At Home Mechanic

Of the trio, the first is perhaps the most unexpected. The one thing that every At home Mechanic has in common with every other mechanic, professional or otherwise, is the inevitable drips of oil, coolant, fuel and grease on the floor of your work space. A professional workspace usually has some sort of sealed floor that resists the spilled fluids from seeping in. There are many paint-type products offered for the At Home Mechanic to brush or roll on a sealant that will protect a concrete floor from staining. For a more finished look, some companies offer a type of interlocking floor tiles specifically meant for the garage that resist staining and by clever application can create a decorative design. But for the majority of us, the cold hard concrete floor of our garage is all we have. Being porous and absorbent, the concrete grasps oils and keeps the mark nearly forever.

But a simple household product that you may already have in your home is the secret to removing oils stains from concrete and asphalt. Kitty Litter. Invented in 1947 by Ed Lowe, Kitty Litter started out as a solution to a messy pet problem. But its absorbent properties make it the best may to soak up standing fluids and if left on a stain for a couple of days, it will draw the stain out of concrete nearly entirely. I keep a five pound bag in my garage and I try to get if onto any spillage as soon as possible. Of course the best solution for spills is to no make the in the first place and to use adequately sized receiving pans when draining sumps and reservoirs. Kitty Litter applied to a stain can often be reused on a second, third or fourth stain before the stuff is completely saturated. I have been known to keep a small pile of slightly used kitty litter (not by the cat) in a corner of the garage for later use upon future stains.

The next two tools are fastening devices. While nuts bolts and screws have their place, it is Duct Tape and Tie Wraps that can salvage a seemingly impossible situation from disaster.

Duct Tape is the binder of all things flat. Artistically applied to body work, upholstery or even clothing, there is no limit to what Duct Tape can do. Invented in the 1920's as a descendant of medical tape, the sturdy green colored tape was backed with "Duck" water resistant fabric was used during World War Two as a sealant for ammunition cans and from this description it received the name "Duck Tape." After the war, the color was changed to a silver materiel and used in the application of joining ventilation ducts and the name evolved into Duct Tape. Racers often refer to it as 100-mph Tape because it can withstand high speeds while protecting headlights and other fragile glass pieces plus is can be used to smooth out the gaps between body parts and give a car a smoother aerodynamic profile.
The Tie Wrap or the Cable Tie as it is sometimes called, emerged during the high tech boom of the 1960's as simple and cost effective way to control the jungle of electrical cables that modern aircraft and technical installations were becoming. A strip of strong plastic with a self-contained locking mechanism, The Tie Wrap comes in a wide variety of sizes and colors and be looped through nearly any opening to secure body parts, hoses and stray wires. It is only limited to the user's imagination how Tie Wraps can be used in the garage and applied to a car. I use Tie Wraps to secure my air cleaner, hold the front bumper cover to the framing underneath and keep interior trim pieces from rattling. A collection of various sized Tie Wraps is a vital part of my garage collection.

The use of non-traditional tools is not limited to Kitty Litter, Duct Tape and Tie Wraps. As time and necessity dictate, other items will be pressed into service in ways that the original designers had never intended. What will you use to solve a problem or finish a job in a creative way?