the "saving your car the macgyver way" thread
09-21-2007, 02:21 PM
#16
Resistance is Futile
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When I first started driving I had an 84 GTI Rabbit, the water pump belt broke.
I remembered an old trick someone had told me which worked.
I just happened to be near a supermarket, I walked in and bought some pantyhose. Needless to say I got a strange look.
I then took my newly acquired pantyhose and wrapped it around the pulleys as tight as I could and tied them off to make a new water pump belt. This new nylon belt got home 30 miles away.
I remembered an old trick someone had told me which worked.
I just happened to be near a supermarket, I walked in and bought some pantyhose. Needless to say I got a strange look.
I then took my newly acquired pantyhose and wrapped it around the pulleys as tight as I could and tied them off to make a new water pump belt. This new nylon belt got home 30 miles away.
09-21-2007, 02:30 PM
#17
Billowing in the Wind
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Years ago I worked on a survey crew in MD. Three of us commuted about 50 miles in an old beat up Jeep Cherokee (the big ones). Coming down one side of the mountain, the rear driveshaft UJoint flew apart. The noise of the drive shaft banging off the road and the floor was frightening.
We pulled over, took off the driveshaft, switched to four wheel drive (now front wheel drive) and made it the rest of the way home.
That was after trying a MacGyver with some wire through the ujoint mounts. Yeah. That worked. NOT
We pulled over, took off the driveshaft, switched to four wheel drive (now front wheel drive) and made it the rest of the way home.
That was after trying a MacGyver with some wire through the ujoint mounts. Yeah. That worked. NOT
09-21-2007, 02:40 PM
#18
On the Radar
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I have one more I just remembered.
My father and I were in his 62 ford galaxie (406 3 deuces 4 speed) on the way to a car show.
Anyhow, we lost fuel pressure. These cars have an old fashioned mechanical fuel pump.
We pulled it off on to the side of the road and took it apart to find the the rubber diaphragm had a whole in it.
We found an orange plastic news paper bag on side of the road and used it to cover the rubber diaphragm. Put the pump back in and the car started right up.
Drove the car to the show and back home without a hitch.3
Dads are great!
My father and I were in his 62 ford galaxie (406 3 deuces 4 speed) on the way to a car show.
Anyhow, we lost fuel pressure. These cars have an old fashioned mechanical fuel pump.
We pulled it off on to the side of the road and took it apart to find the the rubber diaphragm had a whole in it.
We found an orange plastic news paper bag on side of the road and used it to cover the rubber diaphragm. Put the pump back in and the car started right up.
Drove the car to the show and back home without a hitch.3
Dads are great!
09-21-2007, 03:28 PM
#19
Nordschleife Master
Jay you are quite right, these fixes were common knowledge for the old Brit cars that used Lucas electics etc. In fact there was a commercial a while back of a Jaguar XJ120 breaking down and the driver using nylons to fix it. Very Cool - Check it Out
09-21-2007, 05:06 PM
#21
Three Wheelin'
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Memory fades but one I remember is that the foil from stick of gum will work when wrapped around a blown fuse (the old style fuses).
My Dad was an artist with bailing wire. He fixed my my bikes and go carts lawn mowers and just about anything with a little wire. He would tell me that in the old days (1940's) everybody had bailing wire with them and it saved many a long walk in from the fields. We joke about this kind of shade tree thing now but in the old days, men were proud of making something work with nothing and ashamed of spending money or paying someone to do something they should be able to take care of themselves.
Another old trick from way way back was to sneak a spitwad of wet paper under the coil wire. The car will run fine for about two miles. Of course you did this to a pretty girl's car when she was in shopping and then follow her to be a hero.
When I was first married we had a 70 Chevelle. In cold weather it wouldn't start and I had a trick of sticking a pencil in the carb to hold the choke open. I taught this to the wife. Years later, she was leaving work with a girlfriend in San Diego, the girls car wouldn't start. They got the hood open and the one thing my wife even knew to try was the pencil trick. Sure enough, that worked and after that she was 'that girl from Indiana.'
..Bruce
My Dad was an artist with bailing wire. He fixed my my bikes and go carts lawn mowers and just about anything with a little wire. He would tell me that in the old days (1940's) everybody had bailing wire with them and it saved many a long walk in from the fields. We joke about this kind of shade tree thing now but in the old days, men were proud of making something work with nothing and ashamed of spending money or paying someone to do something they should be able to take care of themselves.
Another old trick from way way back was to sneak a spitwad of wet paper under the coil wire. The car will run fine for about two miles. Of course you did this to a pretty girl's car when she was in shopping and then follow her to be a hero.
When I was first married we had a 70 Chevelle. In cold weather it wouldn't start and I had a trick of sticking a pencil in the carb to hold the choke open. I taught this to the wife. Years later, she was leaving work with a girlfriend in San Diego, the girls car wouldn't start. They got the hood open and the one thing my wife even knew to try was the pencil trick. Sure enough, that worked and after that she was 'that girl from Indiana.'
..Bruce
09-21-2007, 06:08 PM
#23
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This happen to me twice. My family and i was in this 1960's Wiliy's in colombia going up this very steep climb for 3.5 hrs so the radiator developed a hole or somthing like that. So my dad walked 2 miles to find 2 eggs. when he came back i told him all u brought were eggs and he just laughed and said you young kids dont know anything and sure enough he put it in the eggs and that lil williys never overheated again.
