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Cheap repairs we made when we were young and broke.
isellhondas
Member Posts: 20,342
in General
The other night by lifelong buddy called to chat and somehow the conversation turned to our youth and some of the desperate things we had to do to keep our beaters running.
I remember helping a friend with his '62 VW beetle. A rear axle seal had blown causing quite a mess. We had no 36 MM socket so we literally beat the nut off by placing a punch on the corner of the nut and backing it off using a hammer.
Of course, the rear lining was soaked with grease.
Since money was scarce we soaked the shoes in kerosene and lit them on fire to burn out the grease...Oh, the smoke! It actually worked pretty well.
If it weren't for the wrecking yards we would all have been walking!
I remember helping a friend with his '62 VW beetle. A rear axle seal had blown causing quite a mess. We had no 36 MM socket so we literally beat the nut off by placing a punch on the corner of the nut and backing it off using a hammer.
Of course, the rear lining was soaked with grease.
Since money was scarce we soaked the shoes in kerosene and lit them on fire to burn out the grease...Oh, the smoke! It actually worked pretty well.
If it weren't for the wrecking yards we would all have been walking!
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Wouldn't start one night after class...?
Opened the hood and lo and behold, my distributor cap and plug wires had been ripped off!
Probably by your buddy!
As luck would have it, a walk in the dark discovered the college maintainance truck...A Chevy!
Ten minutes later I was on my way...
Here's another one:
I had side pipes on my car but wouldn't spend the bucks to plumb it up properly so I connected to the headers with flexible, exhaust tubing. This stuff lasted about 2 months before it rusted through. But I was too cheap to replace that so I would patch it up with some kind of fiberglass tape which lasted about 3 weeks, which was less time than it took for the burns on my hands to heal since this stuff had to be put on when the exhaust was hot.
We were in his dad's 64 Impala. So, he turned off the ignition for awhile and put it back on while alongside the pedestrians.
Mission Accomplished! Big time...except.
He had "popped" the Chevy once too often and opened the seam on the muffler.
Same fix as you dgraves, a double roll of some fiberglass strapping tape.
I forget now if his dad ever found out.
I once knew a guy who returned to his car to find the steering wheel (of all things) had been stolen!
Undaunted, he clamped a Vise Grip onto the shaft and drove the car home like that!
At least a ten mile drive!
Still have that quarter somewhere, as a momento..
Lokki, I had a throttle spring break on my Dart, but it did just the opposite...instead of making the pedal dead, it floored it! I just took what was left of the spring and tied it back together until I got home.
-Andre
My '62 beetle decided to snap a clutch cable one night. No money for a tow...what to do?
So I started it in second gear. It lurched forward until it started. Had to shift by getting the RPMS just right. Not easy but I didn't have far to go.
BTW, that clutch cable is a real PITA to replace!
Ah..the hungry years!
vacuuming airfilters
walking alont the side of the road near railroad crossings, looking for a new hubcap that fit
superglue shiftknob together
red plastic bag duct taped over broken tail light
carrying spare parts in a milkcrate
two quart bottles of oil-from two different gas stations, radiator hose, gas can, belt, flares, old rusty tools from a garage sale, five dollars in change for payphone, couple coathangers, washerfluid, gallon of water, and a box of twinkies all for emergencies. those were the days.
shoving a wax covered friut box into a hole in the trunk by the rusted out wheel well
coat hanger antenna
Replace worn out brake shoes, but don't turn the drums to save money.
Spray paint bulbs red instead of replacing broken tail light lens.
This one is not real smart, but I did it...64 Chevelle, real POS but ran good..leaky wheel cylinder on right rear..take hammer, smash brake line against frame and drive with three wheel brakes
hammer a broken and dangling power mirror, knock the sucker off and tuck the wire in before it scratches the door.
nail broken trim
pound out dents
use a hammer on the end of the tire iron to knock the rust off the lug nut.
after all that hammerin' and tapin, and rustoleum, it was a wonder the old pos cierra i had kept moving.
it was cool, it had been hit later in it's long life, and the paint had oxidized badly, except for the right side of the hood and right front fender. Just as shiny as the day it came out of the factory.
Rode home from college one day in a Pinto with a broken throttle cable. We ran a piece of heavy twine out the vent glass, through the fender/hood seam and to the carb and used that to throttle the engine.
Kids today need a junker to learn how to be creative.
Jim
On old Chevys built before 1953, it was possible to start them with a piece of tinfoil.
Really simple, take a piece two or three inches across and poke it around under the ignition switch. When the guages moved, you were in business! Press the starter button and you were going.
So, one night my buddy loses the keys to his '51 Chevy. I managed to find a foil gum wrapper and the problem was solved....until, on the Harbor Freeway later that night, the damm gum wrapper came loose and fell out!
Funny story now, but not at the time since we were in moderate traffic going 60 MPH!!
Here we were in the center strip, with cars whizzing by looking for that gum wrapper!
To quickly solve my problem ( I didn't have much time), I jammed a potatoe into the hole to function as a cork and drove home . Good thing I had just left the food market with a bag of potatoes!
Anyway, my secretary at work had a Nova and agreed to let me borrow parts when ours needed a state inspection. I'd drive to the office, switch whatever needed fixing (like a cracked retainer ring on a headlight and a slightly worn tire) with the good parts off of hers and drive it around the corner to the shop. They'd have it inspected by lunch and I'd switch the parts back.
Played this game for 3 years until she got a real car.
Also, I once used a piece of twine to run the wipers on my Chevy. Couldn't afford a coathanger. Out one vent window, attach to the wipers and in through the other vent to complete the loop.
Yank to the right,yank to the left,yank,yank,etc.
John
Outstanding, John. I can picture it very well. Thanks
Of course, this was in So. Calif.
I can still get heat in the wintertime though. It kind of filters in, and the faster you drive, the more heat you get. The a/c effect in the summertime isn't really noticeable though, but when you put all four windows down (it's a hardtop), open the vent windows, plus the vents under the dash, and pop the sunroof, who needs a/c?
So being young, fearless and broke I proceeded to attempt to fix it myself. Without the proper tools, ie using a hammer and screwdriver's rather than bearing pullers etc :-)I disassembled it and bought some used (yes used as I could not afford new) bearings from a local Triumph parts place. Believe it or not, the operation was successful and the transmission worked like a charm, synchros and all. That and a good tune up had the car running like a champ and it turned out to be a great car for me which I enjoyed in high school.
I love those old flatheads! They had such a wonderful sound too!