Whats some of the jury rig things you have done to cars?

I did the exact same thing! I used vice grips and a hose clamp. those stupid vw gas cables always break! I did it about 3 times before i finally just started carrying an extra one in the car. I also helped a lady do that same thing when her bug was broken down and she was stuck in a parking lot. she was really amazed. sometimes i see her because shes a seller at the flee market and she still remembers even 10 years later. haha

this thread is funny, lots of good ideas when you are really stuck somewhere!

another time in my uncles 56 cameo, the cotter pin for the accelerator linkage fell out in the middle of nowhere, so we used a small keychain ring. simple, but effective because everyone has that on them.

 

I once owned a '47 Chevy Fleetmaster that had been sitting under a tree rusting away from 1967 to 1991 (it was last tagged as a trailer in 1967, the torque-tube had been unhooked and tied up with bailing wire). This car was a testimony to what a person could make go down the road "in a pinch."

The engine hadn't run since about 1960...good old Marvel Mystery Oil and a large breakover bar helped free it up. Got it running...with the same points and wires and plugs that were in it when I got it

The gas tank was shot, fuel line gone anyway...so a boat gas tank was put in the trunk, copper tube fuel line, I managed to get the original fuel pump to work...how the diapraghm wasn't cracked is anybody's guess.

I'll skip as much as possible...the main things that might get a chuckle would be the old Home&Garden magazines I used as boots in three of the tires (which had been on the car when parked in '67), the tubes actually held air...for a couple of days at a time...it's just that the tires were dry-rotted beyond any sane person's use...and there were large holes that the tubes liked to use in order to make rather large black bubbles...the magazines fixed that.

The original wiring was rotted away to nothing, soooo...snagged the wires from a boat trailer, made a fuse panel (yes, I used fuses, LoL...) from a scrap of 2x4, some staples and alligator clips...lucky it didn't catch on fire...converted it to 12 volt (I actually bought a 12v generator from a local guy), and drove the tires off of it. Literally.

I went on to win a trophy at a car show with this beast: Vehicle most in need of work. Sad thing is...it gave me less trouble than ANYTHING I've owned that was made after 1979.

I still miss that car...It ran like a champ. Started on the coldest mornings, didn't smoke, didn't use a lot of gas, and you could idle that thing down to where you could hear every cylinder firing, which amazed me considering how long it had sat unused. The day I drove it up on the guy's rollback...it coughed, sputtered, and died. He said it never would start again...I feel like I murdered Suzy the Little Blue Coupe or something...gah! Supposedly, parts of it went to several restoration/rod projects all over the country...so I feel a little better about the whole situation. I still have the radio in my closet...

I wouldn't reccommend any of the things I did except "in a pinch" to get home, or something like that. I was going through a divorce at the time, and really didn't care about my own safety...in retrospect, I guess I should have been more concerned about the other folks on the road...sometimes, a person just can't see beyond their own shitty luck though. Live and learn...

 

jury-rigged Definition

jury-rigged (-rigd&#8242
adjective
rigged for temporary or emergency use

It has nothing to do with being black.
If you are offended by "Jerry-rigged" you must be German.
Jumping out fuses with things other than fuses is a good way to catch something on fire.
But it works.

 

I had the throttle cable break on my 40 coming home from a show. I used a piece of wire that I run through a hole in the firewall and attached one end to the carb. and the other end to the steering wheel. Try using the wire for a hand throttle at the same time you and steering and shifting. Got it home ok. Oh yea it was stick shift.

 

You know what offends me? People being offended by every little damn thing--people who see offense in the most benign phrases or action. People who, if they don't immediately see something that offends them, they go out and try to find something that offends them.

On my '54 Buick, the little clips/pins that hold the throttle linkage to the carb and the shifter linkage to the arm on the trans both fell out on the road. Two little key rings through each clip's hole on the rod got me back one the road. The road trip kit I kept in the trunk had an assortment of nuts/bolts, hose clamps, and a couple of small key rings, for just such an emergency. Once they were on, I saw no need to ever replace them.

-Brad

 

Bought a 1047 Chev slantback for $15.00 in 1962 to get the motor for my 1942 coupe.

I got it running to discover one bad rear wheel cylinder. I pulled the brake line to that cylinder off and cross threaded a bolt with permatex on it into the "T" fitting. Bleed the brakes and drove home. It was a real cream puff so I decided to drive it while I pulled apart the coupe the motor was destined for.

My Mom asked me if I switched registration and I said "of course "as I took the plate off the coupe and placed on the slant back.

All went well until pulling out of the driveway one morning in a ice storm and I slid around strangely w/ only three brakes. Decided to get on with the swap. Pulled the motor and junked the slantback. Too bad it was a nice car but the coupe was more desireable.

 

i was fucking around Tbag,,i mean Tman...if you would ever take the time to pull that stick outta your ass or your lips off of Ryans dick,,,you would know that.....

