Post up your ideas and home made shop gadgets, tips and tricks that you use in your shop.
This may have been done before here but maybe there are some fresh ideas as well as some old standard ones.

OK Jerry...
A few I can think of off hand...

Use a rubber hose to install spark plugs in tight places like around headers.

Use a bit of rubber hose over the end of a magnet wand to pick up nuts
and bolts that drop in places surrounded by metal. The hose helps it from
grabbing the metal surrounding the dropped item.

Universal Rundal Tub and Shower Cleaner or Muratic Acid cleans aluminum
intakes and covers.

If going to a car show, be sure to bring some "White Out" to use to make
the letters on your tires bright white.

Kev

I use cast iron stove polish as a quick and cheap way to get rusty exhaust manifolds looking better. Don't have to take them off the car. Just apply with a small sponge brush. Lasts about half the year or till you get them wet.

Snap-On engine 1/2 drive socket that you use to turn the enigine over, slide over the crank snout when there is not balancer on the engine. Awsome tool and worth every penny!!

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/OBJECTS/33500/33414.JPG

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?store=snapon-store&item_ID=11649&group_ID=1553

Another use for some old rubber hose....
It's a pain to put rear end lube in the case because the bottle is so big and the fill hole is in an awkward place..... just cut yourself about 8" of hose that fits snug on the bottles nipple and that also fits into the rears fill hole.
Gives you all kinds of room to maneuver the bottle and not spill a drop.

Spit rubber hose to cover sharp sheet metal edges that would otherwise cut into wires that will burn your car down.;)

Spit rubber hose to cover sharp sheet metal edges that would otherwise cut into wires that will burn your car down.;)

Simply ingenius.

Mad respect Fred.

Home made balancer installer for SBC. (BBC is bigger). A chunk of grade 8 all-thread in 7/16-20 with a nut welded on the end, a lug nut and a couple big-ass washers.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v61/gort69/DSCN0213-2.jpg

http://www.1969supersport.com/doorh.html

Rob

http://www.1969supersport.com/tls.html

Rob

http://www.1969supersport.com/dog1.html

Rob

Here is a rottisserie I bought last month for $350 off of craigs list. Had to do some modifications to it but I'm sure I couldn't have built one for this price. Had to add square tube in image that the mounting brackets slide on as well as some gussets and the brackets themselves. The front brackets attetch to the frame mount on firewall and the rear backets attatch to the rear of frame where shackle bolts on.
http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss158/ancnickel/IMG_2264.jpg

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss158/ancnickel/IMG_2313.jpg

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss158/ancnickel/IMG_2313.jpg

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss158/ancnickel/IMG_2265.jpg

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss158/ancnickel/IMG_2312.jpg