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Hints from the Model Garage...

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Jive-Bomber, Jan 14, 2011.

  1. Jive-Bomber
    Joined: Aug 21, 2001
    Posts: 3,753

    Jive-Bomber
    MODERATOR

  2. I love me some Gus!
     
  3. tubman
    Joined: May 16, 2007
    Posts: 6,913

    tubman
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I remember these from when I was a kid.:) In addition to the tips, they had stories about the clever things "Gus", the owner of the Model Garage would pull off. One I remember is how one of his customers was racing an MG, but it was loosing power. Gus figured out that the exhaust pipe was clogged with carbon, so he used his torch and started a slow burning fire that burned the carbon out. Takes me way back!
     
  4. buford36
    Joined: Feb 7, 2007
    Posts: 222

    buford36
    Member
    from Maine


  5. Ocean56
    Joined: Oct 5, 2009
    Posts: 128

    Ocean56
    Member
    from Michigan

    I used to read the stories and tips when I was a kid.
     
  6. tubman
    Joined: May 16, 2007
    Posts: 6,913

    tubman
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Thanks for the link; the story I remembered was in the June 1953 issue.:) I guess the old memory still works!
     
  7. 49ratfink
    Joined: Feb 8, 2004
    Posts: 18,828

    49ratfink
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    from California

    wonder what sort of computer program they used to make the illustrations....
     
  8. propwash
    Joined: Jul 25, 2005
    Posts: 3,857

    propwash
    Member
    from Las Vegas

    yep - two "must reads" for me were Tom McCahill and Gus.....I'd probably be a shoelace dipper if it weren't for those early articles and commentaries.

    dj
     
  9. Asphalt Outlaw Hero
    Joined: Dec 9, 2006
    Posts: 963

    Asphalt Outlaw Hero
    Member
    from Dixie

    Back in the seventies or maybe early eighties Old Cars Weekly did a series like this.A guy had found a large filing cabinet in a service station and would pull a clip a month and run it.
    Good Stuff.
     
  10. Thanks, Ryan, for the time travel. Gus was one of my favorite reads as a kid.
     
  11. I remember the thermostat test from Auto Shop Class.
    The tips, artwork & tone of the text makes me think of Bruce McCalls "Zany Afternoons". Very funny book.
     
  12. RodStRace
    Joined: Dec 7, 2007
    Posts: 3,927

    RodStRace
    Member

    Last edited: Jan 14, 2011
  13. novadude
    Joined: Dec 15, 2005
    Posts: 531

    novadude
    Member

    I like the steering wheel puller idea - seems like that could work in a pinch if you don't have a puller with you. Could be great for junkyarding if you don't want to haul around a regular puller.
     
  14. shmoozo
    Joined: Aug 14, 2007
    Posts: 671

    shmoozo
    Member
    from Media, PA

    I'm not going to name any names, but I think that parking brake buzzer would be a great idea for a few folks I know. Might even work well enough with just a really bright, red idiot light mounted top and center in the dash where it'll be glaringly obvious in the driver's line of sight.

    :cool:
     
  15. scottybaccus
    Joined: Mar 13, 2006
    Posts: 4,109

    scottybaccus
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  16. dustdevil
    Joined: Mar 2, 2009
    Posts: 815

    dustdevil
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    from illinois

    Cool post! I don't know what I like more, the tech tips or the illustrations. They are both cool. I'm sure a lot of people benefit from things like those posted.
     
  17. Hey! Now I have a cigarette carrier...no more crushed packs wedged in the seat crack!

    Actually I may use the steering wheel cover...the belt idea is way classier than my tennis racket grip tape....
     
  18. mrenfro
    Joined: Nov 29, 2010
    Posts: 49

    mrenfro
    Member
    from Kansas

    That was really fun to read. Now I am motivated to do some of those types of things myself, because that is the only way to get unique and one-of-a-kind things.

