Degsy Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Done so many bodges with either baler twine or fencing wire it would take a week to list them.......if I could only remember:D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alixcompo Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 (edited) That same Anglia van (which I must have sold to some poor unsuspecting idiot) finally had a rattling big end. This was it I had to sell it..... So I popped the engine out fully intending to split the con rods and fit some kitchen foil under the big end shells..... But the last owner had beaten me to it. B******d So I had to fork out for a replacement set... NEW PARTS. that was about 15 quid then. Back driving it the same day. Edited February 20, 2014 by alixcompo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utt61 Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Back in the early 80s I was driving a borrowed Subaru of some kind (the unexciting estate car kind) when the engine-to-body earth strap broke with the result that the throttle cable became hot enough to melt the plastic sheath. Eventually the throttle became so stiff I realised that something was wrong, but after I'd stopped to investigate and it cooled it had seized completely. I drove about 40 miles back to return the car with two long bootlaces joined together tied to the lever on the carb at one end, out through the (slightly) open bonnet on the nearside, in through the open passenger side window, and the free end was then tied loosely to the indicator stalk so I could find it after gear changes. It worked quite well but it was a long (and cold) 40 miles! The youngsters of today with modern vehicles really don't know the pioneering fun they're missing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Done so many bodges with either baler twine or fencing wire it would take a week to list them.......if I could only remember:D. I still keep a load of baler twine and some fencing wire in all the vehicles. :-D Plus cable ties, the modern altenative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatchFuzee Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Cable ties saved the day on 2 occasions in my early Land Rover 90. 1. A number of them made a fan belt. Although it was only needed for the 4 miles to home, I'm sure that it would have lasted many more miles. 2. When the accelerator cable broke a cable tie held the throttle lever giving enough revs for a slow (10 miles) journey home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Thae's where the Old Fashioned Baler twine would have been more use! You tie a bit to the throttle spring and run it out the bonnet and in the driver's window! Full power Scottie! :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Degsy Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Thae's where the Old Fashioned Baler twine would have been more use! You tie a bit to the throttle spring and run it out the bonnet and in the driver's window! Full power Scottie! :-D Done that on an old 90 I used to have but you need very hard hands:-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Degsy Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 I still keep a load of baler twine and some fencing wire in all the vehicles. :-D Plus cable ties, the modern altenative. Cable ties are OK but not much good on exhausts;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferrettkitt Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 The worst buy that I had was a Land rover or should that be a rust rover the front lower shock absorbers were held in place with three inch nails. I must have been blind when I buying it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hair Bear Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Where do I start? Volvo 343 with a broken fuel pump. Take out the panel in the boot that covers the tank sender. Cut the tyre adaptor off a 12v compressor and attach the compressor to the breather pipe connector on the fuel tank. Apply a little pressure to the fuel tank, drive 10 miles home. Peugeot 305 failed alternator. Borrowed a battery but it had the wrong terminals. Drove from Somerset to Hampshire with the battery on the passenger floor and jump leads running out the window. Escort Mk2 broken rotor arm. On these the contact in the rotor cap was fixed and the rotor arm had a sort of sprung arm on top. The top came off mine so I fashioned a replacement with the old style ringpull from a "soft drinks" can, bound in place with a bit of thin wire. 15 miles no problem. Tarpan broken throttle cable. Cable snapped at carb end. Fed the remains of the cable through a long thin split pin and twisted tight, then put split pin in the screw clamp for the cable. Second time it happened no split pin so resorted to using the bonnet release cable - remembering not to shut the bonnet tight 'till you've refitted the cable (bu66er!