Printer Friendly Forum Posts - new tips and tricks

hello everyone,

I am new to this website and glad for all this free info. got on for help with fiberglass and just stayed on reading dif posts. The older posts for alarm/RS install tricks is a lil weak tho. it turned into a what tool do u like more kind of post or advice for first timers. I have been installing for a few years and have aquired a lil info from all the mentors ive had in that time. hopefully you guys can use this and if there are good tips you think of for the intermediate installer then by all means post em

When i drill thru the firewall i cover my exposed metal back up with a dab of fingernail paint. it keeps the hole from oxidizing and rusting up. honestly i dont bother to much with older cars but with a brand new car that will be around for the next 10-20 years i go ahead and use a lil.

If i use an existing grommet that is a lil stubborn you can lube the wires up a lil with some rubbing alcohol. it wont cause damage or stains and dries amazingly fast .

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Adrenaline Motorsports of Naples

Ever heard of WD40 or silicone or lithium greases or primer, all tricks that have been around for at least 30 years, was painting antenna holes about 1976, all hood switches and alarm mountings get a liberal spray of water retarder. WD40 or even washing up liquid are great for stiff grommet replacement. The trouble is we've all got so much experience and we swap useful tips. I guarantee, in fact I would put my money where my mouth is if I had any that no-one in a year will come up with something no one has seen or done before. Sorry to sound like I'm putting you down but you just might have served a useful function in getting someone to do just that. I'd like someone to come up with a spray on shrink sleeving or Scotch 33+.

i didnt mean for it to sound like i just invented this stuff on my own yesterday. I would rather see more useful tips tips up here tho. Like maybe taking a valet switch apart and using something else to make the momentary contact. or the way u can take the hugte plastic shield off an LED and can barely see it installed when its not flashing.

Just looking for new ideas for myself really. stuff that hasnt ran across my brain yet, that i know has run across some of the older guys a few times. Surfing this site has alot of gr8 info but alot of it is for first time installers, or its about harmonics and imaging or something that is still over my head. Just trying to pick a few brains

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Adrenaline Motorsports of Naples

Again, been doing that sme time, see what I mean? Try inserting the latest (ie G5) Clifford LEDs from behind using a smaller hole and then mounting them flush with the surface. Looks great.

Heres one fer ya... Most people have some hand sanitizer hangin around the house...

I used some today to "lube" a wire pull. It was perfect, no oiley residue leftover like WD40.

I made several pulls with the same nylon guide.... and the tape stuck EVERY time!

Come on Gary, that's just a variation on the washing up liquid/liquid soap routine, how about curtain wires? Do you have them in the US? They hold up net curtains; white nylon covered wire, great for going up the pillars or geting through grommets in the bulkheads when you can't see or reach the other side. Cheaper than the specialised fish tapes.

See thats just it Howie.... there is NO soap in the hand sanitizer. It's alcohal based, slick as snot, and dries fast, and leaves nothing behind!

Don't know the curtain wire thing? I do have a 36 inch long HEAVY DUTY zip tie though, it's 1/2 inch wide.

KarTuneMan wrote:

See thats just it Howie.... there is NO soap in the hand sanitizer. It's alcohal based, slick as snot, and dries fast, and leaves nothing behind!

Don't know the curtain wire thing? I do have a 36 inch long HEAVY DUTY zip tie though, it's 1/2 inch wide.

long zip ties are awesome for running wires, especially under carpet or behind the dash.

only thing i can think of, and im sure it isn't a new thing, but if you dont have a good metal surface to mount a hoodpin then you can drill out a ring terminal and put it around the hood pin and then hook that to a ground. this lets you mount the hoodpin on plastic parts too.

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I like the zip tie (we call them cable ties) idea, curtain rod is only 1/4" diameter and doesn't curl up like a wire would, yes WD does the job but it's messy, I also have a cabinet screwdriver with an 18" blade, end rounded off, risky but effective.

i swear the last thread of new tricks for security turned out the same way this one is. cable ties and wd-40 arguements lol

im looking more for tips like soundnsecurity said about mounting hoodpins to plastic. granted most of us installers who have done this stuff for a few years have either done it or would have figured it out, but its tips like that id like to see on here. 90% of the "tricks" arent new but if you learned 1 new thing then it was worth keeping an eye on this discussion.