,,you guys take this internet shit way to seriously...

 

,,you guys take this internet shit way to seriously...[/quote]

 

[/quote]
Is there a echo in here?

 

Fixed a blown out exhaust pipe with a soup can and two hose clamps on my freinds jeep and lasted till he sold it. 2 holes actually. On another freinds honda i fixed the distributor cap spring in the midle for the coil with a bolt and a spring from an old andersen window and lasted till he sold it.

 

I used a shoe string and a stick to tighten the selanoid onto my starter. It was supposed to be temporary but it stayed like that for 3 years. I was out of town and a couple of my Buddies had to do an exhaust repair on the car for my Girlfriend. They saw that and gave me much shit. Didn't bother me, I was proud of it.

 

My dad's choke quit working on his farm truck. He drilled a hole in the top of the air cleaner, ran some old vacuum tubing through a hole in the dash, and put some gasoline in a squirt bottle.

To fix a rip in my seat, I cut some cloth from underneith, and glued it over the rip with silicone sealant. It's hardly noticable. It's been there 2 years.

 

Had the alternator go out my the 63 Dart I drove in college, this was winter time. So every night I would hook up my dad's battery charger and run an extension cord out a basement window to where I parked. I knew I could get two starts out of that battery before I had to charge it again. Made it through the winter that way. Of course I ended up having to buy an alternator and a battery later.

 

As i went around a corner in a '67 Ford van the drag link fell off. the end had worn so much that the ball seperated from the socket. I slammed it back together and wrapped a lot of wire around it and backed off the lawn i had ended up on. I fixed it right away after that.....really!

 

Broke a push rod, about 1/2 way home from a 300 mile trip, took the hack saw to my longest screw driver , did a 1/2 ass file job on it,got me home,
broke a throttle cable , out of town ,paid some kid 10 bucks for his front brake cable on his bike

 

Ripped the rear end right out of my tunnel ram 67 convertible camaro about 28 years ago. That car did not come from the factory with J-bolts, the rear was just welded into the saddles. Oops.

Put the rear end back into the saddle while sliding the driveshaft back into the trans. Wrapped a log chain around the leaf spring and rear axle housing in both directions with a bolt and washers holding it tight and drove it home 15 miles.

Had to do some welding that night and bought some J-bolts the next day...

Had to repair the quarter panel another day...

 

Had the right tie rod on an "unmentionable" break an end off on a road in the high desert. The joint threads hadn't been put all the way in by whomever and it broke right at the bottom of the slots.
I had a pair of pliers.

Between them and some near by rocks I got it disassembled, ground the rod end and threads back into usable shape on the generator pulley and put'er back together using what threads were left in the closed part of the tube.

Got where we were going and home again without incident. Must've gotten it pretty close to proper alignment by eyeball and guess as I never had to re-do it.

 

I was at a Hot Rod Magazine show in Berea, OH circa '83/'84. I had a '37 Dodge w/ a slant 6. The motor mount sagged to the point the upper radiator hose was too short and leaked antifreeze around the upped thermostat housing. It was Sunday afternoon, the awards for the show were over and all the vendors were closed, no Sunday afternoon parts houses like today. I found the "Whack A Wreck" that was just down the aisle from where I was parked. I raided a hunk of tailpipe (correct inside diameter of my hose) that was torched thru 3/4 of the way around and a pair of heater hose clamps off another whack a wreck car. Used my pocket knife to cut my hose in 2, inserted the exhaust pipe and doubled up the heater hose clamps. Instant "hose stretcher". Made it back to central PA that way, 5 hour trip. Also on the same trip my wiper blade came off after dark on I-80, I found it laying in the middle of the road. Just as I got to it (I'm still on the side of the road) an 18 wheeler came by and ran over it. Apparently the truck smashed the splined end just enough to give it enough friction on the wiper shaft to keep it from falling off the rest of the way home. How did I ever make it past 16 years old???

 

Rigged a bracket and manual choke cable, to an automatic choke one barrel Holley, on the 62 Comet. Simply attached it to the small choke diaphragm lever with a small machine screw and loc-tite.
This was a temporary fix when the sesing line to the manifold broke.
This was only a temporary fix, and has been replaced with a rebuilt Holley, from a Falcon, with a manual choke.
Best part is, the cable and Bracket were already there!

 

Karma, my friend, good karma!

 

Probably could, but it's got a long way to go to match the Longroof od Hard Shine threads (38+ pages).

