jowen7448 Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Another thread got me reminiscing about my first car which I fixed after a break in using bits from the local scrappy. It also prompted my memory on some fairly dodgy budget motoring in the first couple of years of my driving life. So I was wondering whether anyone had some interesting dodgy fixes for things that they had done in the past. I will set the ball rolling with one of mine: My second car was a Citroen Saxo (1.0 not VTS/VTR). It was bought out of necessity from a local garage when I had my AX towed there with what turned out to be a packed up ECU and I had no way to get home. Anyway at circa 130k miles a gear linkage rod decided it didn't want to play ball any more and would periodically disconnect itself. Not a huge issue, as with the ground clearance under the saxo, whenever it happened I would roll to the side of the road and could reach under and reattach in a few seconds and I would be on my way again for a few days. Not having much spare cash at the time, and getting sick of lying on the floor every couple of hundred miles I decided to fashion myself a new gear linkage purely out of cable ties. Lots looped together nice and tight with the two ends just tried around the appropriate other pieces, drove around like that for another few thousand miles no problem until I sold the car back to the garage I bought it from. I was thoroughly amazed that my cable tie linkage rod worked with no issues whatsoever and cost me pence as a fix. So what stories have others got to share in this same vein? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 MR2 mk3 turbo conversion (not mine, a mate's car). US supplier forgot to ship a connecting pipe for the IC. Halfway through conversion. Car had to be back on the road that day. Took WD40 can, cut it in half, used one piece as the connecting pipe for a temp fix. Car stayed like that for 40k miles and two years until it was written off on the M25 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jowen7448 Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 Haha brilliant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 I heard a story about some guy who bought an old high mileage Citroen Saxo off a dealer and whilst driving on the motorway at 70mph had the gear linkage rod go on him and crashed into a pylon 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jowen7448 Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 (edited) I heard a story about some guy who bought an old high mileage Citroen Saxo off a dealer and whilst driving on the motorway at 70mph had the gear linkage rod go on him and crashed into a pylon Not sure if this is a joke, (tone very hard to gauge in online comments). If true story makes me wonder how many Saxos had a linkage rod go. Also not entirely sure how a linkage rod going would induce a crash as you can just roll until a safe place to stop. Terrible things those Saxos, lift off oversteer was a nightmare, particularly in the wet. I hated mine, still the worst car I have ever driven. When I first met my partners parents I had just bought a Mondeo to replace the Saxo with. I sat there during dinner, after they had made a comment about how well looked after my Mondeo looked, and said something along the lines of "yeah much better than the sh**ty saxo that I had before, that thing was awful". Turned out they had one, and her sister had one too. Ooops Edited since BulletMagnet threatened to call the grammar police. (Nark) Edited April 12, 2016 by jowen7448 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 It was a joke... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jowen7448 Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 It was a joke... Well colour me embarrassed, I was thinking that was a phenomenal coincidence and what a small world it was. I will chalk this up to it being a long few weeks and try not to be such a gullible weany in future. Unfortunately the story that followed my reply was true. They still haven't let me forget it. (and still have a saxo) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulletMagnet Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 when I first met my partners parents I was had just bought a mondeo to replace the saxo with. OK, who is going to call the grammar police? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jowen7448 Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 when I first met my partners parents I was had just bought a mondeo to replace the saxo with. OK, who is going to call the grammar police? See above post again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulletMagnet Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leonk Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 (edited) Ford Cortina estate with a rotten fuel tank. Two plastic cans in the boot with the fuel pipe poked into one, when the car started spluttering I just jumped out and poked it into the other. These days I'd probably have an armed response unit jump on me thinking I was about to blow somewhere up! Lancia Beta with no reverse gear so I had to get out and push it backwards. Mini that you had to get out of the passenger door because the hinges on the driver's side had rotted and it would fall off. Said mini with the wheels bolted on back to front to make them look wide and I thought it was cool.Four massive spotlights on the front that melted all the wiring. As a disclaimer, that was a long time ago, haha. Edited because there was a capital letter in the Wrong place. Edited April 12, 2016 by leonk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jowen7448 Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 (edited) Love the Cortina fix, not sure that having to push a car constitutes a fix though Edited because there was a capital letter in the Wrong place. Nice These days I'd probably have an armed response unit jump on me thinking I was about to blow somewhere up! I met an armed response unit once who came to take down my dad. He used to manufacture and sell explosives for the entertainment industry, films, live shows and the like. We were doing a promo vid of some new products at a local stock car circuit with things like helicopter gun fire and big fireball explosive effects. God knows what nearby residents thought was going on but an armed response unit dutifully turned up. Were a nice bunch of lads in the end once it was cleared up what was actually going on (police had been notified beforehand etc) and hung around to watch us filming. Although they looked hard all suited and booted with their firearms they turned into little girls when some of the really big effects were being set off, 20 ft fireball explosion where you can feel the soundwave hit followed by all the heat had them sh**ting their pants and covering their ears. Edited April 12, 2016 by jowen7448 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floydbax Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Old VW Beetle going over Transfinnyd in North Wales in mid-winter with a load of windsurfers on top in the pi55ing rain when the wiper motor went, we took one of the roof rack straps off and manipulated it around the wipers and through the 'A' windows and managed to pull them back and too enough to make it safely home, with the load on the roof still!