Project Car Tips and Tricks

Think of the air volume adjustment like a sink faucet. It adjusts the amount of air flowing through the gun without necessarily affecting the pressure. More air can mean thick coats of paint but also more messy overspray; too little can mean thin, grainy coats of paint. Start with the adjuster in the middle. Spray some paint on a test panel and fine-tune the adjustment until you are satisfied. Note that you may need to make small corrections to the air pressure regulator as you adjust the air volume.

This photo shows the air pressure cap at work. As it exits the fluid tip, the paint is atomized by compressed air rushing out of a series of precision-machined passages in the pressure cap. The two horns on the pressure cap each contain a pair of air outlets. Those, combined with several smaller outlets in the face of the cap, influence the way the paint is atomized and the pattern it forms in the air. This spray pattern is referred to as the fan.

Adjust the fan by turning the fan control knob. On some paint guns, it is located on the back of the gun above or below the needle adjustment knob. The fan should look like the letter U-relatively flat sides gently curving back into the fluid tip. On a test panel, the shape should look like two parentheses facing each other ()-thinner at the top and bottom and wider in the middle.

Tap Extension
In any long-reach situation where the t-handle of a standard tap will not work, try welding the tap to a 1/4-inch extension. It needs to be straight; remember to grind the chrome off the extension so the weld will hold. If you don't want to weld, you can also buy sockets with a square female that are a little more bulky but do the job.

Wiper Arm Puller
If you have ever mangled your wiper arm or scratched your paint while trying to pull it off the cowl, you need this wiper arm puller. It has a plastic-covered bottom jaw, so all you have to do is insert the jaw between the base of the arm and the surface of the car and squeeze. Get one from the Matco guy using KD Tools PN 2039.

Boot PullerEngine heat glues the boot to the spark plug, and when you yank on the plug wire to remove it, the connector is ripped out of the core and leaves the terminal hanging on the tip of the plug. Solve this and third-degree burns with a plug boot puller. This one is from Theaton Tools using PN 334 or just ask the Snap-on guy. He sold us this one many years ago. We also like to add a little MSD Spark Guard dielectric grease to the inside of the plug boot.

Firewall Hole PuncherDon't use a hole saw that is designed to cut wood. Instead, use a sheetmetal hole punch like this one from Greenlee. Select a size, drill the pilot hole, then tighten the bolt and let the cutter do the work. It's perfect for cutting a hole for a wiring harness to pass through the firewall. You can get these at any major tool store.