know.

CookbookHobbies and playNo. 56

A car restoration build bookparts, specifications and the decisions behind them

Recipe No. 56 · Hobbies and play

For: A hobbyist restoring a 1972 half-ton pickup truck

You get: A build book, a parts board and a plan to the road test

Time: Fifteen minutes after each session

See it in know.sh

Try it. A disc brake caliper in section: press the pedal, switch between floating and fixed, and wear the pads down.

The brakes document: the parts as a kanban board, what the road test waits for marked high, then a section per job, decision, problem and hazard.

1972 half-tonNo. 4

Brakes — from a pedal on the floor to the road test

11 sections, 3,480 words, about 15 minutes, filed 2 August, revised 21 September, 6 highlights.

Bought with the pedal on the floor. Front hoses cracked, rear drums scored, left rear wheel cylinder seized.

Original-type parts throughout, except the hoses. Every figure in this document is quoted from the factory service manual, with its section and page.

Sections

  1. 1Master cylinder — replaceEvidence, keyNew unit, bench-bled before fitting. Part number and supplier under Parts; fluid and pushrod check from the manual, section 5.
  2. 2Front calipers — rebuildEvidence, keySeals, boots and pistons; slides cleaned and greased. Mounting bolt torque quoted from the manual and highlighted once checked.
  3. 3Brake hoses — replace all threeDecisionReplaced rather than inspected: two were cracked, and the third was the same age.
  4. 4Left rear bleeder snapped offProblem, 1 noteSheared at the first quarter turn. Replaced the wheel cylinder instead of drilling it out.
  5. 5Rear drums — measure before machiningQuestionScored. Is there enough metal left? The maximum diameter is cast on the drum; check it against the manual.
  6. 6Old linings — treat as asbestosRisk, keyThe original shoes may contain asbestos. Wet-wiped, bagged, no compressed air.

and 5 more sections

Claude Code turning the build book into a plan, with the road test blocked until the brakes and wiring are done, and the missing specifications left to the manual.

Claude Code, connected to know.sh

You

Read Engine, Brakes, Electrical and Body in my know.sh library and lay out what is left of the restoration as a campaign. One operation set per system, one operation per remaining job. Anything needed to stop, steer or signal safely blocks the road test.

document_list Found Engine, Brakes, Electrical and Body on 1972 half-ton

document_list_sections Read 11 sections in Brakes and 9 in Electrical

campaign_create Created “1972 half-ton — to the road test”

operation_set_create Created four sets: Brakes, Electrical, Engine, Body

operation_create Created 17 operations, among them “Bleed brake system” and “Road test, 10 miles”

operation_dep_add “Bleed brake system” blocks “Road test, 10 miles”

operation_dep_add “Replace wiring harness” blocks “Road test, 10 miles”

operation_dep_add “Engine tune-up” informs “Road test, 10 miles”

Claude Code

The campaign has four sets and 17 operations, all in draft.

The road test is blocked by six operations: four in Brakes (calipers, hoses, rear wheel cylinders, bleeding) and two in Electrical (harness, lights check). Body work does not affect the road test, so I left it unlinked.

Two brake jobs have no specifications in their sections yet: the rear wheel cylinders and the shoe adjustment. I have not filled them in. Take them from the manual before you start.

You

Calipers are done. The section is Brakes, 2.

operation_transition “Rebuild front calipers” marked done

How it works

Which master cylinder did you order, and why a new harness? Your assistant sorts the shoebox into a section per job, and puts the parts on a board from To buy to Fitted. You type the specifications from the manual. Then Claude Code lays out what is left, and the graph shows what the road test waits on.

  1. Hand your assistant the shoebox

    Give it photos of the receipts and your job notes. Ask for Engine, Brakes, Electrical and Body, with a section per job holding its part numbers and suppliers.

  2. Type the specifications from the manual

    Copy each torque and clearance from the factory service manual yourself, with its section and page, and highlight it once checked. Every figure in the book comes from the manual.

  3. Put the parts on a board

    Ask for a kanban board element at the head of each system, with high priority on what the road test waits for. In Brakes, ask for a working caliper widget beside the rebuild.

  4. Ask Claude Code for the plan

    With the know.sh plugin, Claude Code lays out what is left as a campaign with dependencies. The graph shows it plainly: the brakes and the wiring block the road test.

Try this prompt

A coding assistant with the know.sh plugin, such as Claude Code:

Using the know.sh tools, read Engine, Brakes, Electrical and Body on my 1972 half-ton shelf and lay out what is left as a campaign: one operation set per system, one operation per remaining job. Anything needed to stop, steer or signal safely blocks an operation called “Road test”. Do not supply any specification yourself; list the jobs whose sections have none.

Your assistant, connected to know.sh (Claude, ChatGPT or a local model):

Using know.sh, read Brakes and Parts and suppliers on my 1972 half-ton shelf and add a kanban board element to the top of the Brakes overview: columns To buy, Bought and Fitted; one card per part, the supplier’s order number as its ticket, and high priority on any part a road-test job still needs. Leave part numbers in the sections, and change nothing else.

Made with

ShelfDocumentYour AI assistantElementsHighlightsCampaigns

See also