There was a time only a few generations ago, when it was much more common to fix it or make it yourself when it came to the automobile. Paying a mechanic was the very last resort when you just didn't have the specific tools, or the job required more ... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
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!
Ah yes, Gus and the Model Garage . Read it for years. Here is a link to the stories- http://www.gus-stories.org/The_Stories.htm Tom...
Thanks for the link; the story I remembered was in the June 1953 issue. I guess the old memory still works!
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
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.
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.
I remember there was a band that had a hearse for transport. Gus set up a dist. advance/retard rod for the tired engine. Good stuff! EDIT Found it! http://www.gus-stories.org/march_1967.htm
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.
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. Looks a lot like the reading I shared from a 1952 Popular Science hard cover... Here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=487897
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.
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....
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.
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.
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.
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
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!
If you want to look at the entire magazine and not just the Model Garage stories, Google Books has every Popular Science online: http://books.google.com/books?id=iigDAAAAMBAJ&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0_0#all_issues_anchor They also have Popular Mechanics: http://books.google.com/books?id=Nt...sues_r&cad=2_2&atm_aiy=1930#all_issues_anchor
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
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?
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???