Ghetto repairs

[toolmaker76]

The VW/ roller skate story reminded me of one!

Was out at the bar with my buddy when we got a call from my brother- his car had broken down at the drive in movie some miles away, so we left the bar to go help him.

Drive in was closed, his girlfriend and he had managed to push the car to the parking lot. Battery/ charging system completely dead, could not start it on a bet!

His car was a '74 mustang hatchback, my buddy's car was a 74 Nova- and the bumpers didn't come close to matching up! Solution? I sat on the hood of my buddy's car, holding on to the front of the hood, and had my feet propped against the back of my brother's car- the "push" took an amazingly small degree of effort on my part!

We managed to push the car that way about 15 miles to my brother's house- for curves and stops we would let the car roll a little ahead, and then catch up to it easy like.... and start pushing again! The only real concern was having to drive through town about midway through the trip, figured it would be like a parade float with signs that read, "Arrest these fools!" But we did not see any cops (I think they were still watching the bars) and got my brother's car home safely.

[michigan doug]

I had a VW scirocco from the late 70's. Man that car handled great. Man that car had an awful electrical system. It had a relay plate/fuse panel that looked complex enough to service a nuke plant. The headlights had been a little flaky and would go dim and I got this alarming hot smell from under the dash.

I was 23 and newly married. We had barely enough money for gas and rent. I took it to an indy VW place, and he looked it over and said, "If I can fix this, it will cost more than what your car is worth." and walked off.

Well SHUCKS!

I bought the two heaviest duty toggle switches they had at the auto parts store. I sacrificed a ratty old 12 gauge extension cord and soldered a couple of heavy fuses in line and covered that with electrical tape. Ran a complete independent circuit from the battery to the dash and the head lights. One switch for brights, one for dims and running lights.

I even made a custom aluminum panel that sort of looked almost factory. Headlights never worked better, and now I could put the dims and brights on at the same time if some jerk really didn't want to dim his lights.

It later caught on fire from a bad fuel line, but I got that put out without too much damage. I think I sold for about what I paid for it. I did lose money though because it had a new set of tires on it.


doug

[A.K. Boomer]

The VW/ roller skate story reminded me of one!

Was out at the bar with my buddy when we got a call from my brother- his car had broken down at the drive in movie some miles away, so we left the bar to go help him.

Drive in was closed, his girlfriend and he had managed to push the car to the parking lot. Battery/ charging system completely dead, could not start it on a bet!

His car was a '74 mustang hatchback, my buddy's car was a 74 Nova- and the bumpers didn't come close to matching up! Solution? I sat on the hood of my buddy's car, holding on to the front of the hood, and had my feet propped against the back of my brother's car- the "push" took an amazingly small degree of effort on my part!

We managed to push the car that way about 15 miles to my brother's house- for curves and stops we would let the car roll a little ahead, and then catch up to it easy like.... and start pushing again! The only real concern was having to drive through town about midway through the trip, figured it would be like a parade float with signs that read, "Arrest these fools!" But we did not see any cops (I think they were still watching the bars) and got my brother's car home safely.

I know u would have had to be there but your story makes me cringe -- I could see someone getting ran over that way -- ugggh...

but like allot of these it reminded me of one of my own (again)

mistubishi VR4 gallant (p.o.s.) anyways --- trying to figure out part of the inherent tranny noise that was driving me nut's,
after a couple R&R's and teardown of the unit and still the same damn noise I laid headfirst in the engine compartment and had my brother bungie the hood down on top of me and then take it out driving,,,
must have looked very strange to people seeing my legs hanging out of the front end, had my insulated overalls on to handle the heat but it was a turbo with all kinds of plumbing and it got too hot --- started yelling at my bro to pull it over but he must have had the tunes on --- resorted to screaming and it finally worked... never again...

edit; this tale actually leads to one of my mother of all ghetto repairs --- bore transmission countershaft and intermediate shaft oversize and eccentric to move gear clusters in closer to each other -- use feeler gauge material and loctite sleeve retainer for bearing sleeves...

