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Technical Look out for the "Mickey Mouse" repairs of Previous Owners....

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by F-ONE, May 26, 2021.

  1. I had a customer bring in an OT Pinto around 1978, car was a '73 or so. The motor didn't sound right, we figured to look over the valve train since the valve cover was leaking. Whoa... someone neatly cut and fit an old bedspread to conform to the inside of the valve cover. The valve train sounded like angry rattlesnakes. He had a relative that was a NY state trooper, he took him back to the dealer with the car, full refund.
     
  2. Budget36
    Joined: Nov 29, 2014
    Posts: 13,174

    Budget36
    Member

    Okay, I have to profess. Early 80’s I had a Jeep J3000 PU and the clutch went out. Snapped a few bolts off the flywheel holding the pressure plate on. I worked at an Exxon station in Phoenix at the time and was doing the clutch at night when the place was closed, up on the rack I’m thinking I’m screwed. So, rolled the mechanics 120 volt buzz box over , clamped the PP the best I could to the flywheel and buzzed the piss out of it.
    Thinking back I pity the fool that had to change the clutch the next time.
    I apologize if anyone found my “fix” for broken bolts;)
     
  3. hotrodjack33
    Joined: Aug 19, 2019
    Posts: 4,131

    hotrodjack33
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Damn it! That "hinge-O-bracket" was gonna be my submission for the next "Tech Week"
     
    arkiehotrods, clem, '51 Norm and 8 others like this.
  4. moparboy440
    Joined: Sep 30, 2011
    Posts: 1,089

    moparboy440
    Member
    from Finland

  5. Ok, that connecting rod exhaust pipe hanger is just plain cool!
     
    Cutlas Fan, Dave Mc, Thor1 and 9 others like this.
  6. 56sedandelivery
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 6,695

    56sedandelivery
    Member Emeritus

    ^^^If not a little too "rat rod".^^^ I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
     
    hotrodjack33 likes this.
  7. 37 caddy
    Joined: Mar 4, 2010
    Posts: 488

    37 caddy
    Member
    from PEI Canada

    heres one i seen at the auction,kinda cool when you think about it,the other is a honda at the same auction on a different night.:confused: Resized_20190821_183215_2654.jpeg Resized_20200226_190222_854.jpeg
     
  8. speedshifter
    Joined: Mar 3, 2008
    Posts: 312

    speedshifter
    Member

    A guy drove to my shop to have me check out a repair he made to a rusted out steel brake line. He replaced the line with miniature hose clamps & apiece of rubber vacuum hose or maybe fuel hose. Wow! Greg
     
  9. Larry Will
    Joined: Apr 11, 2021
    Posts: 11

    Larry Will

    Best line i heard was " it's only temporary unless it works" from an old engineer. Unless your the original owner, who knows what you'll find.
     
    arkiehotrods, X-cpe, Thor1 and 4 others like this.
  10. blue 49
    Joined: Dec 24, 2006
    Posts: 1,820

    blue 49
    Member
    from Iowa

    I have done this. 283 rods, with bearings, for 2" pipe.

    Gary
     
    Thor1, moparboy440 and Stogy like this.
  11. F-ONE
    Joined: Mar 27, 2008
    Posts: 3,271

    F-ONE
    Member
    from Alabama

    OK...
    I don't want a pity party. On the contrary I'm in some kind of euphoric (tongue in cheek) state right now. No, it is not alcohol or substance induced. Rather...I'm just amused.
    You see I spoke today at a good man's (who if it was not for him I probably would not be here today) funeral and sung a song. I sung " What a Day That Will Be" . It's a good song you need to look it up.....

    Anyway after something so heavy today...at the moment I'm in rare form.
    My mind goes to some of the comments of this thread. I guess after such a day, it's fun to turn to silly stuff.

    The subject is...you guessed it....Bitching! yes bitching.
    I dare say, that at least 80+ percent of the conversations on the HAMB is some type of bitching. If you do not like that number guess what....You can bitch about it.

