Following an interesting conversation with another fellow engineer today, he suggested that i pass on some of the things i had done over the years, to other members, here goes:

Contaminated components such as clutch friction plates, brake shoes, and disc pads which are still in good condition can be resurrected.
Place in a pan and cover with water, boil them for a few minutes and the contamination will boil out and float on the surface of the water. Do not tip the water out as the contamination will get onto the offending item, instead place the pan in the sink and fill until it overflows. Contamination will float out of the pan; repeat the process and hey presto; reusable components.

Cheap waterproofing of petrol engines can be done by using a pair of rubber gloves, these cost around £1 a pair. Cut the ends off the fingers and thumb and pass the leads through, pull the wrist part of the glove right over the distributor cap, and down over the solid part of the distributor body. Tie wrap in position around the distributor body, and tie wrap each finger to the HT leads. For the coil, do the same thing, only cut two fingers, one for the low tension leads, and the other for the high tension lead. Female owners can use pink Marigolds, your engine may look silly but you will not get drowned out when playing in water.

Coat all brake and fuel lines with grease, this will help stop corrosion and the dreaded MOT failure. Where accessibility is limited cut a plastic food container so it slides between the chassis and the back of the lines. Grease the front of the lines, any surplus will pass onto the plastic, slide this up and down to coat the back of the fuel lines. Work right to the end of each line and do not forget to coat any nuts thoroughly, including exposed threads, these will then come out easily if and when required.

If you use underbody protection and as many people do, use bolts to attach it, the bolt head is often exposed, remove the protection and countersink the holes, fit countersunk studs instead. No more exposed bolt heads to get snagged when off roading, and no more damage and difficulty removing them.

If you are painting components on a vehicle and have to mask off awkwardly shaped components, forget the fiddly masking tape, use aluminium foil, the sort used for cooking. This moulds easily to any shape, resists paints and solvents, and is much easier and quicker to apply than fiddly masking.

Here are five.