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Hillbilly Engineering at Hershey...

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Jive-Bomber, Nov 29, 2010.

  1. Jive-Bomber
    Joined: Aug 21, 2001
    Posts: 3,754

    Jive-Bomber
    MODERATOR

  2. Hot Rods Ta Hell
    Joined: Apr 20, 2008
    Posts: 4,670

    Hot Rods Ta Hell
    Member

    Looks like a laced up football!. No torch or welder= crap such as pop rineted patch panels and large holes cut through firewalls via series of small holes drilled in a circle, then punched through.
    Don't knock the flat blade screwdriver; It makes an excellent chisel, prybar or starter jumper!
     
  3. KrisKustomPaint
    Joined: Apr 20, 2007
    Posts: 1,107

    KrisKustomPaint
    Member

    Hey now, unless you have a six inch hole saw that series of small holes works when you don't (but clean it up with a rotary file).
     
  4. 49ratfink
    Joined: Feb 8, 2004
    Posts: 18,829

    49ratfink
    Member
    from California

    after seeing that fender I can be confident that no matter what crazy body work comes my way I can now say "I've seen worse"....
     

  5. Hnstray
    Joined: Aug 23, 2009
    Posts: 12,355

    Hnstray
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Quincy, IL

    As my mother-in law used to say....."poor folks got poor ways".........who knows how long ago that was done and what the 'poor' fellow was up against at the time.

    Ray
     
  6. Fender surgeon stichin it up........
     
  7. onedge
    Joined: May 25, 2006
    Posts: 999

    onedge
    Member

    i love the fender repair, and would leave it. (somewhere/ i guess)
     
  8. I drove a car for 3 weeks with a broken starter, it was a manual transmission car... I just parked it on top of the parking blocks, or on a hill, and just bump started it.

    I drove a car with a broken throttle linkage ('66 Olds... if you know about the bell crank, then you know what happened) I used a wired tied to the carb linkage, through the gap left by GM hood hinges, and through the vent window with a key ring on the end... That was my throttle for about 2 weeks.

    Sometimes the money (or the $ to buy tools) just isn't there... and you still have to get to work.
     
  9. dabirdguy
    Joined: Jun 23, 2005
    Posts: 2,404

    dabirdguy
    Member Emeritus

    Give the guy a break!

    You lot all think that everyone back in the day had a Mig, a Tig, 2- 15 drawer tool chests full of tools, and an 80 HP compressor to run a bevy power tools. LOTS of guys had a hammer, a chisle or two, a socket set, some wrenches and some files. THAT's it. Tools were EXPENSIVE and labor was cheap, expecially when $.20 or less would buy a loaf of bread. My first acetlyene system cost me over $1000 in today's dollars. Back in 1950, many DEALERS did not have the tools a lot of us have in our garages.

    Repairs like this happened because it FIXED the problem and made the fender serviceable. Especially in the Depression days.

    And the fix was probably stronger than lot of guys welds (mine included!).

    Ya, it's ugly, but it SURVIVED the crusher. Lots of other repairs didn't.
     
  10. necessity is a mother! that repair is kinda cool in it's own way. probably the best bad repair i ever saw. i think i would leave if it was mine.
     
  11. Frankenfender!

    I think that he had to know someone with a torch set, everyone knows someone with one!

    And remember, all the tools in the tool box are hammers - except the screwdrivers, which are chisels and punches
     
  12. fur biscuit
    Joined: Jul 22, 2005
    Posts: 7,828

    fur biscuit
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    that ain't bailing wire, those are nails!
     
  13. 61bone
    Joined: Feb 12, 2005
    Posts: 890

    61bone
    Member

    How can you say it was a bad repair when it is still holding who knows how many years after it was done. I've seen high zoot professional repairs fail in less than a year.
     
  14. veedolpaul
    Joined: Jul 11, 2009
    Posts: 152

    veedolpaul
    Member

    The saying, now I`ve seen everything was never truer when applied to Hershey!
     
  15. LynchMOB
    Joined: Nov 29, 2010
    Posts: 77

    LynchMOB
    Member

    I kinda like the fender stitching....
    [​IMG]
     
  16. crashbox
    Joined: Dec 21, 2006
    Posts: 148

    crashbox
    Member

    Wow! Fender stitching... Do I detect a new wave of customization?
     
