Ghetto Tech
04-15-2004, 01:37 PM
#31
Chronic Tool Dropper
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The address of the Ford Truck Enthusiasts webserver with the garage info.
Look for the things never to do thread and you'll be on your way.
http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/fo...?s=&forumid=20
Enjoy!
Look for the things never to do thread and you'll be on your way.
http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/fo...?s=&forumid=20
Enjoy!
04-18-2004, 02:22 PM
#32
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Originally posted by Parnelli Joneser
The throttle cable on a '76 Gold Wing has a little manufactured on **** dealie that hooks over and rests in a slot on the rotating piece by one's hand. Two cables with these work in a push-me pull-you relationship with the carbs to open/close the works. It was the Sunday before Labor Day and we're in BF Utah and I loose all power, I twist a couple times and end up coasting to the shoulder with the engine idling like it's perfect. It took a while to establish that one of the cable ends had busted off and the cable pulled into the sleeve and caught before I realized the situation.
....
He asked us if we'd like to stay for chicken with kind of a smirk and didn't press when we begged off because we'd lost so much time already, but he did finally take a $20 when I promised to get a new cable on it as soon as I got home.
I did get a cable and put it in with the tools for a few years. It's still on the bike now, and that was going on ten years ago. It was a memorable day that my girlfriend and I laughed about for years afterward.
The throttle cable on a '76 Gold Wing has a little manufactured on **** dealie that hooks over and rests in a slot on the rotating piece by one's hand. Two cables with these work in a push-me pull-you relationship with the carbs to open/close the works. It was the Sunday before Labor Day and we're in BF Utah and I loose all power, I twist a couple times and end up coasting to the shoulder with the engine idling like it's perfect. It took a while to establish that one of the cable ends had busted off and the cable pulled into the sleeve and caught before I realized the situation.
....
He asked us if we'd like to stay for chicken with kind of a smirk and didn't press when we begged off because we'd lost so much time already, but he did finally take a $20 when I promised to get a new cable on it as soon as I got home.
I did get a cable and put it in with the tools for a few years. It's still on the bike now, and that was going on ten years ago. It was a memorable day that my girlfriend and I laughed about for years afterward.
BTW nice avatar... I had a friend over and we were watching the original "Gone in 60 seconds" DVD that I just received. Parnelli Jones was in the flick, and he had one of those "comb over the chrome" hairdos.... we were laughing about that, and I recalled that a guy I used to work with in the early 90's had a 'do like that, held together with hairspray. Funniest damn thing.... we were opening a rollup door at work and the wind whipped in and lifted this big, cup-shaped flap of hair up... looked like a big radar dish on his head. I guess he felt the chill on his scalp, because his eyes looked like saucers, he clamped it back down with his hands and RAN for the bathroom... One of my other co-workers and I spent the next 15 minutes helplessly doubled over laughing... Took the guy a good 3-4 weeks to forgive us, as we were still laughing when he came back and we started howling again when we smelled the hairspray... We kind of felt bad about it but just couldn't help ourselves.
Originally posted by Nicole
Well, the engine block of my Renault Fuego had cracked. Over time, more and more coolant sprayed out of the engine while I was driving, until it got really scary. The master technician of my Renault dealer told me to try putting paprika powder (yep, the spice from the kitchen) into the coolant - he said it would get very thick and sticky when it would be pressed out of the block.
Well, the engine block of my Renault Fuego had cracked. Over time, more and more coolant sprayed out of the engine while I was driving, until it got really scary. The master technician of my Renault dealer told me to try putting paprika powder (yep, the spice from the kitchen) into the coolant - he said it would get very thick and sticky when it would be pressed out of the block.
Originally posted by Nathan Valles
OK, Here are 2 of my dad's fixes.
Lost a fanbelt while driving cross country. Of course it's sunday evening and nobody is open. Goes into the local grocery store and buys . . . . . Pantyhose! He wraps it around the pulleys where the fanbelt went, ties it tight, cuts off the ends and away he goes. Says it lasted about an hour so then he used the other leg and it lasted till he got home.
Another time he hit a HUGE bump and bottomed the car out. It put a small crack in the back of his gas tank. Runs into the store and gets a small box of Tide Detergent, a pie pan and a butter knife. IT seems that when you mix gasoline (slowly dripping from the crack) and Tide together you end up with a plastic mixture. Applied the mix to the crack and it sealed it up. Said he drove around that way until he sold the car.