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosrec Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 driving home late one night after having a drink many many years ago in a mark one cortina spluttered to halt i diagnosed fuel blockage. Ended up taking top of carb and losing needle valve from above float crawling about on hands and knees looking for it. Mate chap who work for us pulled up picked me up and told me to get back in car and sit still. what seemed like seconds later he told me to get off home. Monday morning he told me he had chopped the end of a ball point pen and used it as a needle valve and pour a gallon of petrol in the tank. Cortina was works runabout we used it like that till it was scrapped years later. we called this guy John Gudenuff have many stories to tell of him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Cable ties are OK but not much good on exhausts;) No for that I split a tin can down it's length, then smear plenty of repair paste in and secure with a couple of Jubille clips! I had an old Montego that went through a mumber of MOTs fixed like that. It is after all a metal to metal repair! :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 I repaired a few exhausts by wrapping some sheet metal around it, aluminium tape or put a tube in/around it. The tube could be a bicycle pump, length of pipe or even a deodarant can. Wanted to do that again a year ago but my brother found a brand new exhaust online for small money, about 50-60 euro. So I abought it and avoided a lot of hassle and swearing.... On my mopeds I used mainly metal wire and duck tape kinda stuff. I once had the throttle cable broken at the grip so I wrapped the end around my sprak plug tool and rode like that for weeks...just pull to rev up.... Aaaahhh those bad old days..... (Ok, still improvised when the need arises.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pc1959 Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 About time this thread was bumped, lots of new members must have a story, meanwhile: Not so much a get you home fix, more like a get me to Beltring one....:sweat: Lot of smoke and fumes said something wrong with the battery connections. The culprit..yes, I know..:rolleyes: [ATTACH=CONFIG]48354[/ATTACH] Bit of spark erosion had taken place..:shake: [ATTACH=CONFIG]48355[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]48356[/ATTACH] Lots of thinking came up with this plan..:idea: First cut this shape from an ally can [ATTACH=CONFIG]48360[/ATTACH] Make a little tag to hold a bit of wire, this tag was not robust enough, second go was bigger.. [ATTACH=CONFIG]48357[/ATTACH] Roll ally round the perfect terminal on another battery, check + or -, bind with wire and secure end.. [ATTACH=CONFIG]48358[/ATTACH] Carefully remove mold [ATTACH=CONFIG]48359[/ATTACH] Place over carefully cleaned damaged post, cut a notch in the post if needed to allow the lead to flow down inside the mold.. [ATTACH=CONFIG]48362[/ATTACH] Prepare a crucible.. [ATTACH=CONFIG]48361[/ATTACH] Use any available heat source to melt some lead, this can be obtained by melting a couple of wheel weights or similar, but I happened to have some of my dads solder sticks in the shed (circa 1965 ish) do this well away from batteries for obvious reasons!! [ATTACH=CONFIG]48363[/ATTACH] Quickly pour into mold, blurry pic to indicate speed... [ATTACH=CONFIG]48364[/ATTACH] Remove mold, have a looky, not bad for a first try.. cut more off post and warm it somehow next time. [ATTACH=CONFIG]48365[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]48367[/ATTACH] Cut blob off top... [ATTACH=CONFIG]48369[/ATTACH] Fit new link bought at Beltring a couple of years ago especially to prevent this problem from occurring :red: :embarrassed:..all done in well under an hour, took longer to post this on here. [ATTACH=CONFIG]48370[/ATTACH] Go to Beltring..:drive: Amazing!! I was reading this thread from the begining (which seems to have just been bumped) when I should have been fixing a battery terminal that has gone the same way on my Matador. I was going to file it round and wrap it in a bit of lead sheet but smelting some lead on the gas cooker is a much better idea. I'll be back later to confess to replacing one rear spring on my 2.8 Capri with a block of wood! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alixcompo Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 A repair for a broken motorcycle throttle cable used to be fit the longest bit of what remained of the cable onto the carb, cut down the 'outer' and tie the other (broken) end into the front brake lever. Remembering to disconect the brake cable first of course. This worked very well and on more than one occasion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DINGODOUG Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 One of my favourites is bean tin enginnering. I had an old Montego, actually a reliable one. The end of the twin down pipe to the exhaust went a day before the MOT was due. I got an old bean tin split it wrapped it round and smeared plenty of gun gum round it and Jubille clips. When I got it to the MOT I explained and said I was really there to find out what it would fail on. to my suprise it pased. As the inspector said, it was a metal to metal repair and didn't leack. so for the next 4 years the pre MOT consisted of 'change the bean tin'. It has worked many times since. You do need a steel tin though. I had often heard that an old pair of tights made a good emergency fan belt and got a chance to prove it one night when out with a girlfriend and the belt on my old Rover 2000 broke. By the time she had taken off her tights fixing the car was pushed to the back of my mind and it was some time later that I tied the tights round the pulleys and it got us home ! She started wearing trousers after that so I told her that bras work as well but she didn't believe me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.303fan Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 lost the land-rover key on the beach, picked the doorlock, unscrewed the dash and then had a security guard knock on my window... are you stealing that land rover?, i told them no one in there right mind would steal that thing. he laughed and went away.the earth switch i bypassed with a 10mm bolt that i screwed in , i made a bodge with a spade fuse to connect the ignition wires and fired the starter motor with the other wire. worn diesel linkage i fixed with a hairband, worn petrol linkage cable got fixed with a wire from the carb through the vent flap and i pulled to accelerate. extremely worn contact set, i used