Home made XJ tools contest

Stop me if this has already been done but i am thinking of holding a contest for home made tools.

Areas of judgement will be:
Tool Accuracy
Cost of materials to produce
Material availability
Ingenuity
Durability
Time to Fabricate
Difficulty of Fabrication

From the short period of time i have been on here i have seen a ton of home made tools and i have made several, so i think this should be interesting.

When posting : name of the tool and function / application where used, explanations and blueprints are optional.

Exclusions: manufactured tools that have not been modified to perform a specific function.


Prize: so far a paper airfilter to a 750 (US shipping only)i bought by accident on-line and the claim to fame

 

Ha ha thats Brilliant! I'll take apart my sync tool and post her up with pics!

 

I submit my "Motor Loader" (copywrite pending)
Engineered from 1" steel scraps and spent edger blades, it cost 10 welding rods.
Strong enough to support 300 LB + for "safety"
Designed to effortlessly slide an XJ motor in or out of the frame without scratching the fresh paint. And I mean not a single scratch.
Allows you to stop at any point to fiddle with wires or driveshaft bellows, have a beer, or answer the phone.
Lasts forever too !

*********************************
NOW WITH MORE DETAILS !!
Looking at it from the airbox side - the horizontal bar is 14" and has a 2" slot cut in the right side. You could weld on an "eye" if you prefer.
The vertical bar is 9 1/2" set at 90*
The diagonal bar is 10" set more "open" than 45* by a bit.
The edger blades are both gussets and eyes.
The top eye should be at the 7" point - - directly above the center of the 14" bar. Mine is off by 1 1/2 inch, so don't build an exact copy !!





TO USE -
It slides in below the intake bolts and above the cam adjuster. You cannot use a bar larger than one inch.
I use a cheap ratchet strap hooked into the slot, around the front of the motor, to the lower edger blade hole. Tighten. All the excess strap is used to secure the top against the motor.



OVERHEAD SUPPORT -
Use your garage rafters, a "cherry-picker", a tree, a tall ladder over the bike, a swingset, or three 10' 2X4's made into a TeePee.
Use a Come-Along or a better quality ratchet strap to lift.
The higher the vertical attach point, the better, as the motor just swings right out.

 

Time that's genius dude. Off to a strong start.

Mine is simple but effective. Once I pop a shim loose I have had trouble fishing them out. So I took a piece of plastic (cut from butter or similar tub) bent a slight V in one end and use it to push the shim up where I can grab it. Works great.

 

Oooo, TimeToRide, detailed plans please ...

 

Bill, did you find one butter bowl was better then another say country crock vs imperial good one by the way!

 

Well that was an example, mine is actually off an old off brand ice cream tub
But "everything is better with blue bonnet on it" :lol:

 

Time, I want closer pictures of your engine hanger!

 

Time looks like you have a market

Fire up the production line. I think I have a few old edger blades I can donate :lol:

 

That's good!

I has got two tools to enter into this contest.
First is made from a 2.5 inch long 3 mm diameter wire. It is shaped to an U. This goes into the holes in the middle of the cylinder block preventing the chain to fall into the crankcase when the cylinder head is removed. Permanent solution, you can't loose this thing or accidentally remove from the engine then let the chain to fall. I think this will win the simplest tool category

Second. An M12 threaded rod with a matching lock nut. The rod is bent to an L and the lock nut was put at the end of the longer leg of the L in reversed order. Some hammering required to lock the nnut at the end of the rod The best damper rod holding tool for the forks It's simple but not as simple the previous one

 

Suspension Dampener tool
AKA: The Damn Nut Tool - built out of frustration and pure mental exhaustion.

I piece of all-thread (left over from a Bench i built)
4 Nuts
3 washers
and 5 min at the bench grinder cutting teeth into it to grip

assembly time 1 min
fabrication time 5 min
cost under $5

I present the - damn nut tool - nammed so for the damn nut that i couldnt get out for 2 hrs.