[Dunc]

I owned one as a junker runaround (pick up beer, etc).
To pass the annual safety check (condition for plate renewal) I was told that the bumpers required the rubber/plastic safety extensions that blended the corners of the metal bumpers into the fenders. To purchase a new a set of 4 was worth more than the car. There were no second-hands: rust would destroy the embedded bolt. The highways must have been littered with them. Got to thinking that a quarter-segment of a tire would do not too bad a job. Forget the brand of tire that I used. One of the few times that a bald tire got passed. Safety inspectors were a bit "p'd" off but they served the purpose.

[J Tiers]

A guy I worked with had an old Camaro.....

The heater control stopped working, so he had a hose faucet in-line, to get heat you turned on the faucet.

There had been an electrical problem, so some of the wiring was made up of hardware store lampcord wire-nutted to the good wiring.

I wish I remembered exactly what you had to do to start it..... that involved reaching under the dash past the faucet and doing something.

[mike4]

OMG look at that frame! I forgot what it's like back there...

I think the titanics in better condition...

How do you get away with driving rusty framed vehicles?
I have scrapped ones with less rust than that , also it cant be very powerful if exhaust tubing will take the torque.
The last truck one that I twisted was over 1/4 thick and it had two marks , one at each end where it twisted from applying full power too quickly .
Mind you with 600 horses trying to get around 180 tons moving something was bound to twist if you let the clutch out too quick.
Michael

[vpt]

How do you get away with driving rusty framed vehicles?
I have scrapped ones with less rust than that , also it cant be very powerful if exhaust tubing will take the torque.
The last truck one that I twisted was over 1/4 thick and it had two marks , one at each end where it twisted from applying full power too quickly .
Mind you with 600 horses trying to get around 180 tons moving something was bound to twist if you let the clutch out too quick.
Michael

Truck is a 90 ford F250 with a 351, it has ok power. It is normally in 4wd so whatever power it makes is split in 2.

[shawnspeed]

Also ...you must remember some of us on here live in the "Rust Belt"...where salt is liberally applied to the roads in the winter because it is plentiful,(Detroit has one of the worlds largest salt mines under the metro detroit area) and we have NO YEARLY/BI -ANNUAL /ANY ANNUAL INSPECTIONS.....basically , if you are happy with it , drive it...now stupid stuff like headlamps out , brake /turn lights out, loud exhaust, shattered,(not cracked ,SHATTERED) windhields will get you a ticket that it needs to be repaired in 90 days , and signed off by a local officer , no fine other than fixing it....but rotted floorboards , no shocks , 1 axel brakes, (or one wheel brakes for that matter) among other various thing that would get a vehicle condemed elsewhere are OK here....Was in an Auto parts store last spring when a customer came in wanting front rotors for a 3500 RAM truck ...he had what was left of the one he could find on the counter...no friction surface on one side , only nubbins of the cast in place vent ribs (center of the rotor)and he claimed to have "limped it home a 100 miles by crimping the front brake hoses with 2 sets of vicegrips......I have several friends that are mechanics & have buisness in my area , and tell me they see the brake rotor thing all the time..."my brake pedal pulses when I step on it.......Whens the last time you had a brake job done????........never....How many miles are on the car????130XXX thousand....is that bad??? and it goes on ,, and on...

[Willy]

Truck is a 90 ford F250 with a 351, it has ok power. It is normally in 4wd so whatever power it makes is split in 2.

Andy don't forget that it is usually torque and not HP that twists driveshafts. Also the torque applied to the drive line is multiplied numerous times by the transmission and transfer case ratios.

Most drive shaft tubing is dom .083" tubing with a torque capacity of about 4,500 ft. lb. for a 3" tube depending on length. Older trucks often came with .065" tubing.

I'm not surprised you exhaust tubing repair on the drive shaft is still doing well. Tubing has an enormous torque capacity.

Nice fix by the way Andy, got the snow plowed without having to wait for special parts. The rust will kill it before the truck does.

[The Artful Bodger]

A guy I worked with had an old Camaro.....

The heater control stopped working, so he had a hose faucet in-line, to get heat you turned on the faucet.

There had been an electrical problem, so some of the wiring was made up of hardware store lampcord wire-nutted to the good wiring.

I wish I remembered exactly what you had to do to start it..... that involved reaching under the dash past the faucet and doing something.

Heck, some cars came from the factory with a thing like that, others had a lever under the bonnet (hood) marked "summer/winter".