to determine whether it’s the car or the gauge that has the defect. To see which it is, fill a pan with water and bring it to a boil on a hot plate near enough to the car so that the temp sending unit can be suspended in the boiling water. Don’t let the sending unit touch the bottom or sides of the pan, which are hotter than the water. Since the unit is grounded through its threads, attach a wire to the threads and ground it to the chassis. If functioning properly, the temp gauge attached to the sending unit should read 212 degrees Fahrenheit, the boiling point of water at sea level. The boiling point will decrease as the elevation you’re at increases. For example, at 4,000 feet the boiling point is only 205 degrees. If the gauge checks out, your problem is elsewhere.

Staggering Revelation

If possible, I try to avoid splicing a wiring harness. However if you need to lengthen or

repair it; there is a way to do it without sacrificing reliability and totally ruining appearance.

The trick is to stagger the splices so you don’t have one big bulge and prevent adjacent

splices from shorting out from coming undone and touching each other. The preferred

connectors are non-insulated, tinned-copper butt connectors for the junctions. Once you’ve

attached the two ends of the wires you want to join, crimp them, solder, and cover the joint

with shrink tubing. Remember to slide the shrink tubing over the wire before you connect the

two wires. D’oh!

Bright Idea

One of the most common reasons that tail and parking lamps don’t work properly is a faulty ground. Getting those that ground through the bulb socket, bumper, and brackets to work properly can sometimes be a real pain. Yet a simple solution can greatly improve their odds of grounding properly and brightening their output. With the socket removed from the bumper, solder a ground wire directly to the backside of the bulb holder and route it to a good ground source where it won’t be noticeable. In the front of the car, the lower part of the radiator support works well providing the support is grounded. Experiment till you find a suitable spot, then reinstall the lamp. This fix will allow you to consistently and clearly see, and be seen.

2) A long screwdriver can double as a stethoscope to determine where an odd noise is coming from.

3) Use a simple old-fashioned bottle opener wrapped in masking tape to safely remove drip rail moldings.

4) Cocoa butter based suntan lotion works great to polish and preserve rubber pedal pads. It also smells good!

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