Car Stuff I Feel I Should Have Known Before Now

[MechAg94]

How a car differential works from 1937
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfeca5sHBGg

I came across this video and thought I would pass it on.  One of those questions I never thought to ask.  I saw it first on the instagram link below. 
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAMBGnqusDq/

I knew that piece of equipment transferred power to the wheels, but never thought about it much further than that.

[bedlamite]

Next:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEiSTzK-A2A

[WLJ]

How a car differential works from 1937
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfeca5sHBGg

I came across this video and thought I would pass it on.  One of those questions I never thought to ask.  I saw it first on the instagram link below. 
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAMBGnqusDq/

I knew that piece of equipment transferred power to the wheels, but never thought about it much further than that.

Remember seeing that a while back and thinking stuff like that would overload kids minds today.

[MechAg94]

Remember seeing that a while back and thinking stuff like that would overload kids minds today.

But I think that is because many of them were never exposed to any sort of "how it works" type stuff.  Everything is treated like a black box.  They probably weren't encouraged to take stuff apart as kids and/or the parents never fixed anything. 

I recall a previous boss said he would quiz interviewees on what stuff they worked on or repaired at home.  He felt mechanical aptitude was critical.  If all else fails, he would ask if they knew how a toilet works.  People who didn't know that probably wouldn't do well working in an industrial plant.

[Kingcreek]

But I think that is because many of them were never exposed to any sort of "how it works" type stuff.  Everything is treated like a black box.  They probably weren't encouraged to take stuff apart as kids and/or the parents never fixed anything. 

I recall a previous boss said he would quiz interviewees on what stuff they worked on or repaired at home.  He felt mechanical aptitude was critical.  If all else fails, he would ask if they knew how a toilet works.  People who didn't know that probably wouldn't do well working in an industrial plant.

Brilliant.
My maternal grandfather was a Swedish cabinetmaker woodworker carpenter. My paternal grandfather was an automotive mechanic the learned as the technology advanced.
My father always said “if somebody else can do it, we can figure out how and do it too.”
I have always been grateful that I learned analytical thinking. My college career in mechanical engineering took a different direction but the mindset serves me well.

[230RN]

My father's shop was in the basement and I was about nine or ten  when he let me take apart a small paint compressor while he was working on something else.  I had to figure out for myself what tools to use (no metrics back then). He taught me left was to take something apart, right was to put it back together unless it was underneath something, then it got reversed.  I don't think I ever heard the lefty-loosey, righty-tighty mnemonic until much much later.  And I could "see" how that upside-down left/right reversal worked in my mind so I guess it was my first lesson in topology --ha-ha.

When I got the head off, he showed me how the poppet valve worked off a "pip" on the top of the piston to let the compressed air into a top chamber, then to a tank..  The intake was a hole near the bottom of the cylinder, and it worked like a two-cycle engine intake.

I imagine you can fill in the other details... after all, it was just a simple compressor.  But what an adventure it was!

And the next night when I got  it all back together, we pulleyed it to a motor and watched it work.  I'll never forget how the puffpuffpuff of the air coming out of it felt on my hand.  Never.

I felt like I had somehow created that air.

Terry, 230RN

[HeroHog]

Next:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEiSTzK-A2A

Ya beat me to it! Simply put, a gear can drive a screw but a screw can't drive a gear.

[K Frame]

When I was about 10, my parents gave me a book... How Does It Work? by Richard Koff, copyrighted in 1969.

Short essays on how common mechanisms in life function, but also some more esoteric things...

Batteries, brakes and clutches, coffeemakers, light bulbs...

But also humidity, friction, thermoelectricity...

It was, and still is, absolutely fascinating.

One of the illustrations on the cover of the book is a flintlock musket, a rifle cartridge, and a Springfield M1903 rifle. You'd never see that today...

It's also a great window in time for what isn't included...

Computers, lasers, cell phones, transistors, etc., stuff that was just coming into use, or which was still in the conceptual phase.

Microwave ovens are covered in the ovens and ranges section in the very last paragraph. The author calls them "electronic ovens."

I devoured that book multiple times as a kid, and still refer to it.

[Kingcreek]

When I was but a child, my best friend lived across the backyard. We disassembled and experimented and built stuff. We made a zip line out of rope. His dad gave us wire rope so we would be less likely to die. We put an old gas washing machine motor on an old bicycle. We still didn’t die but it was close a few times.
I went to college to become an engineer but my math wasn’t strong so I went biology. My friend became a mechanical engineer and worked his whole career in aerospace.
He is still my best friend of 60 years and we still laugh about the stuff we fabricated. We always had access to tools and scrap material and nobody ever discouraged us from trying some crazy idea.

[Perd Hapley]

My father always said “if somebody else can do it, we can figure out how and do it too.”

The Sea Wolf principle. One caveat to it is that you may need to buy the same expensive equipment that somebody else did. And make some expensive mistakes while you learn how.