    Let me get this straight.
    So you can bitch about....
    California.
    people that bitch about California.
    people that bitch about California that have never been to California.
    Radial tires.
    Bias ply tires.
    Disk Brakes on hot rods.
    people that put disk brakes on hot rods.
    people that don't put disk brakes on hot rods.
    Drum brakes.
    people that run drum brakes
    people that don't run drum brakes
    350s
    302s
    Flatheads
    People that remove flatheads to put in 350s
    people that remove SBCs to install a flathead.
    the high cost of building a flathead
    a flathead built on the cheap
    Boring 1932 Roadsters that's not yours.
    Speedway
    People that bitch about Speedway
    people bitching about people bitching about Speedway who have never ordered anything from Speedway
    The status of the Hobby
    Homogenized Hot Rods
    What a hot rod is
    What a hot Rod is not
    1950s cars
    The Old HAMB
    The new HAMB
    the HAMB
    sellers
    buyers
    People that wont sell
    Flippers
    builders
    people that buy instead of build
    patina
    paint prices
    color choice
    wheels
    Rimz
    Gassers
    what a gasser is
    what a gasser is not
    ratrods
    1960s cars
    cry baby dolls
    Print Media
    a magazine
    people that bitch about the magazine
    people bitching about people bitching about the magazine who do not subscribe to the magazine.
    original paint
    shiny paint
    no paint
    people that talk to you about your car
    people that don't talk to you about your car
    young people
    geezers
    gold chainers
    rust
    Rustoleum
    Mechanics
    Automotive technicians
    Rod shops
    Thieves
    People that do not want to beat/kill/maim thieves over a car
    police
    DMV
    titles
    people that give advice on titles
    loud pipes
    mufflers
    T buckets
    What a T Bucket is
    What T Bucket is not
    The price of gas
    people that birch about the price of gas
    6 volts
    people that convert to 12 volt
    people that keep 6 volt
    restorers
    modifiers....
    I could go on
    and on
    and on....

    But you Can't Bitch about...
    what a previous owner has done to Your Freaking Car that you Actually own!
    Funny thing...I did not realize I was actually bitching.
     
    verno30, Fordors, mad mikey and 26 others like this.
  12. F-ONE
    Joined: Mar 27, 2008
    Posts: 3,271

    F-ONE
    Member
    from Alabama

    I knew a guy who blew a rear line on a '65 F100.
    He beat it flat with a rock.
    [​IMG]
     
  13. gene-koning
    Joined: Oct 28, 2016
    Posts: 4,044

    gene-koning
    Member

    I started wrenching on cars when I was 14. Without a doubt, I've screwed up a lot of stuff since then. By the standards set by many HAMBers, I still and screwing up a bunch of stuff. I believe we all have our own visions of what we think is a "correct" fix on some wore out junk that we can not find any replacement parts for. We fix it right by our opinion.

    I like cars with good brakes. I screwed up a lot of brake stuff before I learned some stuff. It took a few years to understand why I had to pay those huge prices for the right parts to fix some of that brake stuff. Then I got into hot rods and had to figure out how to make modern brakes work on old cars. By the number of brake issue help needed posts on this site, that still seems to be a pretty big problem, and I'm not smart enough to help.

    I like cars with good steering. I screwed up a lot of steering stuff before I figured out why I needed to but new suspension parts in order to get good steering. The learning curve involved with modified suspension and good steering is another whole big step up. I don't have any problems admitting there are several suspension systems I don't know anything about, how many of you have looked under the fenders of the new stuff? Just Wow!

    I like cars with fuel systems that don't leak fuel. It took a while to learn there are a lot of things on a fuel system that can cause a fuel leak. I've recently discovered that even modern high pressure fuel hose connected to a steel line with a flared end, and double hose clamps can still blow off with the modern high pressure fuel systems. Who knew the modern plastic lines are safer then the old steel lines?

    I like cars with an electrical system that doesn't short out and catch on fire. A few years ago the 8 year old wiring on my coupe caught on fire when I turned the wheels tightly to the left pulling out of a parking space. After the fire I discovered when the tires were turned tightly to the left, the tire was rubbing on the inner fender. That inner fender was pushing the battery hot wire up against the bottom of the battery box. After 8 years, the pinched wire finally broke through the wire insolation and shorted out. Fortunately, is was a small contained fire and was quickly extinguished with my on board fire extinguisher after the batter cable was disconnected from the battery. The wiring has been repaired, and rerouted. That area won't be a problem again.

    Someday someone is going to get my coupe and under that shiny paint, they will discover what a cobbled pile of crap it is, and I'm sure they won't have good things to say about me either. I'm OK with that, I know the car would not be here if it wasn't for the cobbling I did to it. They will just have to cobble it up to their standards. Gene
     
    Fordors, arkiehotrods, Thor1 and 9 others like this.
  14. TrailerTrashToo
    Joined: Jun 20, 2018
    Posts: 1,289

    TrailerTrashToo
    Member

    :)
     
  15. clem
    Joined: Dec 20, 2006
    Posts: 4,190

    clem
    Member

    grumpy old men, - what else have they got to do all day............?

    Sorry for your loss.
    .
     
  16. Onemansjunk
    Joined: Nov 30, 2008
    Posts: 318

    Onemansjunk
    Member
    from Modesto,CA

    iwanaflattie and Cosmo49 like this.
  17. mickeyc
    Joined: Jul 8, 2008
    Posts: 1,363

    mickeyc
    Member

    Hey! its not just the cartoon Mickey that gets some bad raps at times!
    LOL as the kids say. My work is getting better though.
     
