Fluid Film by William

Perhaps you’ve heard me mention using Fluid Film sometime? Maybe not as much on here yet, but some of the forums I visit I am always plugging Fluid Film. So you might ask as to why I am promoting  this product now. It’s simple really, this stuff is awesome. We do not usually promote any products here on Midnight Mods with a whole article, just tid bits here in there about the vendors or products we use. Lets start with a little product info first before I divulge further.

Fluid Film is a natural based lubricant made from lanolin. It’s solvent free, and eco friendly. While I’m not pushing green technology here, this really means that it is safe to use anywhere. (I’m not sure if you want to use it around food.) Lanolin comes from Sheep. It’s a natural moisturizer and lubricant. For me working with sheep, if you have caught on to that by now, I really enjoy this product. My hard work, essentially, goes to making this product. I sheer off the wool, and then when the wool is processed, the lanolin is washed out of the wool at the Woolen Mill. What is done with it after that, I am not sure, but this stuff is just as slippery as the stuff on the sheep.

I’m not sure what is all in this besides lanolin, but whatever they did, it works. This product is great on metals, it sticks and doesn’t easily wash off. It is highly water resistant as well. It’s even safe on paint and synthetic rubbers. There really are lots of uses for this product besides lubrication as well. I use it to seal my shoes so my feet do not get wet. Underbody coating on your vehicle. There is a web site out there dedicated to the creative uses of this product. http://fluid-film.ning.com/

I could probably go on for a while about this product, but let’s get down to why this article is on our sight. It was noticed that I mentioned Fluid Film quite often on a forum and tried to get other members to use it. I was contacted by a site sponsor rep for Fluid Film. A week later I got a box in the mail.

A decent sized box at that. I was so excited I blacked out the addresses and took pictures. Comedy, even in donations. Dano on Ford-Trucks was kind enough to send me this package with some goodies for the help I had been giving him on the sight promoting Fluid Film. Lets open it up and take a look.

Sneaky. The goodies are hidden under some paper. I didn’t let this stop me!

Inside I found a hat and a shirt. Let me tell you, this is probably the nicest promotional hat that I have ever got. Sorry newegg, this thing is sweet. Even the clasp in the back has fluid film logo stamped into the metal. I’m sorry to report that it is not made here in the US like Fluid Film, which is made out in California. Lets check out the rest of the shirt.

 

The shirt comes with a sleeve tag as well as some rocking graphics on the back. Can’t wait to wear this sheering to start some conversations.

Here is the full lot of goodies. I got a bunch of stickers and the big decals were totally unexpected!

Brett also received a sample can of Fluid Film, and a T-Shirt as well.

Thanks for the Hook Up Dano! We really love donations over here at Midnight Mods.

 

If your looking to try out some fluid film, send me an email and I’ll get you setup with Dano. I do sell small lots of the 12oz Aerosol cans as well. Fluid Film also comes in 1 gallon and 5 gallon containers as well. Any questions regarding Fluid Film, feel free to comment, any questions regarding ordering the product, please send me an email.

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Tools of the Trade - Part 1 by William

A lot of you might be wondering, "how the heck do you guys do all this stuff!!!!" Well, it's pretty simple some days, but other days we really go crazy.

The Basics

Lets start out with the basics. Both of us use these tools essentially. Maybe different forms of them, but its the basic concept. Brett here has provided us with a picture of them all NIB!! (new in box for you newbies) I'll list them all off for you.

• Heat Gun
• Soldering Iron
• Soldering Iron w/ Sucker
• Solder
• Picks
• Rosin
• Solder Wick
• Tip Tinner / Cleaner

These are the basic tools we use in modifications. Not always for everything, but most modifications involve soldering. There are many different soldering irons and solder. 60/40 lead/tin solder is pretty common. Figuring out which one works best for you might take some trail and error though. Brett like's to use a big ole 45 watt iron, while I use an 18 watt. He's just compensating…… Naw, really, it is really personal preference. The difference is he can heat up larger components easily while that is not as easy for me to do. I generally do really fine soldering or wire soldering, so the larger caliber is not necessary in my case.

What is this other stuff? Wick, rosin, picks, tinning block? Rosin is usually in the solder, but rosin helps pull the solder to the components. It is useful with components that are giving you trouble, or are not as easily soldered as other things. The wick and the sucker are for cleaning up components for soldering if there is left over solder on the board or part. Do not use solder wick unless you know what you are doing!!! I can not stress this more. Wick will ruin components on boards if not used properly!!!! I don't want emails from you about how you sucked solder out of the layered board your soldering on because you used solder wick. The picks are for .. well picking. They are handy for opening up component holes, or, well whatever you can come up with honestly. I usually use a screw driver, I do not have a pick set, but I have a lot of micro-drivers. I will talk about screw drivers in Part 2.

 

Pliers and hemostats are great tools as well. I use my hemostats all the time to fish out parts or to hold things together, hold parts in place to solder, I also use them as a heat sync while soldering. That's info for a possible soldering lesson however.

Pictured here is also a pair of helping hands, which assist in soldering by holding parts together or just holding parts for you, wire, wire, more wire, clips, box cutters, Volt/Ohm meter, various adapters and such. Screws. The works, these would be most of the basic tools used by a person doing basic mods, or just repairs.  Oh don't forget about tape, that's important stuff too. These are just some basics though, there are many more tools then displayed here.

And no, we are not shooting up while modding out. The syringe is for oil. Using a syringe and needle can help you oil hard to get at parts with just that drop of oil they need, or oil a fan by pushing the needle though the rubber stopper at the oil point to give it a quick squirt. Thankfully I work with animals, so I was easily able to get these for Brett and I to use. I believe that the needle in the picture is an 8 gauge needle. I do not remember, he's been using it for over 2 years.

Stay tuned for Part 2 - Screwdrivers!!!!!

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