Auto mechanics need car tools to be productive, but at what cost?

© DenLorsTools.com Summary: As with many industries the automotive mechanics tool industry is evolving due to availability and competition that the Internet has brought forth. In the past auto technicians mainly bought their auto mechanics car tools from mobile tool trucks such as Snap On, Mac Tools, Matco, Cornwell and USA Tools. This car tool article shows the trend of auto mechanics increasingly going on-line to find the tools they need. No longer are car tools ONLY available from the local tool truck salesman. Read on for a great selection of auto mechanics car tools.

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Lisle Auto Tools manufacturing company was started in Clarinda, Iowa in 1903 by C.A. Lisle. The first tool his company manufactured surprisingly wasn’t an automotive tool at all, it was water well drilling equipment powered by a horse! Subsequent products were not automotive related either, remember old ringer washers? And how about the old style manual push mower? Some twenty years after the Lisle Corporation was first started, the tool company made its first automotive product.

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Photo courtesy of Nashville City Paper

Dave Ramsey is becoming more and popular these days, especially with the troubling financial times we are finding ourselves in. Dave Ramsey is a financial expert and writer, his most popular book is called The Total Money Makeover. He’s earned the title of financial guru by learning the hard way about finances and the risk of going head over heals in debt. Dave was leveraged in real estate investments to the tune of four million dollars over twenty years ago. As fate would have it, he lost it all when his short term loans were sold and the new banks demanded payment before it was possible for Dave to deliver. This experience has caused Dave to change his thinking on loans and personal finance. He now advises people to pay debt off and cut up the credit cards. I personally like his country boy, down to earth, shoot it to you straight mentality. Dave Ramsey reminds me of a teacher that I had back in high school. Frank Gentry, my old marketing teacher, had a similar laid back teaching style. Dave Ramsey’s lessons encourage you to think and grow. Few teacher’s names are remembered years later in life unless they have truly affected your way of thinking and how you view opportunities. Dave, like my old marketing teacher is definitely a “glass is half full” type of guy. If your sick and tired of living your life “pay check to pay check”, then you’ll definitely want to listen to what Dave has to say.
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Video inspection scopes are now quite affordable.

Doctors have used fiber optic bore-scopes and endoscopes in the medical field for a longer period of time than automotive technicians have used inspection scopes in the automotive repair field. The high cost for these gadgets in the past prevented lower income fields from justifying the purchase of them.

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See the quality difference in the Heli-Coil (top) & the Calvan (bottom)

© DenLorsTools.com Summary: In this automotive repair/tool blog we cover Ford spark plugs blown out of cylinder heads, it’s still a huge problem. To date we have sold hundreds of Calvan spark plug thread insert tool kits and have had no one call back to say it was too hard or it didn’t work. The included video makes the spark plug insert repair easy to understand and answers all the questions about how this job can be done in the vehicle saving thousands of dollars. We are commonly asked if the Calvan spark plug repair kit will work after a Heli-Coil or some other thin, weak repair has failed and have blown out AGAIN. The answer is yes, Calvan inserts are much thicker than the competitor’s inserts and will work much like an over-size oil drain plug will work in a stripped out oil pan. Since the Calvan insert is not just a coil of wire like the Heli-Coil it is much stronger. And since the Calvan insert is thicker than the Heli Coil, most times it can be used when the Heli Coil is spit out.

Our customers tend to research their options to find the very best solution for this very frustrating problem, that’s why after they research Helicoil we know most will ultimately purchase the Calvan Ford Spark Plug Insert Tool Kit.

Our Automotive Tech Article on Ford spark plug blowouts, goes into much more detail about Ford spark plug problems, including the fact that when buying a rebuilt head the consumer should be aware that it may have an inferior repair insert already installed. That’s why it is our recommendation to repair the cylinder head you have with the Calvan insert tool kit, so you know that you have a strong, long lasting repair that you don’t have to worry about.

Question: How long will the Calvan spark plug repair last?

Answer: The Calvan inserts are designed to last the lifetime of the engine and are stronger than the original threads.

Question: Time Sert says “The only 100% way to know the valves are not open is to remove the valve cover and inspect the cam, making sure that it is not depressing the valves on the damaged spark plug hole.” Do I have to remove the valve cover with the Calvan Ford spark plug insert tool kit?

Answer: No. The Calvan tool kit allows the mechanic to verify valves are closed with an included cylinder leak detector. Plug the rubber stopper from the leak detector into the spark plug hole with a low amount of air from an air compressor going through the hose. The rubber cone will pop out of the spark plug hole when the valves are closed. The video shows this as well.

Question: How do I know all the aluminum metal shavings are out of the cylinder?

Answer: A borescope is used to make sure all foreign debris is removed. A video scope can be used as well, we have fairly inexpensive video based scopes that in our opinion, are better and easier to view.

Question: I’m afraid I might start drilling or tapping the hole crooked, am I going to damage my head beyond repair?

Answer: With the Time Sert, the tap has a small pilot at the end of the tap. With the Calvan specialty tool kit (since it is made specifically for Ford 4.6, 5.4 and 6.8 Triton engines) has a guide that fits into the spark plug well to perfectly guide the drill and the tap making the repair centered even in hard to access areas.

Question: Will my spark plug be properly grounded through the engine, since the insert will have JB weld on the threads?

Answer: I’ve only had one person ask this. The answer is yes. JB weld or Loctite with some other brand inserts is being used on the threads, but there is a large enough percentage of metal to metal contact that provides ground, to allow proper firing of the spark plug.