The other one was we were on a little road trip in two cars and all the guys in one car and all of the girls in the other and a little rock came flying and hit the radiator on a my friends E36 m3 and made a hole so we all pulled over and was trying to figure out how the hell are we going to get to the autozone or something. and a VERY smart girl was like oh just use a tampon i always use it when ever i start leaking. we were dying laughing. so we were like WTF got nothing to lose and it worked we drove 1006mi with it on until we got back home. btw the avg temp was 92deg 100%humm
The other one was we were on a little road trip in two cars and all the guys in one car and all of the girls in the other and a little rock came flying and hit the radiator on a my friends E36 m3 and made a hole so we all pulled over and was trying to figure out how the hell are we going to get to the autozone or something. and a VERY smart girl was like oh just use a tampon i always use it when ever i start leaking. we were dying laughing. so we were like WTF got nothing to lose and it worked we drove 1006mi with it on until we got back home. btw the avg temp was 92deg 100%humm
tampons...add that to the needed tools list.
09-21-2007, 07:18 PM
#26
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09-21-2007, 08:54 PM
#27
Instructor
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I have one..just not Porsche related. but instead volvo.
So last year me and a very good friend of mine left d.c. with the intention of driving down to argentina (ushuaia the end of the world).
Car was a 1979 volvo 245 Wagon with the 2.1l and a 4sp manual+od.
The car had non ventilated solid discs ...all around.
And in guatemala there is one section of the panamerican highway that is crazy steep downhill...something like losing 1km of altitude for every 5km of road...crazy stuff..
Next corner comes up..NO BRAKES pedal to the floor..no hints of breaks at all..i cut the blind corner..force 2nd in..and E brake..car comes to a stop..safely.
But we had no brakes..for the next 10 min..
What had hapend was that moisture in the brake oil had overheated and reached boiling point..boiling water created air bubbles in the lines..=no brakes.
So we let the brakes cool off..then we still had quite a few more km to make it down the mountain...so i just routed the windshield washer hoses..to spray on each caliper..one for each side..worked like a charm...every 1-2 min run the water cooled brakes..steam everywhere..
So last year me and a very good friend of mine left d.c. with the intention of driving down to argentina (ushuaia the end of the world).
Car was a 1979 volvo 245 Wagon with the 2.1l and a 4sp manual+od.
The car had non ventilated solid discs ...all around.
And in guatemala there is one section of the panamerican highway that is crazy steep downhill...something like losing 1km of altitude for every 5km of road...crazy stuff..
Next corner comes up..NO BRAKES pedal to the floor..no hints of breaks at all..i cut the blind corner..force 2nd in..and E brake..car comes to a stop..safely.
But we had no brakes..for the next 10 min..
What had hapend was that moisture in the brake oil had overheated and reached boiling point..boiling water created air bubbles in the lines..=no brakes.
So we let the brakes cool off..then we still had quite a few more km to make it down the mountain...so i just routed the windshield washer hoses..to spray on each caliper..one for each side..worked like a charm...every 1-2 min run the water cooled brakes..steam everywhere..
09-22-2007, 12:07 AM
#29
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I have one..just not Porsche related. but instead volvo.
So last year me and a very good friend of mine left d.c. with the intention of driving down to argentina (ushuaia the end of the world).
Car was a 1979 volvo 245 Wagon with the 2.1l and a 4sp manual+od.
The car had non ventilated solid discs ...all around.
And in guatemala there is one section of the panamerican highway that is crazy steep downhill...something like losing 1km of altitude for every 5km of road...crazy stuff..
Next corner comes up..NO BRAKES pedal to the floor..no hints of breaks at all..i cut the blind corner..force 2nd in..and E brake..car comes to a stop..safely.
But we had no brakes..for the next 10 min..
What had hapend was that moisture in the brake oil had overheated and reached boiling point..boiling water created air bubbles in the lines..=no brakes.
So we let the brakes cool off..then we still had quite a few more km to make it down the mountain...so i just routed the windshield washer hoses..to spray on each caliper..one for each side..worked like a charm...every 1-2 min run the water cooled brakes..steam everywhere..
So last year me and a very good friend of mine left d.c. with the intention of driving down to argentina (ushuaia the end of the world).
Car was a 1979 volvo 245 Wagon with the 2.1l and a 4sp manual+od.
The car had non ventilated solid discs ...all around.
And in guatemala there is one section of the panamerican highway that is crazy steep downhill...something like losing 1km of altitude for every 5km of road...crazy stuff..
Next corner comes up..NO BRAKES pedal to the floor..no hints of breaks at all..i cut the blind corner..force 2nd in..and E brake..car comes to a stop..safely.
But we had no brakes..for the next 10 min..
What had hapend was that moisture in the brake oil had overheated and reached boiling point..boiling water created air bubbles in the lines..=no brakes.
So we let the brakes cool off..then we still had quite a few more km to make it down the mountain...so i just routed the windshield washer hoses..to spray on each caliper..one for each side..worked like a charm...every 1-2 min run the water cooled brakes..steam everywhere..
Put me in the same situation, I think I'd have crapped my pants, said a quick prayer and plunged to a horrible death.
09-22-2007, 08:37 PM
#30
I was taveling cross country with some buddies in a Ford E100 van and in Beltway traffic it began to everheat (in August). Pull over, let it cool down a bit and we see a hole about mid-way down on the radiator spewing coolant. We had camping eqipment and some tools and oddly enough, some plumbing solder. No propane torch though. I used the Coleman camp stove to heat up a screwdriver tip to red hot and used it as a soldering iron. After draining the coolant down below the leak I melted some solder in there with the hot screwdriver. We got water from a nearby drainage ditch and the repair held up until we could get to a rad repair shop the next day...