 

Bought a 41 Chevy coupe and was bound and determined to drive it the 5 miles home. No gas tank, buddy held a gas can between his legs with a hose running rubber hose to the fuel pump. No battery or wiring= same buddy had a battery on the floor between his legs also, hooked to a pair of jumper cables running thru where the windshield once was to the dist. No throttle cable=tied our shoestrings together and ran it thru the same opening where the windshield had been. No throttle return spring= found my daughters swim goggles in my truck and rigged the strap up to work. Took some coordination, but it made it home. Funniest thing was when we pulled in the yard, I floored it, and the body slid sideways, and almost rolled off the frame (no body to frame bolts) It's a wonder we didn't blow up from the batt and gas can sitting side by side....

 

holy fuck man...gotta little dain bramage? i think i got maybe 4 words outta that

 

I always think back to the guys putting the final touches on the assembly line, back in '41 when your shiny new car was about to pass final inspection and roll off the line. Ever think they imagined this scenario play out in their heads as a car rolled past?

 

Had a friend who went into the Navy right out of high school (1969). When he was coming home after tech school his older brother bought him a 55 Chevrolet 4 dr 210 wagon to drive; and was working on it to make it reliable. The front brakes were SHOT! The PO, rather than repair the front brakes (metal to metal on the shoes-drums), pulled the brake lines to the front wheel cylinders and inserted small nails to block the lines off, and reinstalled/tightened them into the wheel cylinders. NO FRONT BRAKES!!! Who knows what the muffler was originally meant for, but rather than use a muffler clamp to hold it on the exhaust pipe, it was sheet metal screwed together and held up with a coat hanger. It was actually a real nice wagon, and the proper repairs were done. But, it never got driven, it did'nt have a title or up to date plates. It sat for quite a while, I bought the 265/powerglide in it, but before I got around to pulling them, his dad had a hulk hauler come and get the car. I never got the $15.00 back I paid for the engine/trans. I should have bought the whole wagon and taken it then and there. It was Navoho Tan and White, completely stock, clean and straight. What a waste.

 

this thread is great. i think it deserves to be exhumed.

heres mine, a few years ago i got my bro an old ford fairmont sedan with the c4 trans. well, the cooler lines were leaking REALLY bad out of the fittings that went into the tranny, and there was no access to them from underneath, so i finally just pulled the carpet back and grabbed my drill and 3" holesaw from work and drilled the hole about 3/4 around. After fixing the lines i pryed the floorboard back to where it was, and covered it up with the carpet.

we bought this thing for $550, and it wasn't sticking around so i didn't feel too bad. on that same car i had used some #12 solid wire and tek-screws to hold the exhaust up. also replaced one of the windows with plexiglass (which isn't THAT bad). Im sure theres more but thats all i can think of right now.

ended up getting $400 a little over a year later in much worse condition haha

 

early 70's in a Ford Courier PU (jap box) moving from southern to northern california. I-5 at that time was a challange...100+ miles between gas stations and no parts or services around. Electric fuel pump took a dump...had yard stuff in the back as this was the last move run...duct taped lawn mower gas tank to driver's side mirror and cut a piece of garden hose from tank to carb. Had a couple of jeep cans with me so was able to fuel up every 20 miles. Had one of California's finest follow me for a LONG time, obviously looking for some kind of violation, but made it home in one piece w/ no ticket.

Those were the days

 

I have been guilty (?) of half-assing a car together so many times I have lost count. In my defense, it was pretty much always is the spirit of keeping it running long enough to finish it off.
The first time may have been a '74 Datsun pickup. That poor 4 speed was worked so hard to get every little bit out of it that one day I ripped the shifter arm clean off the transmission. I used a big 'ol hammer to drive the handle of a smaller hammer into the hole where the old shifter once bolted in. I can't even remember how long I drove it like that.

 

I drove 190 miles without a fuel pump... 70 of them with a zip-tie doing the deed.
With enough vacuum, an engine will suck fuel through a dead fuel pump. RPM = vacuum, so just kept it in the right gear at the right speed and hauled on down the highway.

The zip-tie was used to close the choke so it'd draw through only the vacuum secondaries.

-Brad

 

In the early 80's I had a buddy with a real F'ed up "G Tempest O" convertible. (For you new guys, that's a Pontiac Tempest with a GTO hood, LOL) Flat black, Keystone Classics with big n' littles, Looked like a mover but was a total pig. Well he converted the stock 326 to a 4 barrel but the throttle didn't move enough when floored to activate the 4 barrels, so he ran a piece of twine through the firewall into the cockpit that he'd pull on once he floored it. Ya got the old quadrabog noise but NO additional power. Then there was the dual exhaust on the same car. I'm not gonna use his real last name as I don't want to piss a buddy off, but his nickname was Grumpy ______ (And you know it didn't end with Jenkins.) The running joke was the "Grumpy ______ Dual Exhaust Conversion Kit" It consisted of a hacksaw for cutting off the Y pipe, 30 ft of corrugated flex pipe and 6 used coat hangers for use as exhaust hangers. Of course, the old muffler clamps would be reused. As we got older he became one of the best mechanic and auto electric guys you'd ever meet but I guess we were all young once.