[RocketMan]

Robert Heinlein mentioned a book, "How Things Work" or something like that in a couple of his novels.  I ran across an old copy of it in a used bookstore years ago and snapped it up.  I've never really used it for anything, I just wanted to have it for nostalgia's sake and because Heinlein had mentioned it so many times.  It's downstairs in my library.
And like many others here, I've always tried to be self-sufficient and build and/or repair my own stuff.  Maybe it's the little bit of Scotch (1/16th?) in me on my mother's side.  Stood me in good stead during my equipment engineering days in the semiconductor industry.
Although, the older I get, the less of the really strenuous car repair stuff I am doing.
Currently running our house off of a 3.5kw generator jerry rigged into the breaker panel downstairs. (Yes, it's isolated from the mains for those that worry.)

[RocketMan]

The Sea Wolf principle. One caveat to it is that you may need to buy the same expensive equipment that somebody else did. And make some expensive mistakes while you learn how.

That's how it works sometimes.  Makes for valuable lessons that stick with you.

[Bogie]

When I started at the Fortune 500, back in 1992, every so often we'd have to figure out how to do something. Nobody had done whatever before, so...
 
Luckily, we had a bunch of smart people there.
 
The current job drives me nuts, because I think the employee handbook was created in 1957, and still has portions from the original. And ANYTHING you do has to conform. If there isn't a "how to," then that doesn't get done until you go up the chain asking idiotic questions...

[lee n. field]

When I was about 10, my parents gave me a book... How Does It Work? by Richard Koff, copyrighted in 1969.

I remember that book.  No idea what happened to my copy.

I have a similar book, from Time/Life.  "How Things Work In The Home", subtitled "and what to do when they don't".  Very useful over the years.  Copyright 1975.

Short essays on how common mechanisms in life function, but also some more esoteric things...

Batteries, brakes and clutches, coffeemakers, light bulbs...

But also humidity, friction, thermoelectricity...

It was, and still is, absolutely fascinating.

One of the illustrations on the cover of the book is a flintlock musket, a rifle cartridge, and a Springfield M1903 rifle. You'd never see that today...

It's also a great window in time for what isn't included...

Computers, lasers, cell phones, transistors, etc., stuff that was just coming into use, or which was still in the conceptual phase.

Microwave ovens are covered in the ovens and ranges section in the very last paragraph. The author calls them "electronic ovens."

I devoured that book multiple times as a kid, and still refer to it.

[Kingcreek]

A friend of mine was a maintenance and general everything guy at a small company that rebuilt and tested natural gas meters. He never finished high school but could fix anything, had a barn full of old cars and motorcycles.
He built a pretty elaborate test station for gas meters, lots of fitting and gauges and whatnot. The company engineers came out to look it over and verify its accuracy. They were amazed. They asked him how in the world he came up with the design.
He shrugged and said, “that was before anybody told me it couldn’t be done”.
He one helped me with a custom frame repair and modification on my old CJ7 Renegade jeep.
He looked at it and made a couple measurements. Went to his scrap pile and pulled some material. He cut and drilled and welded everything at the shop 3 blocks away. Came back and it all bolted up like perfect precision. He was truly a genius until his wife died and booze pickled him into a wreck.

[K Frame]

You can get another copy. There were several editions.

This is the one I have.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/365107348483?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D273631%26meid%3D1bd2c8c0578942d6878370dd9385c89d%26pid%3D101224%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D5%26sd%3D365062467111%26itm%3D365107348483%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2332490%26algv%3DDefaultOrganicWebV9BertRefreshRankerWithCassiniEmbRecall&_trksid=p2332490.c101224.m-1&itmprp=cksum%3A3651073484831bd2c8c0578942d6878370dd9385c89d%7Cenc%3AAQAJAAABIFBRV3XPO4vjSjt41baQ6JJepvcRBSDR4z1drD8BzA6QgL4ueEp%252B3AJpsZMXAJz7IRjeeLd17GJCDzpY663fIURYBgctcxfeWdoqJkv8ckOLQUf246V65Vap%252BH%252BB%252FJhzSnfS3WQ0U4xC%252FApTuj14EdTFI3PO3RAlY6DzwNdy5cDoySTU5yFzzSTOaU2slLP8ae%252F2T3ENIcAVXUSe18O4Kl%252BH7PrwrW3RGTtYlSBj6NvScfSBx23DplOO2Cr5GKFlg%252Fnfvq2BJ3pOA%252BxqWLH2RmMzqxNxImgQPe0f5pgA56Ejjk90p%252FDG50oHNQjsIE4%252B6O8c0TbTRJQw8DsXKnhkOd6BkQ3hb1Zxi%252FRUcAiEJGnrxI1pKp2FRicfmiAjwNlFlQ%253D%253D%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2332490&itmmeta=01J8X0KJH8KWBQAH43E5K13W7C

[HeroHog]

While I worked at Louisiana Tech in Ruston, LA for the Chemical and Civil Engineering departments as a "Scientific Instrumentation Technician", we had a lab experiment called "Losses In Piping" where you had a 4x8 board FULL of all different kinds or 90, 45 and step up/down connections all controlled by ball valves and each hooked to a Mercury Manometer to measure the flow across the joint. The problem was, if you closed the valves in the wrong order it would push all the Mercury out and THAT was an ISSUE! I took it upon myself to address this issue by designing and building a Mercury catch tank that would still allow the full flow of escaping water yet catch the Mercury. It is still in use and WELL tested, catching 100% of the Mercury every time. I made it out of common PVC pipe and fittings using a "cyclone effect" flow and by careful positioning of the inlet and outlet pipes and the Mercury catch area and drain.

