Finally got a clean torque stripe on a tricky engine mount bolt

For the longest time, my torque stripes looked like a kid drew them. I'd just slap the paint on after torquing, and it would be messy and hard to read later. A few weeks back, an old hand at our hangar in Phoenix watched me and said, 'You're putting it on too thick, and your brush is junk.' He gave me a tiny, fine-tipped artist's brush from his own kit. Now, I wipe the bolt head clean, use just a dot of the right paint, and draw a single, sharp line from the bolt head to the base. It dries fast and is super clear for the next guy. The change was so simple but made a huge difference in my work looking pro. Has anyone else found a small tool change that fixed a basic task?

3 comments

3 Comments

ward.jamie10d ago

My buddy swapped his cheap punch for a sharp one and stopped mushrooming bolt heads.

wendyk5610d ago

Got a similar tip about marking tires. Was using a fat chalk pencil and my rotation marks looked like blobs. Switched to a skinny paint pen meant for model kits, now I can draw a clean, thin line across the tread that actually lasts through a few drives.

river32010d ago

My old boss at the tire shop used a silver grease pencil for marking rotations. It worked okay until summer, then the heat made it melt into a huge smudge on the sidewall. We spent ten minutes cleaning just one wheel before the customer came back.