the "saving your car the macgyver way" thread
09-24-2007, 02:15 PM
#31
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Wow guys, nothing near as trick here...
But many moon ago when I was dating an older girl who had her liscense and even an 80s t-bird, her exhaust tore the mounts after *someone* said it would be a good idea to jump this hill. The muffler is dragging and shes is now freaking out. Being the trusty boyscout that I was, tor apart one of her coat hangars and made a sling there on the side of the road... She traded it in that way many years later.
Similar thing at the track when my exhaust melted the hanger rubber things. Funny part is I'm running around the paddock looking for JUST a friggin coat hanger, and this other guy trying to help me out is bent on finding another rubber jobbie!
Can't go wrong with a good pair of pliers and some good wire in the emergency kit!
But many moon ago when I was dating an older girl who had her liscense and even an 80s t-bird, her exhaust tore the mounts after *someone* said it would be a good idea to jump this hill. The muffler is dragging and shes is now freaking out. Being the trusty boyscout that I was, tor apart one of her coat hangars and made a sling there on the side of the road... She traded it in that way many years later.
Similar thing at the track when my exhaust melted the hanger rubber things. Funny part is I'm running around the paddock looking for JUST a friggin coat hanger, and this other guy trying to help me out is bent on finding another rubber jobbie!
Can't go wrong with a good pair of pliers and some good wire in the emergency kit!
09-24-2007, 02:22 PM
#32
My friend Seth and I were going to Mississippi State, when his k5 blazer started smoking under the hood. We pulled over and popped the hood and there was a small fire from oil on the header... not good. Having no fire extinguisher, we thought fast and I ran back and grabbed what we had. I shook the can of Root Beer and got that sucker out quick... gotta love A&W!
09-24-2007, 05:42 PM
#34
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I heard for off road race trucks when the radiator gets a hole in one of the tubes you can take needle nose pliers and bend the broken tube shut and it works well from what I hear
09-24-2007, 08:55 PM
#36
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I was at the track Wednesday and my cycling valve died. The waste gate wouldn't open, it would boost, then the go into over-boost protection. I was able to "MacGuyver" a fix by buying some vacuum hose and a plastic universal reducer nipple from NAPA.
I went from the banjo bolt straight to the waste gate with the nipple, then put a small hole in the nipple to "bleed" off excess boost pressure to retard the opening of the wastegate.
It worked pretty well, but only gave me about 3/4 throttle.
I've also held up the exhaust with a string of hose clamps at the track.
Here are some non porsche fixes:
Fiat spider: put out oil fire with snow in the winter; "rebuilt" a heater valve when the rubber diaphram burst at a friend's house with a piece of a stolen stop sign (cut a flat piece of the sign, drilled some holes in it, and bolted it where the rubber actuator went).
Volvo 240 wagon: on a trip, the alternator died, I was able to scrounge up a battery (after mine went dead) but had no real tools, so I placed the ne battery in the back seat and ran jumper cables out the window, wrapped around the roof rack, across the windshield, then under the hood where I clipped them onto the 1st battery's terminals.
'69 Chevy pickup: this was a "three on the tree" (3 speed manual with a shift lever on the steering column, for the young fellas), and the shift linkage was so worn out, when you stepped on the clutch, gravity would pull the linkages down, letting two gears simultaneously engage in the transmission - rendering it completely imobile. The first time this happened, it took a little while to figure out, but I managed to "fix" it with a series of rubber bands hooked on the linkage parts and the master cylinder to apply a gentle upward pressure. It worked great! So well, in fact, that I kept and handful of rubber bands in the car and replaced them when the broke for about 2 years.
I also had a rear brake drum cylinder leak on this truck - the easy solution was to hammer about 4 inches of the steel brake line flat thereby pinching it off.
Oh yeah, I also chopped the roof off of a BMW 320i to make it into a convertible...
I went from the banjo bolt straight to the waste gate with the nipple, then put a small hole in the nipple to "bleed" off excess boost pressure to retard the opening of the wastegate.
It worked pretty well, but only gave me about 3/4 throttle.
I've also held up the exhaust with a string of hose clamps at the track.