  17. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,861

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I sure hope not but you can bet that someone will show up with a fender laced together with wire in the spring. There used to be a Model A that was still someone's daily driver in the 70s around here that had patches screwed to the fenders in a couple of spots and painted over with a brush. That guy probably couldn't afford bondo to cover it up though. Those of us who live or grew up in farm country have seen a lot of less than stellar repair jobs on stuff.
     
  18. Only if connected to the dreaded "R" Rod word
     
  19. thepolecat
    Joined: Mar 24, 2009
    Posts: 687

    thepolecat
    Member
    1. S.F.C.C.

    I think it is cool if it was done as a last resort long ago. Style points not awarded, but ingenuity points are.
     
  20. Retro Jim
    Joined: May 27, 2007
    Posts: 3,854

    Retro Jim
    Member

    Yes I can see the "Stitch" work on a rodent car but it would be with Barbed wire ! OK enough of those POS !

    I think the guy did what he had to do to make it work . I have been there and done that like many of you have . It's NO worst that someone using a "Coat hanger" as a muffler hanger ! It works when you have no money . Not everyone had a stick welder or a torch back in those days so they made it work the best they could with no money to spend on a weld job . So how many cracked fenders have you seen repaired with another piece of metal and sheet metal screws ? That was done a lot too so who can say one is better than the other . It was some mans work truck and he needed it to do a job or farm work so who cared what it looked like as long as it held the fender together . Damn I can remember using a coat hanger to hold a rusted front fender onto the inner fender when it broke loose . You just do what you have to do to make it to work !
    I am sure there are many other things done like that back in those days to cars , houses and anything else they had to make it work the best they could because they weren't lucky enough to have the extra money to buy the right tools for the right job . Most had a hammer , the famous "BFH" , a pipe wrench and a few screwdrivers and that was it .

    Anyway I always love to see what people did and came up with to fix things back in the day ! just think , it lasted all this time too !

    Retro Jim
     
  21. wvenfield
    Joined: Nov 23, 2006
    Posts: 5,580

    wvenfield
    Member

    Yeah, not everyone has always had a welder. Back in High School I drove quite awhile with no reverse. I didn't have the $50 for a junk yard transmission.

    People sometimes do what they have to do.
     
  22. Frankenfender....that's pretty Macgyver of the lad. It's probably the absolute last way I would have thought to fix the fender. But it worked.....right? I think it's pretty darn cool.

    My wife and I were recently talking about going to Hershey for the first time next year. We'll liklely bring the kids and hit the Hershey park. I can't wait!
     
  23. 28hiboy
    Joined: Feb 2, 2007
    Posts: 403

    28hiboy
    Member
    from Milton, Fl

    Don't let the ratrodders see the laced up fender. Next thing ya know they will all be doing it! Thanks for starting a new fad Jive-Bomber.
     
  24. Chebby belair
    Joined: Apr 17, 2006
    Posts: 849

    Chebby belair
    Member
    from Australia

    The minute I saw the Frankenfender, I knew we were looking at the next R craze
     
  25. sawzall
    Joined: Jul 15, 2002
    Posts: 4,721

    sawzall
    Member

    park isnt open during the fall meet.

    but stitching the fender. ingenious!
     
  26. zibo
    Joined: Mar 17, 2002
    Posts: 2,361

    zibo
    Member
    from dago ca

    [​IMG]
    Cool roadster but holy smokes $42.5K !!
    TP
     
  27. OahuEli
    Joined: Dec 27, 2008
    Posts: 5,243

    OahuEli
    Member
    from Hawaii

    That fender would be good wall art in the shop.
     
  28. Guy working within his means.
     
  29. fryguy
    Joined: Nov 26, 2005
    Posts: 1,235

    fryguy
    Member

    That fender is the work of someone with some ingenuity, a LOT of time but not a whole lot of cash. Yet you mention that the stitch job was covered in bondo as well as to not show. Looks like some of the old dealer jobs back in the day :D


    Fryguy
     
  30. 1952henry
    Joined: Jan 8, 2006
    Posts: 1,365

    1952henry
    Member


    Go a step further. Until around 1950 in many rural areas, people didn't have electricity on their farms. Repairs were made as best as could be done. It saved the fender from completely coming apart.

    Hard telling when the repair was made, but if it was in the late 40s/early 50s, people must have had it tough if that was the main driver. It could have been a kid's school car who was happy it ran and had protection from the weather. Not like today's brats with the late model fast and furious humduhs and toyaddas zipping over to Billy's house to play video games and pop Ritalin.:D
     

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