what is the best bodgy fix you have done

[MITCHAY]

I put a few cable ties through my rear bumper after some idiot reversed into my car.

Not the best looking thing but it kept it whole until insurance had it fixed. Luckily for them because I think the boot floor and whole rear quarter panel was repaired so I doubt it was cheap!

[TRAU BLAU]

Originally Posted by gozzaxr6t

Not really a bodgy fix but more of a funny story. When I was in my teens, car full of mates in my gemini, paddock bashing/ gravel roads etc and blew the box. Every gear was munched except 4th gear. Had to drop off all the boys back home, mind you it was close to mid night taking off in 4th gear. Just held the throttle pinned and rid the hell out of the clutch. Dont know what was louder, the car screaming on take off or everyone cracking up of laughter.

Funny part, I removed the box, used the same clutch which looked fine and lasted me another 3 years of constant abuse.

Good times.15 years on we still get a laugh out of that story when were sitting around talking crap.

Sounds like the good ol' days or the trendy saying,"back in the day" when vehicles didn't have computers & fancy electronics(which leave me for dead.)Making things do with whatever is available.I've never used them myself but a pair of women's nylons for a broken fan-belt was supposed to be the go.

[cram_it_frog]

the foil from the top inside of your smokes to fix a fuse

thanks I forgot that one

[damo76]

Too many to list , i was very good at improvising when younger for instance indicator stalk on the xc broke off so small screwdriver fits in perfect, cop saw it once and shook his head then walked off.

[Mesa]

I bought a coupe once with a broken seat. Drove it home with the spare wheel wedged in behind the seat to keep the seat up.

[Lunch]

Originally Posted by cram_it_frog

the foil from the top inside of your smokes to fix a fuse

Guilty

[cram_it_frog]

cop saw it once and shook his head then walked off.

[blackf6]

Jammed HQ 4 speed floor shifter, snapped off gear stick.. Used a flat head to neutralise and change shift gates.

[mik]

Easter time long weekend a few decades ago and a bit more , wizzing down the princess freeway on route to wye river in my battered old 2 door corty to meet friends , hit a dip on the road and the whole rear gear box x member popped the well worn bolts out on to the highway somewhere,

pulling my home made exhaust system down at the far end which comprised of 2 resonators fuse welded together with the tail pipe crossing under the gearbox and coming out near drivers side in front of the back wheel,.......................... sparks must have looked spectacular in the dark.

fortunately i had a full tool box with me and a rather large screwdriver converted to a hole maker like a big ice pick , also had a couple of coach bolts i was saving for another job,
in the pitch dark on the side of the highway supported only by the jack, i banged a hole through the x member and the floor on both sides with said huge ice pick and big hammer and used the coach bolts spacered up with sidchrome sockets,
it did the job nicely,
reattached the exhaust , brushed myself off and continued on down the highway , good thing i was a bit skinnier back then .

[stevepet]

This was not me but a mate who was a cop pulled over someone who was driving a little bit strangely. When he got to the car it had no steering wheel just a set of multigrips clamped onto the steering column. He took his keys off him.

[Bushbasher]

I used to have a HQ panelvan when I was a teen, with the obligatory sloppy, worn out column shift linkages, you know, the one where you can shift into second and still be in first... Well, I managed to tighten up the linkages and never had a sloppy shifter again by compressing the steering column slightly with the help of a very big tree and a sudden stop. Does that count?

It did cost me a new water pump though..... oh, and a bonnet, nose cone, radiator and radiator support, grill, bumper and a pair of spotlights......... but it DID fix the shifter!

[tweeked]

Lost my keys to my Econovan when I was young and dumb, dug the lock out with a screwdriver, pulled the wires from behind the barrel and wired them up to two flick switches for ACC and ON, and a doorbell for the starter. Did another 200000 ks like that.

[TRAU BLAU]

Originally Posted by tweeked

Lost my keys to my Econovan when I was young and dumb, dug the lock out with a screwdriver, pulled the wires from behind the barrel and wired them up to two flick switches for ACC and ON, and a doorbell for the starter. Did another 200000 ks like that.