a file to flatten the surface and it went, same as the rotor metal came loose, i used stone adhesive to fix it. no lights at the rear of the vehicle... i got a trailer board as i had juice on the plug at the rear, i made it so that the cable for the tow hitch plug had the beginnings in the engine bay. faulty doorlock, rope to secure it to a bracket at the bulkhead, 2.5 diesel solenoid went bust, removed the internal and started straight up. i was three hours away from home when the thermostat housing gasket failed. i walked a mile to a diner and got a bar coaster, used that to make a gasket and away i went. i don't know how long it will last, but 3 years ain't bad so far. i had 600kg concrete tiles in the back of the 109, the rear spring hanger broke from the outrigger. jacked the vehicle up and got it so the spring end fitted in the hole it left, got the job done and a day later it got fixed, the day after that we did a run to fetch parts from Brighton what proofed to be 28,5 hours on the road, driving from Heemskerk and had 3 cans of petrol with us as support. for me, running crappy trucks is a way of life. field repairs are needed to keep my brain in shape. cheers, Arjan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 I was taught to make emergency gaskets from unglazed brown paper, often from envelopes. :-D The art of tapping around the edge of the casting to cut the paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Amazing!! I was reading this thread from the begining (which seems to have just been bumped) when I should have been fixing a battery terminal that has gone the same way on my Matador. I was going to file it round and wrap it in a bit of lead sheet but smelting some lead on the gas cooker is a much better idea. Better to do it outside on a gas ring. The fumes can be very nasty, also make sure it's all completly dry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alixcompo Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 lost the land-rover key on the beach, picked the doorlock, unscrewed the dash and then had a security guard knock on my window... are you stealing that land rover?, i told them no one in there right mind would steal that thing. he laughed and went away.the earth switch i bypassed with a 10mm bolt that i screwed in ,i made a bodge with a spade fuse to connect the ignition wires and fired the starter motor with the other wire. worn diesel linkage i fixed with a hairband, worn petrol linkage cable got fixed with a wire from the carb through the vent flap and i pulled to accelerate. extremely worn contact set, i used a file to flatten the surface and it went, same as the rotor metal came loose, i used stone adhesive to fix it. no lights at the rear of the vehicle... i got a trailer board as i had juice on the plug at the rear, i made it so that the cable for the tow hitch plug had the beginnings in the engine bay. faulty doorlock, rope to secure it to a bracket at the bulkhead, 2.5 diesel solenoid went bust, removed the internal and started straight up. i was three hours away from home when the thermostat housing gasket failed. i walked a mile to a diner and got a bar coaster, used that to make a gasket and away i went. i don't know how long it will last, but 3 years ain't bad so far. i had 600kg concrete tiles in the back of the 109, the rear spring hanger broke from the outrigger. jacked the vehicle up and got it so the spring end fitted in the hole it left, got the job done and a day later it got fixed, the day after that we did a run to fetch parts from Brighton what proofed to be 28,5 hours on the road, driving from Heemskerk and had 3 cans of petrol with us as support. for me, running crappy trucks is a way of life. field repairs are needed to keep my brain in shape. cheers, Arjan I think I may have bought several of you previous vehicles.... Lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.303fan Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 impossible alixcompo, i still own them , the ones i don't have anymore got used for bits. my wife, my dad and me got 9 land-rovers and a few its spare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferrettkitt Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 (edited) A metal to metal repair of the silencer on my recently MOT'd RB44. Gunwash can that sprung a leak donated itself to the repair. [ATTACH=CONFIG]88138[/ATTACH] Its a temporary fix I have a new silencer Edited March 5, 2014 by ferrettkitt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiffy_massive Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 As a VM working on Cheiftain tanks in Germany we always used to carry good old 10 Pfenning coins in our toolboxes as they were great for hyd pipe repairs. I got home after many an exercise by gas welding/soldering 10 Pfg coins onto hyd pipe unions. Simple took the union off, remove the broken pipe (usually had a hole worn in it after rubbing itself to destruction) solder a coin inside the union and refit once it had cooled down. The system was then closed again even if we had a lack hydraulics, it was after all all about getting home in time for the weekend. Brakes pipes were a real issue, but then again trying to stop a tank with the sh11ty brakes they were fitted with was not easy anyway, so taking part of the system away by blocking the lines made little difference, you could always crank the handbrake on in an emergency! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.303fan Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 land rover series 3 doorlock is "past it's best" i tied the door shut with rope to not fall out. maybe next week i get a chance to fix it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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