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnH Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 I've got a friend near me who has a truck with a broken starter motor and can only park facing downhill. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leonk Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Love the Cortina fix, not sure that having to push a car constitutes a fix though Damn sight cheaper fix than a new gearbox when you're young, stupid and blown all your money on a sportscar you can't afford to run! Haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Peugeot 309 in the days the coolant temp sensor stop'd working while on the way to a car meet, so i re wired the sound system amp wire to the fan switch and oprated the fan manually usoing the radio on/off button when the tempature gauge got to half way #ghetto fixes 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jowen7448 Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 Love the Cortina fix, not sure that having to push a car constitutes a fix though Damn sight cheaper fix than a new gearbox when you're young, stupid and blown all your money on a sportscar you can't afford to run! Haha. Can't argue with that mate. Peugeot 309 in the days the coolant temp sensor stop'd working while on the way to a car meet, so i re wired the sound system amp wire to the fan switch and oprated the fan manually usoing the radio on/off button when the tempature gauge got to half way #ghetto fixes This is brilliant, love the ingenuity here. Enjoying reading all of these, keep 'em coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jowen7448 Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 I've got a friend near me who has a truck with a broken starter motor and can only park facing downhill. When the ECU on my AX went, before I knew it was the ECU, I tried to bump start it while rolling down a hill. Problem was of course it wouldn't have started in a month of Sundays the state it was in. There i was rolling down a hill towards the a6 trying to get it to start. Ended up being stopped in the middle of the road on said hill, not being able to move, had to get my dad to go down and stop the traffic so I could roll straight over and down the other side to manoeuvre it into a sensible parking place again til it could be towed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeW Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 my first car was an old vauxhall cavalier. it was prone to over heat, and by the end of its life would overheat every 10 minutes, got to the point of carrying around 20 bottles of water on board to fill 'er up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jowen7448 Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 my first car was an old vauxhall cavalier. it was prone to over heat, and by the end of its life would overheat every 10 minutes, got to the point of carrying around 20 bottles of water on board to fill 'er up Haha nice, my mum ruined my dads old 5 series when it overheated. She called him up said it's overheating etc etc, he said just stick some water in it to get it home. Unfortunately instead of supplying the radiator with a nice bottle of natures finest it was the oil filler cap that had it's thirst quenched. Needless to say it didn't make it home and we had one unhappy fella in the house for a while. They are still together but she isn't even allowed to touch her own car now save for driving it and putting fuel in it (she manages the correct fuel it would seem, hope I am not jinxing this, I will report back if I get a call saying shes put diesel in instead of petrol, I know there are mechanisms in place to prevent this but the lack of mechanical sympathy or interest in cars leads me to believe that she is capable of anything). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brillomaster Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 on my old 300zx one of the previous owners had held the front bumper on with a bit of 2x4 and a self tapping screw straight into one of the intercoolers 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetSet Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Gear stick snapped on my Lotus Europa while I was in Chester, 10 miles from home. Took the top off the transmission tunnel, shoved my hand in there and changed gear by twisting, pulling and pushing the connecting rod . Pete 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jowen7448 Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 on my old 300zx one of the previous owners had held the front bumper on with a bit of 2x4 and a self tapping screw straight into one of the intercoolers Surely that's just a good argument to upgrade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Mini that you had to get out of the passenger door because the hinges on the driver's side had rotted and it would fall off. Said mini with the wheels bolted on back to front to make them look wide and I thought it was cool.Four massive spotlights on the front that melted all the wiring. As a disclaimer, that was a long time ago, haha. Brilliant, i did exactly the same, except i bought a set of 6J x 10 inch alloys for mine - they were virtually square as they were so wide, that even the widest 10 inch tyres (165`s) were proper stretched to fit on them. The 4 spot lights were great, i remember fitting them, lit the entire street up, then the wiring melted.... after then I fitted a relay and separate wiring for them. Same drivers hinges went, so id either have to climb out of the drivers window ala Dukes of Hazard, or via the passengers door. Ive lost count of the amount of dodgy fixes ive done back when I was a young lad. By far the worse was probably when I bought a hot hatch once, back in the 90`s, in which the owner had run over a cow. I kid you not a whole f**king cow. The whole front end of the car was caved in. To make things worse, the front had jumped over the cow and landed on it, smashing the sump in. The insurance company wrote it off, so I bought it for about 1/5th of its normal price. I got a lump of chain and tied to a tree in my parents garden, attached the other end to the front of the hot hatch and reversed it as fast as i could multiple times (until the clutch started smelling bad). That and a bottle jack/lump hammer soon pulled the front out enough so that after fitting new wings/bonnet/bumper that the gaps all kinda lined up. I rattle can resprayed it and it didnt look too bad. The only problem was the chassis was totally bent as could be seen by a massive crease in the roof. So I hammered that in and filled over and painted that too. I removed the sump and hammered that out, then refitted it and gave the car a quick service. To be fair, it was a cracking little car and I ran it for about a year without any problems before selling it for 6 times the price I paid for it. What did open my eyes a bit at the time was that the new owner did a full Hpi check on the car and it came up clean. Sort of told me how accurate those checks were. Wouldnt dream of doing anything like that now. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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