    Here is a picture of my nearly completed steering wheel cover I am sewing myself. I made it from $5 worth of scrap leather from Hobby Lobby and some labor.
    [​IMG]
     
  19. Thanks for posting. I learned a lot of clever fixes from the likes of Model Garage and listening to the old guys who worked on cars. In the last 40+ years, these handy hints have gotten my friends and me out of grief on the roadside out in the middle of nowhere and I still use 'em today, even on the modern stuff. :D
     
  20. Zerk
    Joined: May 26, 2005
    Posts: 1,418

    Zerk
    Member

    Always loved reading the stories and the hints.

    My favorite story was of the International truck stalled on a bank while the water was rising, loaded with valuable cargo. The butterfingered driver had dropped that long distributor shaft and couldn't retrieve it.
    Gus wrapped copper wire around a screwdriver, put the ends across the battery and using the makeshift electromagnet to fish out the shaft, slapped the truck back together and drove out of there just ahead of the flood.

    Gus was the man.
     
  21. ago
    Joined: Oct 12, 2005
    Posts: 2,199

    ago
    Member
    from pgh. pa.

    I fondly remember reading PM & PS, my dad had a stack of old mags in the attic, I spent hours up there reading even when I was a lot older. looking through the ones from WW II was very neat. PM had a lot of crafty articles on
    fabricating power tools and such from common things. Today you pick up an issue and it is all modern. Different times. I had a trying time getting rid of those old mags. Still have a hard back book some where from PM on making your own power tools. My parents were depression people and learned to do without. My dad made his own metal lathe, grinder, drill press, table saw, etc. He paid $ 35 for a 1/4" portable drill back in the 50s, that was pricey back then. I guess my fab skills came from him.


    Ago
     
  22. sophisto79
    Joined: Apr 21, 2010
    Posts: 189

    sophisto79
    Member

    Thanks for that Jay! Anyone know if Gus' stuff has ever been compiled in to a book? If not, I got another thing to start hunting for!
     
    Last edited: Jan 15, 2011
  23. stuart in mn
    Joined: Nov 22, 2007
    Posts: 2,406

    stuart in mn
    Member

  24. fordfan289
    Joined: Apr 19, 2009
    Posts: 140

    fordfan289
    Member
    from indiana

    I use to have the compiled stories in a book. But cant seem to find it Ill still keep looking.
     
  25. Some of those are pretty good, I like the Hand Brake Buzzer.
     
  26. rodl
    Joined: Jan 14, 2011
    Posts: 255

    rodl
    Member

    I know how you feel tony, I had two books I bought in the 50's, complied from articles in Modern Motor (australian car mag) each was about 1/2" thick. I suspect an ex friend may have pocketed them and a Ford postcard showing a 39 sedan fordor with 2 dogs sitting by the roadside, one says to the other 'It's no use Mac, it's a Ford!' He missed a little british book called "the V8 ford Handbook' one in a series of maintenance books from Pitmans Motorists library.I've also got alarge book called MoToR's Auto repair manual - printed in 1947 by Hearst Magazines Inc.
    I love old things - there's just something about the look & feel, i guess that's coz i'm ols too!
    RodL
     
  27. sophisto79
    Joined: Apr 21, 2010
    Posts: 189

    sophisto79
    Member

    Man, that's sensory overload, don't even know where to start! Good stuff. Thanks for those links!

    I think I may start compiling off the above links!

    I agree, old things really just feel good as opposed to staring at a phone screen or scrolling down a computer screen. That tactile feel of the pages, the musty smell, the texture of the binding and covers. Quality today just isn't the same is it folks?
     
  28. these great tips remind me of a current farmer magazine" "annual" (although not all auto releted ) all bound and sorted printed ez simple drawings lots of clever - cheap shop helpers in there .. i'll try and get the name of the magazine,,,
    lots of "why didn't i think of that ! "

    i have not seen any lately ... i AIN'T A FARMER!
    some other real farmer HAMBER MUST KNOW WHAT I'M THINKING ABOUT ....

    plowboy???
     

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