Well, that's what he said anyway.
OK, Here are 2 of my dad's fixes.
Lost a fanbelt while driving cross country. Of course it's sunday evening and nobody is open. Goes into the local grocery store and buys . . . . . Pantyhose! He wraps it around the pulleys where the fanbelt went, ties it tight, cuts off the ends and away he goes. Says it lasted about an hour so then he used the other leg and it lasted till he got home.
Another time he hit a HUGE bump and bottomed the car out. It put a small crack in the back of his gas tank. Runs into the store and gets a small box of Tide Detergent, a pie pan and a butter knife. IT seems that when you mix gasoline (slowly dripping from the crack) and Tide together you end up with a plastic mixture. Applied the mix to the crack and it sealed it up. Said he drove around that way until he sold the car.
Well, that's what he said anyway.
As for the Tide/bar soap, I'll have to keep that in mind. That's one that I REALLY hope I never need... 
This thread seems to have lost some momentum.... What's the deal? Do all of the rest of you have your own Snap-On tool truck parked out back? Did you all take out second mortgages and buy all of the Porsche tools for the 928?
04-19-2004, 07:52 PM
#34
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My "ghetto" tools. It always means trouble when they come out, but they seem to come out a lot!
The "convincer": 4-pound mini-sledge (aka "Thor"). If it's not coming off (brake rotor, crank pulley) there's always a way to change its mind ...
The "punisher": pneumatic air hammer. No good can come of this tool. I last used it to trim down an edge of concrete outside the garage.
The "enforcer": a 3-foot crowbar. I look like I'm up to no good when I'm carrying this around. In the junkyard (where no jacks are allowed), this thing has helped pulled 4 chrysler transmission, 3 924 transmission and 2 944 transmissions. Strangely, the factory manual mentions it to push the 928 trans rearward for clutch changes.
"Redemption": a 6 foot pipe I found in the trash at a construction site. It fits suspiciously well over my 1/2" breaker bar.
"Special Tool": a flatblade screwdriver. Sometimes this name is also given to the correct sized socket. In the 924/944 haynes manual, it's scary how many times the sentence "Using special tool P384, or a flatblade screwdriver ..." appears.
The "convincer": 4-pound mini-sledge (aka "Thor"). If it's not coming off (brake rotor, crank pulley) there's always a way to change its mind ...
The "punisher": pneumatic air hammer. No good can come of this tool. I last used it to trim down an edge of concrete outside the garage.
The "enforcer": a 3-foot crowbar. I look like I'm up to no good when I'm carrying this around. In the junkyard (where no jacks are allowed), this thing has helped pulled 4 chrysler transmission, 3 924 transmission and 2 944 transmissions. Strangely, the factory manual mentions it to push the 928 trans rearward for clutch changes.
"Redemption": a 6 foot pipe I found in the trash at a construction site. It fits suspiciously well over my 1/2" breaker bar.
"Special Tool": a flatblade screwdriver. Sometimes this name is also given to the correct sized socket. In the 924/944 haynes manual, it's scary how many times the sentence "Using special tool P384, or a flatblade screwdriver ..." appears.
04-20-2004, 01:58 AM
#35
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Originally posted by rob rossitto
told my wife about the pantyhose trick...she told me if she found a pair in my car, she'd use them to strangle me...hmmm, multi use tool!!
told my wife about the pantyhose trick...she told me if she found a pair in my car, she'd use them to strangle me...hmmm, multi use tool!!
04-30-2004, 10:41 PM
#36
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OK, here's a recent example... from last weekend in fact... the ghetto brazing setup!
More info on how it worked out on my Knacker Job webpage.
More info on how it worked out on my Knacker Job webpage.
05-01-2004, 05:48 PM
#37
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Any tale of mine of low tech repairs has to involve my father. He was the kind of guy who could fix anything anywhere.
