Route 60 Garage

My recently acquired Logan 400 9" lathe was originally equipped with and currently uses lantern-style or rocker-style toolholders. While effective, they are a pain to work with because they can be awkward and difficult to adjust properly, and by properly, I mean that the cutting point of the tool must be at the centerline of the lathe. This is because the cutting geometry must be correct to be not only efficient, but capable of producing a good finish. This is the toolholder (and wrench). Their is an additional long serrated piece of metal is the rocker that is used to adjust the vertical angle of the tool that holds the cutting bit. Of course, the toolpost is intended to be held in the compound slide of the lathe. The benefit to this style of toolholder? They are usually included with vintage lathes when you buy one. The downside besides the inconvenience of adjustment? The tools themselves are about $30 each and only accommodate one size of HSS bits. Enter the Aloris-style too...

If you decide to go with this brand, be sure to get the “EZ-VIEW” model. There are still a lot of their previous models available and they’re not nearly as functional and have much less capabilities. These really did change my world as far as milling and using the machine. It was on eBay and the sellers handle is taylortoolworksllc . If I remember correctly, I bought a 6” for Z (the quill) a 24” for X and a 12” for Y. As I said in another reply – you can cut the scales to any length you want. I welded up a “very” sturdy mount that had some rotation for perfect viewing. SOURCE: Home Machine Shop Facebook Page, 5-23-18.

At aafradio.org , there is a boatload of information concerning military radio restoration. Included is a cornucopia of information on the tools used to do this. Fascination stuff for a radiohead or a toolhead. Above is a 1965 Hardinge HLV-H used for manufacturing missing parts from military aircraft radio equipment. The author of the site also has restored some of the machinery he employs. Additional tools can be found here .

Traditional power brakes have used engine vacuum to reduce the physical effort required to stop a car. Some high performance engines, because of the design of their camshafts, do not produce enough vacuum to used vacuum-powered brake power boosters. One alternative is to add a vacuum pump to the accessories driven by the engine. Another is to use the hydraulic pressure supplied by the power steering pump to power the brake booster. This device is called Hydroboost and it replaces the vacuum-operated brake booster. It provides more than twice the pressure than a vacuum diaphragm booster. There are commercial kits to use a hydraulic booster, like Vanco . They offer kits to match the car you are modifying. The most complete kits provide the Hydroboost unit, a new master brake cylinder, a power steering pump and the appropriate hoses with fittings and they are priced at around $900. You can see the parts of the kit by visiting this link . A nice step-by-step installation of the Vanco h...

Do you want to wire your car so that the Accessory circuit stays on until you open the door after you have turned off the ignition, like many modern cars? Built your own remote start system? Control headlights with a latching relay? This page at The 12 Volt explains how to do that with standard 5-pin 12-volt relays. The entire site is dedicated to similar "tricks of the trade". At Hotrodders.com , this page provides an overview of automotive uses of relays. This page also offers links to other useful pages, including headlight relays , assorted  car wiring diagrams , auto wiring basics and a fix for power windows that use those stupid "wiring eliminators" in the door jambs. Here,  mechanical latching relays  are explained. GM-style power window switches are Dorman 901-018 or 49243 and the special pigtail is ACDelco PT185 . A wiring diagram is found here . A 12-volt latching relay is here . Neutral Safety switch operation, wiring and installation  informat...

I found some useful advice in this forum thread from user AK's REX. "To my understanding o-ringing the block or the head prove to be about equally effective. That said I would say it depends if you want to have receiver grooves machined. The most conventional method is to machine and o-ring the block, then machine receiver grooves opposite the o-rings in the heads. I guess it can probably be done in reverse fashion as well. As far as the receiver grooves are concerned, it not only helps in high compression and or boosted applications, but helps wet motors from losing fluid which is a common problem with copper head gaskets. It allows the o-ring to literally push the gasket into the receiver groove to provide a better seal. Speaking of copper gaskets here is a bit of info from SCE regarding this stuff; O-ring grooves may be cut in either the block or cylinder head. When using copper head gaskets thinner than .050, O-ring height should be no more than 25% of gasket thickness...