djellum Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 used vice grips and penetrating oil to loosen stuck valves without pulling the heads on my dads El Camino, and straightened the bent pushrods on the cement with a hammer. I felt dirty when my dad had me do it, but the car went for years after. he never even replaced the pushrods. then I drove it for quite a few miles myself before I sold it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 I used a piece of heater hose to sleeve my broken radius arm......rubber suspension linkage.....yeah. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadsubiedog Posted May 22, 2014 Author Share Posted May 22, 2014 back in the late 70's , I got so drunk that I drove over a parking meter right in front of the police station in ft Lauderdale florida and passed out. my friends came looking for me and helped take the car off the meter. never got in trouble with the police. we thought we must of been invisible. well the meter tore 3-4 inch hole in radiator in the middle. the next day with a wicked hangover at the park ( we lived in the car ) I took the radiator out and tore the 3-4 tubes out and banged the ends shut and used jb weld on the ends. it worked. we drove it all the way up to Mass. ( about 1400 miles ). it ran a little hot but made it. a couple years later I drove it ( never replaced radiator ) all the way from Mass. to California. it was a 73 Toyota celica. I wish I had pictures. that was some kind of car. I even sold it for 500 bucks to a couple crazies like I was. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robm Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Not mine, but a brilliant one anyway. It was in the SAE magazine about 30 years ago, they actually had a column for weird automotive stories in those days. Lots of wisdom... Anyway, this guy was out bushwhacking with his ancient diesel Harvester truck when it destroyed a rod bearing. He was smart enough to stop before the rod went through the block. He actually had the new bearing with him, but when he dropped the pan and looked at the journal, decided it was too scratched up to survive. So he pushed the piston/rod up the bore, put a sheet metal screw in the cylinder wall to hold it there, pinched off the injector pipe, and drove it home on 5 cylinders. He didn't say if/how much coolant leaked past the screw. And I guess the rebuild included a new cylinder liner as well as work on the crank. Back to Subarus: I ran my last Loyale with a wire directly connected to the battery, ready to take over when the flaky fuel pump relay dropped out. I ran it like that for 6 months, changed the relay, and promptly totaled it before I had driven it far enough to be sure I had fixed it. (I hate intermittent faults!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallonX Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Oh let's see... On my Subaru... Inside belt v-belt broke took the outer with it in bfe, wrapped electrical tape in the groove for the water pump and main pulley a few times, drove AT SPEED (3k) for 45 miles held just fine Samurai... Similar situation but the ear mount broke off the water pump for the alternator, used hair ties to run the water pump in that case it lasted the 30 miles I needed it to F250... Blew out the upper tank on the rad, bent everything back to position, using what I had in the truck, bailing wire and mighty putty in this case, pressed as much mighty putty in to where the brazing fail, locked the tank down to the core with the bailing wire, continued to drive it like that for 3 years my daily driver at the time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rrgrr Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 I think I want you guys around when the apocalypse or whatever goes down! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uberoo Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Lets see: leaky radiator got pepper and an egg dumped in it.Ran fine until I got tired of omlet smell everytime I topped off the coolant. alt/water pump belt broke so I used some bailing wire and a bunch of ducttape to make a new one. blown coolant hose got wrapped in electrical tape A friend and myself were driving an old ford and its fuel pump went out so we ran a hose to the carbs inlet to a 5 gallon gas can on the hood.Only problem was we didn't have ducttape to hold the gas can to the hood.So I sat on the hood for 30 miles until we got to my friends house. I had a hood release cable break.After I managed to get the hood open I removed the hood until I bought and installed a new cable ~6 months later... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dania02525 Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Broke a clutch cable in an old prelude, and drove it home no clutch. Continued to drive it without a clutch cable by pop starting it and pushing it to roll it when starting out in first. I had to be going about 3mph with the engine near stalled, and I could get it into first and take off. Probably helped that the clutch was really spongy and wasted. I even turned the idle down so I could get it near stall to facilitate this lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Oh that reminds me. My clutch cable broke on a road trip a few hundred miles from home. I had a bicycle with me. I robbed the back brake cable from that and fed it through the cable housing. Tied the ends off with some bailing wire and tape, made it home just fine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djellum Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 not really a fix, but the 2 last posts brought something to mind. its waaaayyyyy easier to push start a car in reverse instead of 1st. something with the gear ratio I think but push it backwards and try starting in reverse and it goes much much easier. you can do it almost barely rolling at all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadsubiedog Posted May 24, 2014 Author Share Posted May 24, 2014 one day at a stop light I pushed in my clutch pedal and "nothing" all the way to floor. thought my clutch went out but it was the clutch fluid line that burst. ( 99 outback ) the pick n pull was about a half mile away and found a brake line about the same length off an old mazda for 3 bucks and change. it took a couple hrs to change and fortunately I had some brake fluid with me. it's been fine now for the last 2 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l75eya Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 not really a fix, but the 2 last posts brought something to mind. its waaaayyyyy easier to push start a car in reverse instead of 1st. something with the gear ratio I think but push it backwards and try starting in reverse and it goes much much easier. you can do it almost barely rolling at all. i actually find this to be the exact case but with 2nd gear. Usually even barely rolling you can pop the clutch and it'll start doing the hurt dance until the motor pushes it to a smoother speed; but it starts. I like using 2nd because it seems less violent when I suddenly pop the clutch than 1st or reverse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadsubiedog Posted May 24, 2014 Author Share Posted May 24, 2014 also it is safer to jump start it in 2nd rather than in reverse unless you have a lot of safe room from objects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coxy Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 (edited) 307 chevy in a Early 70's Nissan patrol ran a rod bearing, Sump off and a Hose clamp around the rod bearings to hold some oil pressure and used water to swell up a piece of timber to hold the rod and piston up the bore out of the way and simply removed the offending pushrods so the valves would not hit the piston wedged all the way at Top dead centre. did the job for 600 miles to home. Sort of fits with my nickname when servicing for mates in rallies when I managed to find a replacement Engine mount for a Datsun 180B (610 in the US) after it broke a mount during an event in the middle of the forest,I had noticed a derelict datsun in the bush a couple of miles back and simply said back in ten and returned with a fresh Engine mount, They started calling me McGuyver after that, never did let them know just how I found an Engine mount in the middle of the Forest, Best sometimes to keep them guessing. Edited May 24, 2014 by coxy 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mstr_pete Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 I've done a few over the years but this is the one I remember best: '85 Dodge 250 van, 318 engine, coming back with the family from California, radiator blew out. Long story, replaced it in a hotel parking lot, we're back on the road, but it's still running hot. We're in Blythe, it's a million degrees, I pull off the freeway and pop the hood. The upper hose from the heater control box is HOT HOT HOT and I figure I've got an air pocket. Trouble is, all the vacuum tubes from the heater control box are falling off, who knows where they go, I've got the wife and three toddlers, so I've got to figure this out. Engine off, fan on high defrost, I pull the hose and BAM a shot of hot air blows past my face. Found the air pocket, all right. But I've got to bypass the bad control box. What do I have? A mini-mag lite. I knock the guts out with a screwdriver and it's a perfect fit. Two hose clamps and a gallon of antifreeze later, the van is in permanent defrost mode and we make it to New Mexico. I ran it like that for a year, then sold it to a couple whose van blew up and needed to keep going to (old) Mexico. Good times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BirdMobile Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 JB welded a hole in a cylinder head of a VW Rabbit in high school... ran fine for over 500 miles before it failed again and engine was rebuilt. TONS of fixes involving cooling systems over the years, using whaever was at hand or could be scrounged fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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