Update 12/01/2011

Time Sert 51459 Inserts in the image below. Notice they are more than just a thin coil of wire.

The Calvan 38900 is for spark plug ports on Ford Triton SOHC 4.6, 5.4 and 6.8 Liter 2 valve engines – 1998-2004. The Time Sert repair kits are made for much more than just the above application. DOHC is not a problem with the Time-Sert 5553. Time Sert makes a kit that will work on most vehicles. This fact has saved our customers a lot of money. Time-Sert’s comprehensive coverage doesn’t stop at “spark plugs”. They make kits for head bolts, main bolts, drain plugs and the list goes on. The Time-Sert inserts are bushing type and NOT just a coil of wire like the Heli Coils are. We have sold tons of the Time Sert kits with no problems reported as well. Still have questions on your application? Feel free to give us a call.

Linking: Please reference this car repair article when quoting, linking to this page is welcomed and appreciated. If you are new to linking a page. 1. Left click the link; to highlight 2. Right click, select copy 3. Right click and paste to car forums, auto repair blogs, car repair web sites etc. Thanks! Disclaimer: Automobile repair tips are designed for informational purposes only, without warranty of any kind, in no event shall the author of this site be liable for any consequential, incidental or direct damages sustained in the course of using the repair information in this article. All rights reserved by DenLors Auto (Automotive specialty tools /Car mechanics Tools). Keep us in mind for auto tool needs, shop supplies and mechanics equipment. 

Related Links and Products

Ford Spark Plug Blow Out Problems How to Repair Original article

Calvan 38900 Insert Kit – Product in this blog for sale 

Calvan 389-100 DLT Inserts – Additional inserts sold separately

Expedition Cylinder Head Removal w/Body Off NOT required with the 38900 DLT see what you’re missing

New Specialty tool for handling Ford broken spark plugs!

© DenLorsTools.com If you’re a subscriber to our automotive tool blog, you know we pointed out in a previous post, the need for a less expensive alternative to the Ford Rotunda 303-1398. The SPX Rotunda 303-1203 removes broken spark plugs on some Ford 5.4 engines, 2004 and up. But it only works after the broken porcelain piece is out of the way. That’s where the new Lisle LIS 65600 automotive specialty tool, comes into the picture. The best way to try to prevent Ford spark plugs from breaking to begin with (per a Ford Technical Service Bulletin-TSB) is to loosen the spark plugs slightly and then soak them with penetrating oil. Sometimes the carbon build up around the electrode shield will still separate from the main part of the spark plug. So, in many cases the porcelain part of the spark plug will stay in. This prevents the use of the 303-1203. Rotunda offers the SPX 303-1398 to remove the porcelain or ceramic piece, but the pins included in this six hundred dollar kit can only be used once. The pins are secured into the center of the broken spark plug (where the electrode was) with loc-tite, then the puller is used to hopefully pull the ceramic piece out of the way, so the two hundred dollar 303-1203 can be used to remove the metal electrode shield.

Lisle’s Method, using the LIS65600 auto specialty tool implements a different approach. First, if the broken porcelain is stuck down in the spark plug hole, the first part of the Lisle kit is used to press it down a little further without breaking it.

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OTC 6521 Smoke Machine – Auto Specialty Tool

OK, so this smoke machine is an automotive specialty tool for Evaporative leak testing and not the type of smoke machine your kids will be wanting for Halloween. But, we have a great deal on the OTC 6521 smoke machine and decided to add it to our first annual Halloween, automotive tool sale. It’s on sale with free shipping and no sales tax charged outside the state of Florida (see current listing).

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It seems that with all the new choices for wireless automotive scan tools now, information is hard to come by. Our recently revised automotive tech article compares the top three wireless, touch screen automotive scan tools from Snap On (Verus), OTC (Pegisys) and Launch (X431Tool). Snap On known for it’s quality tools and yes, high prices.

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The Rigid brand video inspection scope is called the SeeSnake 

Fiber optic borescopes have been a great tool for auto techs, locksmiths, plumbers and electricians for years. Until recently there hasn’t been many options for a video based borescope that is affordable. Not too many auto technicians or electricians that want to spend five to ten thousand dollars for a fancy video based borescope. There are basically two options for a low priced video scope that can be used for a variety of purposes, the Rigid See Snake and the Visual Optics Video Stik.

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This YouTube Video Shows a Classic Auto Assembly Line

Automotive assembly lines sure have changed, I didn’t see one robot! They were pretty advanced though considering this was in the 60’s. One of the most automated tools I saw in this car assembly line video was the spot welder for welding the body panels together. The spot welder was kind of similar to the Miller spot welder that we sell.

Metal Stamping.  The huge metal stamping press, for creating and shaping the metal body panels is just cool. Assembly line processes have always been a curiosity of mine. I worked on cars for years and have found myself asking, How  did they do that?  Thanks to video sites like YouTube, it’s easy to have many questions answered.

7,000 Gallons of Paint.  I like the fact that these VW cars were submersed completely in paint. I know that when the Ford Mustang was built in the 60’s they were certainly not dipped. My 1967 Convertible Ford Mustang Cowl Repair was needed mainly because the body wasn’t dipped or rust proofed in any way on the backside of the body panel. That was a nightmare auto repair for me, since I’m more of a mechanical repair guy and not a body or paint man.

What’s Old is New Again.  Who knows Mexico and maybe Cuba could possibly be using this assembly line footage in their VW manufacturing plants as a new employee training film!