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Adrenaline Motorsports of Naples

i like that tip from soundnsecurity also, i will be sure to try it the next time a difficult hood pin install pops up,

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COMMIT YOUR WAY TO JEHOVAH AND HE WILL ACT IN YOUR BEHALF. PSALMS 37:5

Back to the hood pin and yet another grounding trick on plastic 'cause I've noticed the latest Yaris is ALL plastic on the striker surfaces. We only get the Harrison types here so I take a 4m bolt instead of a self tap or taptype with a corresponding nut and washers with a 4 or 5mm (3/16"?) ring terminal.

German cars, get some fabric backed tape for looming, it stealths them beautifully.

Lastly, all pin switches and siren mounting nuts, bolts etc also the 2 x screws at the rear of DEI sirens, spray em with water retarders, no siren moisture ingress and pin switches that will last for ever.

howie ll wrote:

I'd like someone to come up with a spray on shrink sleeving or Scotch 33+.

Plast-cote makes a spay thats pretty similar to Scotch 33+ once dry.

CK, do you mean Plasti Coat flexible rubber?

howie ll wrote:

CK, do you mean Plasti Coat flexible rubber?

they also make a spray. and yes i meant "Plasti-coat", sorry i cant type today. posted_image

Here's one I forgot till I came to do a Lexus today. 10mm head bolts, mounted a long way In, tend to fall off the end of the socket and you lose them. Well actually you won't if you place some insulating tape over the bolt head then push it into the socket, you can hold the damn thing upside down and it won't fall off.

that is a good one howie. use the same principle with teflon tape and itll hold on until you torque it down and it breaks off. i just saw my mechanic friend do that last week. genius

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Adrenaline Motorsports of Naples

In response to the "10mm bolt"...Ive used the double sided butyl rubber stuff...Have a few rolls...Also use the "stuff" that comes w/ some speakers sets...stuff a little into driver...and bolt holds great... I know I am an Idiot said in a post... To see polarity on a speaker you can not see...Tear a piece off bottom of broom and slide into area/holes til it touches the speaker...Pop the speaker...If the broom piece pushes out...you have the right polarity...

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M.E.C.P & First-Class
Go slow and drink lots of water...Procrastinators' Unite...Tomorrow!

Even better than the double stick tape or the teflon tape, Snap-On makes a magnetic socket. Lot easier than having to put the tape over every bolt head. I have no idea if Howie has access to Snap-On tools, if not you may try attaching a piece of a Neodymium magnet to the inside of a socket.

The comments following my "bolt holding" trick prove what I said at the start, is there anything new? Yes Craig, all my 1/4" drives, a nice 8 and 10mm 12 point ratcheting wrench for alarm sirens, etc etc all snap-on though I use a MAC swivel head 1/4" ratchet, the snap-on one is too expensive, 20 years ago whenever we went on holiday to the US, it was "follow that snap-on van", nowadays prices are about the same over here.

nothing new...Dang...Sears sells magnetic inserts for sockets etc...There is the wire insertion tool...You can make out of copper pipe...I think it is going to be incredibily diffucult to find something new...I have lost so many of my tools...Anybody have a trick for that...?? How about using a portable cd player to play through the amp...If your not sure if it is getting signal... Is everyone going to give up their trade secrets...?? Or as howie keeps saying...Is this post dead...?

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M.E.C.P & First-Class
Go slow and drink lots of water...Procrastinators' Unite...Tomorrow!

Im sure you all now how to twist wires w/ your drill...How about when you run wires into doors...And your worried about where to run it...(window up/down...track...Etc...) As soon as you come through the door jam grommet...You can bring the wire(s) immediately out and make small vertical slits in the plastic and weave the wires in and out of the slits untill you get to actuator/speakers Etc...So basically the wires are ran on the outside of the door where all the actuator rods are, and not on the inside of the door.(where the window goes up/down)

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M.E.C.P & First-Class
Go slow and drink lots of water...Procrastinators' Unite...Tomorrow!

Not even bothering mounting the antenna on the glass because it always keeps falling off the window when it gets hot. Leaving it in the in the A-Pillar or the headliner close to the glass (dont notice much difference in the range).

Only mounting the program button unless they have starter kill connected, otherwise folding up and taping it beside the brain (less wires to run and holes to cut)

really, i've been mounting antennas on windshields for years, and find that they tend to bond better when the glass is hot and they remain there, i'd get like one in every 100 installs with a loose antenna i had to re-stick, and most of the times it would have come out when they removed it to tint or something to that effect.

