RING CLAMP MODIFICATION (ANY VEHICLE). You've popped the hood and you're looking around. Something seems...."off". Then you notice it: All that extra ring clamp 'thread' sticking past the end of the worm screw clamp. Not only does it look bad, but it can slice sleeves/arms/hands and even worse- possibly wires or fluid lines. Let's clean them up a bit and add a little safety too. Tools & Supplies Required: - 8mm Nut Driver (or whatever size necessary for the clamp you're working on) - Sharpie OPTIONAL: Wire Cutters - Small Vise (to hold ring clamp) - Dremel Tool - Cut-off wheel for Dremel - Sanding wheel for Dremel - Small metal file - Bottle of isopropyl alcohol - Paper towel(s) What we need to do first is find out how much excess ring material we're going to cut off. Attach the ring clamp to the particular parts that are to be connected, and tighten it to spec. Now take your Sharpie and make a mark on the nutdriver-side of the excess: Remove the ring clamp from the parts completely: Your Sharpie mark will remain on the ring clamp: DREMEL METHOD PUT ON YOUR SAFETY GLASSES NOW!!!! Set the ring clamp up in the small vise so it's held tight: Use the Cut Off wheel to remove the excess ring material: (TIP: Cut as close to the ink as possible, but don't cut the inked portion) If it takes you more than 30 seconds, you're doing it wrong. The excess will be a little warm to the touch after cutting it off, so don't grab it with your bare hands. STRONGMAN METHOD If you've got the strength, you can probably just trim the excess clamp material off with a good strong pair of wire cutters: Those without said strength (like me), can sometimes just hold the clamp material in the wire cutters and bend the excess portion back and forth a few times until it breaks off. It takes a little longer than the Dremel method, but it works just as well. CLEAN UP Now that we've got the excess trimmed away, we can move on to rounding the corners. Again, you can do this with the Dremel: ....or you can do it by hand with a small metal file: The metal file also works well for edge finishing and removing any burrs (esp. on the inside edges of the ring clamp) Put a cap-full of the isopropyl alcohol on the paper towel: ...and wipe away the Sharpie ink: Ink is allergic to alcohol, so it will wipe completely away leaving no mark on the ring clamp. Now we can re-install the trimmed ring clamp: As you can see, the few threads of excess are now hidden under the head of the worm gear. You still have a bit of adjustablity (if you need to 'clock' the clamp), and nothing is grabbing sleeves or cutting anything. Best of all: $0.00. :grin: Enjoy! NOTES: - It's not necessary to do ALL the ring clamps at one time. Spread the job over time and trim them up as you work on particular parts of the engine bay. - Be careful regarding those clamps that hold fluid-filled lines on. A mess is certain to come if you're not paying attention. Use a drip pan and dispose of the excess/drippings in a legal/responsible manner. ©2008 Kevan J. Geier All Rights Reserved