This story happened in Baja in the early 60's. You young whippersnappers can't imagine what a wild and wooly place it was back then. We were working a long ways south of San Felipe in the old Ford family sedan trying to reach a tiny village rumored to be there as a base for fishing. The "road" was sand, rocks, washouts, and big rocks. We hadn't seen another vehicle for hours except the ocassional abondoned rusted out wreck. We were scraping over the big rocks in the Ford when we finally hit a BIG rock that stopped us in our tracks. We got out to survey the situation and found we'd punched a hole in the oil pan and were bleeding out rapidly. I figured we were sunk until a car with a local appeared. We were surprised when he tore right on past us. (In those days the code was you didn't leave someone out in the desert.)
My dad whittled a plug out of a soft lead fishing sinker and hammered it in to place with the all of 6 inch clearance the old Ford had above ground. Amazingly it held all the way back home.
We gave up on exploring and started to limp north back towards San Felipe. A few miles up the road we found the same local's car dead in the road in a cloud of steam with his very pregnant wife sitting under a mesquite. We checked out the car and found he had split a radiator seam, run it until it died, then ran the battery down trying to crank it. The local was quite hot and bothered but my junior high conversational spanish was not up to tellling why except he HAD to get to San Felipe PRONTO. We filled his radiator with cow s___ and all of our spare water, put our last can of oil in his engine and jumped him. amazingly enough the old heap fired. About now his wife under the mesquite made it clear the reason for the hurry was she was going to have the baby right NOW.
They took off so fast they were just skimming the top of the rocks and we kept limping north. When we reached San Felipe a few hours later we found out mom had held out until they reached the clinic and mom and baby were fine.
Now I know you're thinking I'm more full of cow s___ than that old radiator but we did it and it worked. Apparently the pieces catch in the leaks, swell up, and plug it off. Don't think I'd try it with my 928 though. Rather sit in the desert than put that in her radiator.
Mark
This story happened in Baja in the early 60's. You young whippersnappers can't imagine what a wild and wooly place it was back then. We were working a long ways south of San Felipe in the old Ford family sedan trying to reach a tiny village rumored to be there as a base for fishing. The "road" was sand, rocks, washouts, and big rocks. We hadn't seen another vehicle for hours except the ocassional abondoned rusted out wreck. We were scraping over the big rocks in the Ford when we finally hit a BIG rock that stopped us in our tracks. We got out to survey the situation and found we'd punched a hole in the oil pan and were bleeding out rapidly. I figured we were sunk until a car with a local appeared. We were surprised when he tore right on past us. (In those days the code was you didn't leave someone out in the desert.)
My dad whittled a plug out of a soft lead fishing sinker and hammered it in to place with the all of 6 inch clearance the old Ford had above ground. Amazingly it held all the way back home.
We gave up on exploring and started to limp north back towards San Felipe. A few miles up the road we found the same local's car dead in the road in a cloud of steam with his very pregnant wife sitting under a mesquite. We checked out the car and found he had split a radiator seam, run it until it died, then ran the battery down trying to crank it. The local was quite hot and bothered but my junior high conversational spanish was not up to tellling why except he HAD to get to San Felipe PRONTO. We filled his radiator with cow s___ and all of our spare water, put our last can of oil in his engine and jumped him. amazingly enough the old heap fired. About now his wife under the mesquite made it clear the reason for the hurry was she was going to have the baby right NOW.
They took off so fast they were just skimming the top of the rocks and we kept limping north. When we reached San Felipe a few hours later we found out mom had held out until they reached the clinic and mom and baby were fine.
Now I know you're thinking I'm more full of cow s___ than that old radiator but we did it and it worked. Apparently the pieces catch in the leaks, swell up, and plug it off. Don't think I'd try it with my 928 though. Rather sit in the desert than put that in her radiator.
Mark
05-03-2004, 01:07 AM
#38
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A couple of years ago my younger son and my father-in-law were coming back from the hunt club - late at night, rural interstate. The heater core split, and started dumping all of the coolant on the floor.
Using the very minimal tools (a pocket knife, screwdriver and pliers) that they had with them, my son cut a piece of cane (South Georgia bamboo) a couple of inches long, pulled the heater hoses off and connected the ends using the section of cane as tubing. Worked fine for the couple of days it took to get a new heater core.