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COMMIT YOUR WAY TO JEHOVAH AND HE WILL ACT IN YOUR BEHALF. PSALMS 37:5

Tommy 3/8" copper tubing, OK Europe 9mm with the end cut and filed to a point, shove your cables inside, and away you go through the grommet, oops I've just sliced through 3 cables right at the grommet, think I'll stick with my extra long blunted screwdriver. Re glass mounts, back in the days of car-phone kits, before your time, t&t, we used to pray for hot sunny days, the trick was to clean the surfaces thoroughly. DEI G4 and G5 one ways, I loose them BEHIND the A post if I can, also top of dash, works fine.

Tommy my snap-on stuff is pink, orange etc still lose em, 2 x light blue weller pyropens, looked for 20 mins in top of my (over priced Blue Point) tool box in the car trunk, still overlooked it.

OK yet another tip for wire probing without using what Kevin calls a "bed of nails" probe. Hook the testing end to the hole in the back of a Stanley knife and use the knife blade to penetrate the insulation, much cleaner.

How sharp do you make those things...Geez...Yeah...Just use a one sided razor...Has the hole in the middle...Perfect size for the probe...Dont get me wrong...Theres is like a 12" blunted screwdriver in my box also...Normally i make the slit w/ something else(one sided razor to the rescue...Again)...The tool eases it through...Although i did like the sanitizer comment... Mine is now gone...Riding around somewhere still insulating the power wire......

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M.E.C.P & First-Class
Go slow and drink lots of water...Procrastinators' Unite...Tomorrow!

i wrap some of my easy to lose tools in bright yellow tape. i find it is the only color that catches my eye no matter what the interior color is or if it slips into a dark crack. bright pink can still blend in with a burgundy interior if it is dark and the same with bright blue or orange. bright yellow is the best by far. anyone ever lost a cell phone in a customer's car?

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Thats funny though...(the cutting wires w/ insertion tool)...On my very first day of being an installer...The guy training me was making a hole through a grommet w/ his pocket knife...Cut like 12 wires...Sooo instead of working on a monster truck...Then a really nice yacht...I got to put all the wires back together between the firewall...

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M.E.C.P & First-Class
Go slow and drink lots of water...Procrastinators' Unite...Tomorrow!

soundnsecurity wrote:

i wrap some of my easy to lose tools in bright yellow tape. i find it is the only color that catches my eye no matter what the interior color is or if it slips into a dark crack. bright pink can still blend in with a burgundy interior if it is dark and the same with bright blue or orange. bright yellow is the best by far. anyone ever lost a cell phone in a customer's car?

Yes...I lost a cell phone...And a set of car/shop keys...Closing time...Walking to car...Customer pulls in w/ a quick question...Set keys and phone on passenger floor board...Customer thanked me and i sat there till my wife came w/ extra set of keys...

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M.E.C.P & First-Class
Go slow and drink lots of water...Procrastinators' Unite...Tomorrow!

that happened today to me tommy, lost the shop keys in a customers car and had to end up changing all the locks and the keys. lol. also here's a little trick it's more science that electronics though, whenever your magnetized tools seem to be losing their magnetic grip or if you want to magnetize your tools that aren't, you can use a light power supply around five amps or so, and attach leads from positive and negative of the power supply to the tool you desire to magnetize, let both leads remain on the tool with the power supply on, for about max ten seconds and, voila magnetic hold like never before, you can also use a car battery, but the five amp power supply is safer and reliable and you can magnetize with it again and again!

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COMMIT YOUR WAY TO JEHOVAH AND HE WILL ACT IN YOUR BEHALF. PSALMS 37:5

i had to break into a customers truck because i locked the keys in the truck today. the back window was really easy to get into with a hook pick.

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soundnsecurity wrote:

i wrap some of my easy to lose tools in bright yellow tape. i find it is the only color that catches my eye no matter what the interior color is or if it slips into a dark crack. bright pink can still blend in with a burgundy interior if it is dark and the same with bright blue or orange. bright yellow is the best by far. anyone ever lost a cell phone in a customer's car?

Back when I was in college (and a smoker) my g/f at the time gave me an engraved Zippo for some reason or another. Less then a month after she gave it to me I lost it in a customers car.

Lucky for me though, we get all the customers info right. Right.

I called the lady and explained the situation and appologized for inconveniencing her. She told me it wasn't a problem and that she would look. Sure enough,. she found it. I offered to come to her place and pick it up she told me that would be fine.

About 20 minutes later some guy calls the shop yelling and screaming at me telling me that if I want my lighter back that he is going to bring it to me. He never did. I'm guessing he had some trust issues....

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Kevin Pierson