Speaking of lathes, they're kind of like a hammer - once you're holding one, everything begins to look like a nail.
I'm constantly looking at things, wondering how I could make/modify/improve them on my lathe. I love that thing - my wife says I spend so much time on it that she calls it my "mistress". It's easy to get carried away with it, that's for sure. When I'm stymied on something on the car, I usually end up making something on the lathe while I ponder my latest issue.
Case in point: 1) a Dzus fastener tool (really a glorified screwdriver, but one that precisely fits the Dzus fasteners on my car, unlike a screwdriver which tries to skate across fresh paint), forged/hammered/ground to shape, and 2) a Zetec crankshaft alignment pin (screws into the side of the block, allows the crank to be turned to exactly top dead center - there are NO timing marks on a Zetec!). The latter is pictured with a Zetec camshaft alignment plate I made at the same time.
Attachment:
Dzus tool II small 2.jpg
Attachment:
crank pin tool small.jpg
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Scratch building, at continental-drift speed, a custom McSoreley-design framed, dual-Weber 45DCOE carburated, Zetec-engined, ridiculously fast money pit.
http://zetec7.webs.com/