Here are some non porsche fixes:
Fiat spider: put out oil fire with snow in the winter; "rebuilt" a heater valve when the rubber diaphram burst at a friend's house with a piece of a stolen stop sign (cut a flat piece of the sign, drilled some holes in it, and bolted it where the rubber actuator went).
Volvo 240 wagon: on a trip, the alternator died, I was able to scrounge up a battery (after mine went dead) but had no real tools, so I placed the ne battery in the back seat and ran jumper cables out the window, wrapped around the roof rack, across the windshield, then under the hood where I clipped them onto the 1st battery's terminals.
'69 Chevy pickup: this was a "three on the tree" (3 speed manual with a shift lever on the steering column, for the young fellas), and the shift linkage was so worn out, when you stepped on the clutch, gravity would pull the linkages down, letting two gears simultaneously engage in the transmission - rendering it completely imobile. The first time this happened, it took a little while to figure out, but I managed to "fix" it with a series of rubber bands hooked on the linkage parts and the master cylinder to apply a gentle upward pressure. It worked great! So well, in fact, that I kept and handful of rubber bands in the car and replaced them when the broke for about 2 years.
I also had a rear brake drum cylinder leak on this truck - the easy solution was to hammer about 4 inches of the steel brake line flat thereby pinching it off.
Oh yeah, I also chopped the roof off of a BMW 320i to make it into a convertible...
09-25-2007, 03:03 AM
#37
Drifting
on my first car I got a short in the lighting circuit, while driving on a mountain roadtrip. My friends and I could not trace the short, so brought other switched power sources in on parallel. Overpowerd the short and was able to keep going. Had to push start as the battery would drain off in about 2 hours each time. Stupid but functional.
09-25-2007, 03:04 PM
#38
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At the 944fest, my S2 blew out the coolant line coming out of the throttle body - the metal fitting and everything. nine-44 (Doc Boost, Andy) took a ratchet (16mm, I believe) and threaded the two ends together, bypassing the throttle body. I later JB welded the fitting back in and reversed the emergency procedure.
09-25-2007, 03:26 PM
#39
Cast Iron Man
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Well, fine. I drove the right wheels onto a curb to give me some clearance underneath, and grabbed my socket set. First of all the exhaust was nuclear frickin' hot, I kept burning my hands (and melting my disposable latex gloves). Secondly I didn't have any replacement bolts. Third I didn't have a replacement gasket.
For bolts, I scoured the car and removed them from spots that looked able to withstand a missing bolt (I think I only needed three). For a gasket I pressed a piece of paper against the end of the pipe, letting the grime form a stencil, cut it out with my trusty Swiss Army Knife, then used it as a template to make a gasket out of a scrap bit of cardboard (from a small box containing the 12v spare tire air compressor I bought before leaving home). I put it all together and started up again.
The whole way to L.A. I kept expecting to smell the cardboard gasket burning, but by some miracle it didn't burn. Taking it to a Porsche mechanic for servicing, he said it was singed like hell but hadn't actually burned -- which was lucky, because I also have an oil leak that drips onto the exhaust pipe.
For bolts, I scoured the car and removed them from spots that looked able to withstand a missing bolt (I think I only needed three). For a gasket I pressed a piece of paper against the end of the pipe, letting the grime form a stencil, cut it out with my trusty Swiss Army Knife, then used it as a template to make a gasket out of a scrap bit of cardboard (from a small box containing the 12v spare tire air compressor I bought before leaving home). I put it all together and started up again.
The whole way to L.A. I kept expecting to smell the cardboard gasket burning, but by some miracle it didn't burn. Taking it to a Porsche mechanic for servicing, he said it was singed like hell but hadn't actually burned -- which was lucky, because I also have an oil leak that drips onto the exhaust pipe.