 

ok, i have yet another Tool to enter, after looking at several designs i came up with what i think to be a new YICS tool

so far the seal looks tight

basically inflating a piecve of clear fuel line with approx 20 psi of air

i'll post the results after i compare with another YICS home - fab tool

 

But does it withstand the heat?

 

its rated for 375+ deg - i hope so

 

Really good ideas, guys. I'm fascinated by this thred. This one is particularly intriguing if it works; so simple.

MNblu, if the hose is really rated at 375 degrees I'm betting it works.

Just for laughs you might want to zap the cylinder head in the area of the YICS passage with an infraread thermometer. I got one from Radio Shack (about $29 I believe) and I found myself zapping everything for fun.

The heads on my regular bike (measured on the side not far from the spark plugs) got to around the mid - high 200s after idling for a while. After a hard run on a warm day, they were over 300, but nowhere near 375.

Since your tool will be working on the cooler intake side it should work, especially if you have a cooling fan blowing on the head. I'd still measure the temp if it was my bike, but I'll await your results. :lol:

 

I could have used this a few weeks ago! Instead I bribed the gear head at work with a 6 pack and some bbq ribs to do it for me.

And so I present the best XJ tool ever!

Use your southern charm and get one of the guys at work to do it for you!

:lol:

 

Freezing and heating didn't work for me, and I'm sure I'm not the first to do this (and have heard of other "proper" tools on this forum for the job), but I present the "Lower Tapered Steering Head Race Tool." 1 1/4" PVC pipe with a coupling and 1 1/4" to 3/4" reducer on the end. The reducer is "precision machined" to have an opening of 1 13/64" +/- 1/32" (that's just what I measured, the post was 1 5/32") Clamped Dremel Tool, cutting, and sanding bit. Don't forget to wear a mask! about $2.50 in PVC

Also 1 1/2 inch PVC fits perfectly into the lower end of the steering head to drive the lower race in.

 

The madness started for me so many years ago. I made so many bearing bangers as I call them) out of different sizes of PVC fittings. From steering head bearings to fork seal bangers. I made a shock compressor out of plumbing parts and threaded rod (made to shorten the springs) Of course the YICS tool had to be made for obvious reasons. I made my own carb synch tool out of plastic tubing and a yard stick to synch carbs on my bikes.
There's still some stuff in boxes out in the shop I still don't know what they are for from years ago. When I see what the dealers want for specialty tools, I usually find a way to make my own. It's like therapy for me I guess. I don't need to be any contest I guess.

 

You can buy silicon vacuum line, I found some long ago at a NAPA. It had a very high temp rating.

 

My entry: Caliper Expander
Use: push in brake piston when replacing front pads

Materials:
1x 1-3/4" x 1-3/4" 14-ga leg plate, 3/8-16 tapped center hole that I got from work. $0.47
1x 3/8"-16 x 4" zinc plated hex bolt from Home Depot. $0.68
1x 3/8"-16 nut from Home Depot. $0.18

Total Cost = $1.33

Assembly time:
2.6567613584 seconds.

Pics:

 

Presenting another Damper rod tool, made after the local Yamaha dealer didn't even have a tool to fit.
The Super spark plug spanner, mild mannered spark plug remover by day, and super damper rod holder by night. Drilled the inside out and filed square so the extension bar fits from the inside.

 

I'm going to revive this thread because I made a great tool for getting fork seals out (I'm sure there isn't still a reward available). I present, the poor-man's shop press, made from 2x4's metal brackets, and a car jack:



Inspired by this Fork Seal How-To.

There are many great write-ups on this sight for fork dis-assembly, but as many XJ owners with anti-dive know, there are small parts that are unobtanium and are easily damaged when trying to drive a fork seal out, especially if the bushing isn't straight.

