The Home Machinist!

Good procedure and good write up. I like it!

I seem to remember that all 6 volt Fords were positive ground. GM (Delco Remy) were all negative ground and I think Mopar (Autolite) were also. Many, if not all, of the British cars, motorcycles, and tractors (Lucas) were positive ground up as long as they used generators.

No reason to assume the rack pinion is diametrical pitch, in fact I would think it unlikely. Measure the rack pitch over as long a length as you can measure accurately and the pinion will be that same circular pitch. Also I would think there is almost surely an intermediate compound reduction gear b...

I think polarity has something to do with the ionizing of the fuel mixture but am not sure. Of course, some engines operate with two plugs per coil, where both polarities are used.

A needle is generally my tool of choice but I have wondered if a super magnet would pull ferrous slivers.

If a close fit is needed, drilling the hole is unlikely to be satisfactory. You indicated earlier that you did not want to touch the original bore surface.

It would be slow but I have heard of removing the majority of a tap, drill, or extractor by using brass or copper tubing and abrasive compound in the mill or drill press. Sounds to me like a sure fire way of doing the job without damage to anything.

I haven't read the entire thread carefully but have you actually determined that your existing service will not handle your actual loads? 200 Amperes at 240 Volt is really a lot of power and you do not have to be able to max out all circuits at the same time. Nor do you have to have a service big en...

Do not run the lathe under power until you fix whatever is binding in the feed gears, since anything you damage can probably not be replaced. Sounds like there might be something in the gears making it bind, try cleaning and inspecting carefully. You may have to take it apart somewhat but it should ...

I wish you luck but I have found that getting replacement jaws for most chucks is not practical. Some of the newer and more expensive chucks are exceptions. Three jaw chuck jaws are commonly fitted and serial numbered to the chuck.

It seems true that most rethreading dies are hex but so are some dies for cutting new threads. I have good quality Snap-On and Craftsman tap and die sets that have hex and some that have double hex (12 point) dies. -- So far I have only used hex dies -- What advantage do the round dies really have o...

I would not attempt any significant bend. If I could not get a correct replacement, I would reconsider repair of the original. Solder and epoxy can sometimes salvage something pretty bad. One of my first epoxy repairs, about 1963, was to a split radiator tube in a Nash Rambler. Never leaked for many...