09-25-2007, 09:17 PM
#41
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I don't know if this story applies but... I was driving on a backroad with a buddy (fast lol) came around a corner and a truck was in the middle of the road, so i swerved to the right around the truck then back to the left, by the time i swerved back to the left my right rear tire was in the ditch. Now sliding sideways with the back of the car in the ditch and front on the road the right rear hit a stump. The car jumped back on the road a skidded to a stop. Sitting there scared as **** we went out to check, sure enough the entire rear of the car was pushed over 7 inches to the left pushing the left rear tire out from the fender a good 4 inches, The right tire was laying in the ditch 30 feet behind us, it ripped off from the axle and pushed the spindle assmebly into the trunk. We check for leaking gas and found none, had a few smokes, threw the tire in the back started her back up and drove back home with 3 tires 15km away. SERIOUSLY! it was freakin hilarious
09-26-2007, 02:49 AM
#44
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On an extremely cold night (-8*) my door lock decided to seize up while at a chipotle, making me unable to close the drivers side door to drive home. Tried heating the lock with a lighter and spraying in de-icer, didnt work. Eventually I took off my sun roof, rolled the window down, and secured the door between the window and body with my belt and shoelaces. Driving 5 minutes in those temps with the sunroof off and the window down was no fun.
09-26-2007, 01:15 PM
#45
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this isnt a 944 but will a super beetle be close to a Pcar?? I know not really...
The carb on this car had a blocked line in it and we kept blowing fuel pumps and didn't know why. we blew a fuel pump on a freeway near Downtown Los Angeles. We pulled over to the side and I noticed that a tiny trickle of fuel still flowed from the pump. I just shoved the hose into the carburator and held it in place with a little wire. it trickled just enough fuel for us to get it home and fix it.
on my wife's toyota, the exhaust system rusted off, not a CA car, it was from the east coast, and it ran out of power. I guess the Toyotas need backpressure to run properly. I found a beer can on the side of the road and reconnected the two pipes with it as a collar. I held it together with scrap wire I also found on the side of the road( LA roads are littered with 'tools') and got the car quiet and running. Replaced the rusted pipes the next day.
I lost the brakes on my '62 Chevy Nova right behind a cop in Montebello, CA. I avoided hitting him and made a quick right turn. I pulled the handbrake and it broke, I used the sidewalk/curb to slow me down and got it stopped. I had a set of vice grips in the trunk so I was able to bend the brake line on the from brake drum ( the brake cylinder in the drum fell apart) and I pinched it closed and locked the vice grips on it to get me home. Sold the car the next day. (It was a rust bucket)
My 914 (A P-CAR!!) had a sigle webber kit and the rubber connectors had melted off by the fuel. major vacuum leaks. I used electrical tape to hold everything together until I was able to get to the parts store for a new part, 30 miles away. I was supposed to have my wife (girlfried at the time) home by 2 AM, we didn't get home until about 10 AM. Her mom was a bit upset but what can we do, no cell phones at the time and I wasn't gonna walk the east LA area at night with her to get to a phone. Fixed the car on the spot and got her home safely BTW.
The carb on this car had a blocked line in it and we kept blowing fuel pumps and didn't know why. we blew a fuel pump on a freeway near Downtown Los Angeles. We pulled over to the side and I noticed that a tiny trickle of fuel still flowed from the pump. I just shoved the hose into the carburator and held it in place with a little wire. it trickled just enough fuel for us to get it home and fix it.
on my wife's toyota, the exhaust system rusted off, not a CA car, it was from the east coast, and it ran out of power. I guess the Toyotas need backpressure to run properly. I found a beer can on the side of the road and reconnected the two pipes with it as a collar. I held it together with scrap wire I also found on the side of the road( LA roads are littered with 'tools') and got the car quiet and running. Replaced the rusted pipes the next day.
I lost the brakes on my '62 Chevy Nova right behind a cop in Montebello, CA. I avoided hitting him and made a quick right turn. I pulled the handbrake and it broke, I used the sidewalk/curb to slow me down and got it stopped. I had a set of vice grips in the trunk so I was able to bend the brake line on the from brake drum ( the brake cylinder in the drum fell apart) and I pinched it closed and locked the vice grips on it to get me home. Sold the car the next day. (It was a rust bucket)
My 914 (A P-CAR!!) had a sigle webber kit and the rubber connectors had melted off by the fuel. major vacuum leaks. I used electrical tape to hold everything together until I was able to get to the parts store for a new part, 30 miles away. I was supposed to have my wife (girlfried at the time) home by 2 AM, we didn't get home until about 10 AM. Her mom was a bit upset but what can we do, no cell phones at the time and I wasn't gonna walk the east LA area at night with her to get to a phone. Fixed the car on the spot and got her home safely BTW.