Using this rig, fork seals can be removed by doing the following (WARNING, while this method is less likely to damage something, it is VERY messy. I recommend wearing old clothes, gloves, and have lots of drip pans and towels ready):
1. Remove fork cap, air valve, spring, and spacers from the inside of the fork.
2. If reusing the fork oil, put it in a container now. (you will need more)
3. Remove the Dust boot and circlip from the top side of the fork, so the seal is free to move.
4. Leave the damper rod installed.
5. Fully extend the inner fork tube and fill fork with a cheap motoroil.
6. Without letting the inner tubes drop, cover the air hole with a towel, and reinsert fork cap and circlip. Oil WILL squirt out of air hole.
7. Install air valve. Your fork seal is now ready to be removed :twisted: .
8. Position car jack and fork into rig so that the fork will remain vertical and start pumping!
9. Once the seal pops up, remove the circlip in the fork cap and force the inner tube down to pop it loose.

 

if your really set on using this method at least use water instead of cheap motor oil, good golly what a mess that would be

 

YICS tool, cost minimal, also doubles as a dust collector.

 

Everyone is of course forgetting the uttermost basic and cheapest tool ever for the xj. I do not remember who told me about it, looking ricko's way. The ever popular valve holder. a single, long, folded, zip tie to place between the valve and seat to remove the valve shim.

 

A few of my favorites.

Liquid Vacuum Bottle <> Pilot Mixture Tweaker <> Relay Tester

Hose Restriction Unions <> Syringe <> Enrichment Well Hand Drill

Diaphragm Repair Form <> Float Height Gauge <> Mater Cylinder Clip Tool

 

and rick has the most hahahahah surprise surprise.... i have a diy vacuum bleeder and a ton of screwdrivers that i modded....

 

I'd like to see pics of a vacuum synch (two bottle method) - getting ready to make on of these.......anyone?

 

I suggest doing a four line plastic tubing model. All you need is about 20ft of tubing, 2 T-fittings, 4 inline fittings, some plastic tubes off of a wd-40 (to make some RickCoMatic restricters), and ATF and a board to mount it to.

Make sure to leave at least 3 ft of tubing on a flat board for measuring the vacuum (Mercury is 13 times as dense as ATF, so that's about 3 in of Mercury in measurement range).

This tool will be more responsive and has a greater range than the bottles, and you measure 4 at once. If you get a run away vacuum in one hose, just turn off the ignition, make an adjustment and try again. Record what adjustments did what so you can know which way to go.

 

time can we have the plans

 

I'll post a couple of mine. In fact, they were made for use on my GPz, but they could be used on XJ's as well - Mikuni float pin press in/out pliers, and a tool to adjust the lock-nutted synch screws on the GPz Mikuni rack. The knurled slotted driver goes through the long socket, which can then be driven by a wrench or ratchet-wrench from the hex boss at the top - allowing holding the synch screw from moving when tightening the locknut.

 

This is a very simple tool, but it was very useful.

I was doing a valve clearance check and having a hell of a time pulling out the shims after I got them free of the bucket.

What did the trick was a pair of Swiss army knife tweezers with some electrical tape wrapped around the edge to provide some grip.

Very simple, but worked great.

 

I added more details to my "Motor Loader" post, on Page 1.

 

Well I have something to add here. Had to replace the enrichment cable so with the tank off seemed a good time to re-check the valves and make sure all were still in spec after running the engine. Then I remembered the trouble one nasty little shim gave me so I wanted a better tool to pop the shims with. Had two shims I didn't read the first time as well because they were in spec.

So I rummaged & found an old "chip puller" from when I did computers as a side job. Created two tools out of one. I broke the chip puller in half and used a pair of needle nose to reshape both legs. The one with the more acute bend goes right over the lobe and drops into the shim slot and pops that little sucker up on the first try. I use the straighter one to come underneath the lobe and push the shim up and out so its easy to grab. It took me less than 3 minutes to pull, read, and replace both shims. Using a small screwdriver took at least 3 times as long. And this way there is no chance of gouging anything. The bent point fits perfectly in the slot, slips right under the shims edge and the angle creates the leverage! You guys have got to try this. You should be able to pick up a chip puller like this from a computer shop.

Simple but effective.

Shim poker on top - Shim puller on bottom