A friend told me a wilder story. Late in the 'thirties, he and three college buddies were going from Atlanta to Florida. Late at night, high speed, on a very rural two-lane road, their mid-thirties Ford V-8 broke a piston. They parked the car over a ditch, pulled the oil pan - with the oil still in it - and the cylinder head on that side. They removed the broken piston and connecting rod. Since the open cylinder would screw up the other cylinders when the valves opened, and since it is very difficult to do anything to stop the valves on a flat-head Ford from opening, they cut a section of a farmer's wooden fencepost with their pocket knives, whittled it to a tight fit, and drove it into the empty cylinder as a plug, using a rock as a hammer. Put the cylinder head back on, put the oil pan (with the same oil) back on, drove to Florida, around there for a week, then drove back to Atlanta, where a replacement for the broken piston was finally installed.
Using the very minimal tools (a pocket knife, screwdriver and pliers) that they had with them, my son cut a piece of cane (South Georgia bamboo) a couple of inches long, pulled the heater hoses off and connected the ends using the section of cane as tubing. Worked fine for the couple of days it took to get a new heater core.
A friend told me a wilder story. Late in the 'thirties, he and three college buddies were going from Atlanta to Florida. Late at night, high speed, on a very rural two-lane road, their mid-thirties Ford V-8 broke a piston. They parked the car over a ditch, pulled the oil pan - with the oil still in it - and the cylinder head on that side. They removed the broken piston and connecting rod. Since the open cylinder would screw up the other cylinders when the valves opened, and since it is very difficult to do anything to stop the valves on a flat-head Ford from opening, they cut a section of a farmer's wooden fencepost with their pocket knives, whittled it to a tight fit, and drove it into the empty cylinder as a plug, using a rock as a hammer. Put the cylinder head back on, put the oil pan (with the same oil) back on, drove to Florida, around there for a week, then drove back to Atlanta, where a replacement for the broken piston was finally installed.
05-03-2004, 03:04 AM
#39
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Harpo, Wally, Those definitely belong in the all-time shadetree mechanic's register.... Makes some of the stuff I've done sound downright professional. 
I had hoped to steer the thread away from "Duct tape and baling wire" and more toward improvised tools, but those are very interesting stories.
I had hoped to steer the thread away from "Duct tape and baling wire" and more toward improvised tools, but those are very interesting stories.
05-10-2004, 02:17 AM
#41
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This topic takes me back, I used to keep my old Subaru running with things I'd find in the street. It kept dying, so I walked around until I found a paper clip and a broken utility knife blade to wedge onto the throttle stop
to raise the idle. The floor rusted out so badly, one of the seat legs punched through the floor. Once again, walked around until I found a board that I could stuff under the seat to hold it up. Then, one time I locked the keys in it. And again, walked around until I found a thin piece of metal that I used to slide under the glass sunroof to push the pins out to
get in. As far as making tools, I use one of those bellows type air mattress
foot pumps to find vacuum leaks, and add a mason jar to bleed brakes.
Just stick the hose in the deflate port.
As far as ghetto tech goes, check out: http://www.trailertrashaerospace.com
Inspiring!
to raise the idle. The floor rusted out so badly, one of the seat legs punched through the floor. Once again, walked around until I found a board that I could stuff under the seat to hold it up. Then, one time I locked the keys in it. And again, walked around until I found a thin piece of metal that I used to slide under the glass sunroof to push the pins out to
get in. As far as making tools, I use one of those bellows type air mattress
foot pumps to find vacuum leaks, and add a mason jar to bleed brakes.
Just stick the hose in the deflate port.
As far as ghetto tech goes, check out: http://www.trailertrashaerospace.com
Inspiring!
05-10-2004, 03:05 AM
#42
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Many a nut can be moved with an oversize spanner, made to fit by inserting a coin in the space between the nut and the spanner-mouth. Choose the right coin and you don't round the nut edges.
But to see some real ingenuity, check out popular practice in outback Oz here: http://www.bushmechanics.com
The site's a bit slow to load, but will teach such tricks as how to stuff grass into your flat tyre when you don't have a spare, etc.
Cheers,
Phill.
'84 928s Euro
But to see some real ingenuity, check out popular practice in outback Oz here: http://www.bushmechanics.com
The site's a bit slow to load, but will teach such tricks as how to stuff grass into your flat tyre when you don't have a spare, etc.
Cheers,
Phill.
'84 928s Euro