Reminds me of the ignition key switch on me XF that **** itself,jamming the steering lock & no start.Used a small hack-saw to take that round section out & from then on just used the solenoid to start.A cop asked me once where the ignition key was & when I showed him the solenoid(hidden)he shrugged & took off after I explained what happened.

[cram_it_frog]

multigrips clamped onto the steering column yes I have seen that before

if it works why not

[cram_it_frog]

did any one else take a magnet to the car yard few years back

some people would use so much bog to fix a car and make it look like new till you had a small bump and the entire side of the car cracks

the magnet was to see if there was too much bog

another bad one in my early days was back yard cut and shut jobs there were some real horror stories

I know a guy who when he traded his car in changed the engine oil to really thick stuff and run it half aircraft fuel half leaded super thing would run great till the next oil change when normal oil was used and they had little or no compression

[uniacidz]

Cable tie to bumper to battery securing bolt.

Bumpers on VX variants are flimsy and pop out near the tear drop headlight area.
Create hole in bumper and cable tie it.

[wookie836]

radiator in my AU2 XR8 sprung a leak 5 weeks ago, 6 sachets of pepper from maccas into the radiator overflow still holding up fine with no water loss. Even bought a replacement radiator which arrived after 2 days but i want to see how long the pepper lasts.

[Olbucko]

Originally Posted by cram_it_frog

did any one else take a magnet to the car yard few years back

some people would use so much bog to fix a car and make it look like new till you had a small bump and the entire side of the car cracks

the magnet was to see if there was too much bog

another bad one in my early days was back yard cut and shut jobs there were some real horror stories

I know a guy who when he traded his car in changed the engine oil to really thick stuff and run it half aircraft fuel half leaded super thing would run great till the next oil change when normal oil was used and they had little or no compression

Back in the sixties I knew a dodgy old panelbeater in Hornsby named Dave, who used to collect the lathe turnings from the engineering shop up the road to mix into the bog to fool the rego inspectors who used a magnet.

[cram_it_frog]

who used to collect the lathe turnings from the engineering shop

[stevepet]

Guilty on all charges there your honour.

Originally Posted by cram_it_frog

did any one else take a magnet to the car yard few years back

some people would use so much bog to fix a car and make it look like new till you had a small bump and the entire side of the car cracks

the magnet was to see if there was too much bog

another bad one in my early days was back yard cut and shut jobs there were some real horror stories

I know a guy who when he traded his car in changed the engine oil to really thick stuff and run it half aircraft fuel half leaded super thing would run great till the next oil change when normal oil was used and they had little or no compression

[Moby Vic]

For some reason the starter solenoid in my '69 Mustang died a lot. My father taught me a neat trick with jumper cables. You turn the ignition key to engine running mode, take one cable and hook it to one side of the solenoid, and then hook its other end to the other side of the solenoid.

Voila! Engine starts.

[jimt3te50]

Originally Posted by Olbucko

Back in the sixties I knew a dodgy old panelbeater in Hornsby named Dave, who used to collect the lathe turnings from the engineering shop up the road to mix into the bog to fool the rego inspectors who used a magnet.

This still happens hey- the metal in the bog for that same reason.

I've currently got a big fat cable tie as an exhaust hanger on the LH rear tail pipe on my XY. I've got spares in the glovebox because they melt when you do a sustained burnout! lol

[cram_it_frog]

For some reason the starter solenoid in my '69 Mustang died a lot. My father taught me a neat trick with jumper cables. You turn the ignition key to engine running mode, take one cable and hook it to one side of the solenoid, and then hook its other end to the other side of the solenoid.

yes we used to do that a lot but with todays cars many are impossible to get to

but if you have a bad or very flat battery best way to start is connect direct to the starter

you can drive a bus around a HQ or old ford engine bay

[Major Payne]

Years ago we used to go pig shooting and we had a ancient Toyota Hilux ute stashed at the farm. It had dodgy wiring and switches for numerous spotlights and driving lights. Sick of replacing fuses one night I found that a "live" .22 rimfire round made a perfect replacement. And it cured the problems for sometime. BUT after some heavy light usage the round overheated and "cooked off" and scared the hell out one and all, we never did find just where the bullet ended up.?