    Thor1 likes this.
  18. mickeyc
    Joined: Jul 8, 2008
    Posts: 1,363

    mickeyc
    Member

    I tend to imagine what the next care taker of my project will
    see, think, when that person observes the work I have put into
    modifications and restorations on the car. My Dad used to tell
    me to work to a standard that you could sign your
    name on and be proud. All I can say is the person who did some of
    the mods on my coupe probably could not sign his name at all. I just
    shake my head and fix it.
     
    clem, Thor1, X-cpe and 3 others like this.
  19. banditomerc
    Joined: Dec 18, 2005
    Posts: 2,475

    banditomerc
    Member

    Close this bitch thread already...no one has a gun to our heads making us work on these old cars..jeeez

    Sent from my SM-T560NU using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
    iwanaflattie likes this.
  20. F-ONE
    Joined: Mar 27, 2008
    Posts: 3,271

    F-ONE
    Member
    from Alabama

    This is my philosophy as well.
    Last year I bought this car knowing it had trouble. I'm really glad that it was me that got it.
    Somebody that does not know these cars, somebody that was expecting easy fixes, somebody that was aged and could not do work, they would have been in a fix.
    The old car would have been a garage queen like has been for the past 30 years.

    You make a great point.

    Do work that you can sign your name too.
    ^^^ This has been my goal.
     
    arkiehotrods, Thor1 and guthriesmith like this.
  21. wheeldog57
    Joined: Dec 6, 2013
    Posts: 3,182

    wheeldog57
    Member

    20210110_142523.jpg 20210110_142510.jpg
    I got a chuckle from this
     
  22. landseaandair
    Joined: Feb 23, 2009
    Posts: 4,485

    landseaandair
    Member
    from phoenix

    Haha, reminds me of a story. Supposedly right before I started at my current job the boss sent a new kid to get a Phillips screwdriver out of the box and he came back and told him they all said Craftsman.
     
    Ford52PU, F-ONE, olscrounger and 6 others like this.
  23. nunattax
    Joined: Jan 10, 2011
    Posts: 3,052

    nunattax
    Member
    from IRELAND

    F-ONE likes this.
  24. goldmountain
    Joined: Jun 12, 2016
    Posts: 4,444

    goldmountain

    wheeldog57, alchemy, F-ONE and 2 others like this.
  25. davidvillajr
    Joined: Apr 4, 2005
    Posts: 1,165

    davidvillajr
    Member


    *Disc


    :D
     
    RICH B and F-ONE like this.
  26. F-ONE
    Joined: Mar 27, 2008
    Posts: 3,271

    F-ONE
    Member
    from Alabama

    A new gas tank, the right mounting pads and a new sender is on the way. I also ordered some other things the car needs. That's what you do. You use the right stuff to do your repairs.

    Altogether it was about $500 worth of stuff including shipping which was almost a quarter of that cost.:eek: I thought Day-um, shipping is a killer. I'm very glad those parts are available. Expensive? Yes, but now it's going to be fixed and fixed right. Also, compare similar to a later model car. It would take some real cheese to replace the same parts on a late model. It's all part of it.

    Sometimes the right parts are not available. The first option should be good parts off another car of the same year or body style. If you have no luck there, and have to use generic or something from a another make or model, a general rule is to always modify the cheapest part.
    A good example is cutting up a perfect dash to put in a used $20 dollar radio. Don't do that! Always modify the cheapest part.
     
    arkiehotrods and VANDENPLAS like this.
  27. X-cpe
    Joined: Mar 9, 2018
    Posts: 1,959

    X-cpe

    One of the toughest things to get into a high school kid's head was, "Take the extra day or two to do it right so you are not on the side of the road in the rain patching the patch so you can get home."
     
  28. Dave Mc
    Joined: Mar 8, 2011
    Posts: 2,579

    Dave Mc
    Member

    Bolt that bumper on , please . IMG_0243.JPG IMG_0244.JPG IMG_0245.JPG
     
    Budget36 and F-ONE like this.
  29. TOMMAY
    Joined: Nov 11, 2005
    Posts: 88

    TOMMAY
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from MOBILE,AL

    Why is there never enough time to do it right the first time but always enough time to do it over again ?
     
    Thor1, clem, VANDENPLAS and 1 other person like this.
  30. '51 Norm
    Joined: Dec 6, 2010
    Posts: 830

    '51 Norm
    Member
    from colorado

    I did one of those temporary repairs on an international pickup. They have left hand lug nuts on one side and I boogered up a couple of them. The parts store only had right hand studs so I ended up with three right hand lugs and two left hand lugs on one wheel.
    I kinda felt bad about it when I sold the truck but when the buyer didn't pay me I figured he didn't need to know.
     
    Nostrebor likes this.

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