Quite proud of that one.

[Boomhauer]

How a car differential works from 1937
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfeca5sHBGg

I came across this video and thought I would pass it on.  One of those questions I never thought to ask.  I saw it first on the instagram link below. 
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAMBGnqusDq/

I knew that piece of equipment transferred power to the wheels, but never thought about it much further than that.

I use that old video in my powertrain classes. It is excellent

[dogmush]

Needs a sequel for limited slip.

[230RN]

Kingcreek, last line of his post: "He was truly a genius until his wife died and booze pickled him into a wreck."

The very next post by K Frame: "You can get another copy. There were several editions."

Heh.

That's all, just  "heh."

[Cliffh]

I don't remember when* I first started working on mechanical devices, but I do remember it started when my parents bought my 2 brothers and I a building set containing steel beams, screws, pulleys, gears, etc.  Or maybe even the Lincoln Logs set....  A few years later we were "visiting" the local dump after hours for bicycle parts, then lawn mower engines and electric motors from various sources.  Never did mount any power to a bike, but we'd tear apart both the gas & electric power plants, futz with them, put them back together and run them to destruction.  Then tear down and see what broke and try to figure out why.  We had fun working on the small 2 cycle airplane engines too.  We wasted a few cylinders trying our hands at porting them.  I remember more than one that would pump so much fuel into the cylinder the fuel would drown the glow plug.  Others would scream. 

My father bought my first vehicle - a Honda 175 twin that wasn't running.  I had to figure out why it wasn't running, (valve seat came loose), rebuild the engine & carbs and fix some of the wiring - by myself.  I did cheat a bit and bought a shop manual for it.  I did some mods to the engine, just to see what they'd do; drill holes in the piston skirts, try porting & polishing, messing with the carb settings, changing the exhaust around, etc.  Rode that bike everywhere for ~3 years, only got a couple tickets.  One of the tickets was only a fix-it ticket for being too loud.  Fixed that one in about 15 minutes - stuffed some steel wool in the pipes, drilled through holes on each pipe and ran a screw through to hold the steel wool in place.  The same cop was still in the neighborhood, had him sign off on the ticket.  Of course, the steel wool came out as soon as I got back home.

Always figured that if someone else could build it, I could figure out how to take it apart and make it work again.  There have been very few times that hasn't worked.  Tried to instill that thought in the boys heads, it sort of took.  They're both more into working with their brains than hands, and they are good at what they do.

Now-a-days, it's more about just keeping up with what the house and yard need, and more of that is getting farmed out every year.  Getting old SUCKS! 

ETA:  *meant how old I was.

[bedlamite]

Never did mount any power to a bike

An old chain saw on a BMX would go about 45-50. The hard part was reaching behind you to pull the trigger while steering at that speed with your eyes watering.

[Devonai]

I recall a previous boss said he would quiz interviewees on what stuff they worked on or repaired at home.  He felt mechanical aptitude was critical.  If all else fails, he would ask if they knew how a toilet works.  People who didn't know that probably wouldn't do well working in an industrial plant.

I'm just happy I do know how a toilet works.

[MechAg94]

I had to think about it when he said that, but he already knew I mostly did my own work on my guns.  Since then, I have replaced a toilet and changed out the handle on the other.  Home repairs are a pain, but I appreciate that I know a little about how to do it.  I just try to know when to stop and call a professional. 

[JTHunter]

Over the years, I have changed all 3 parts of a toilet - valve, flapper, & handle.
I've replaced electrical outlets & switches, re-run & re-wired phone lines from the NID outside to the jacks inside.
I got in my crawlspace and tape the ductwork joints then wrapped them with foil-backed fiberglass insulation.  Note - between the bottom of the floor joists and the dirt floor of the crawl was - at most - 24" clearance.
I've done some carpentry work in building a workroom inside my polebarn, using both circular & a tablesaw, as well as a nailgun that doesn't use compressed air (PasLoad?).
Ran wire from the junction box in the pole barn to power several light fixtures, outlets, and a small electric furnace.  Getting that 8 gauge wire around corners was "female dog"!
I've used oxy-acetylene to both cut and weld/braze metal.
With the help of a friend, I've repaired a cracked engine block, the pan on the bottom, a cracked exhaust manifold, as well as other exhaust parts (hangers, mufflers, etc.).
When I was a LOT younger, I used to work on both my single cylinder and twin cylinder motorcycles, such as adjusting timing, valve tappets, chains, wiring, etc.

The problem is that at the age I am now, the peripheral neuropathy in my right hand is making very difficult to hold a hammer or screwdriver, even less being able to feel and turn a nut on a bolt if I can't see it.

Getting old is the PITS !!