previous owner funny fixes?

[bulky]

Not sure if these count....

Sitting in traffic one day I saw to guys jump starting a car. The scary part was the way they did it. One guy was turning the key while the other guy flipped a second battery upside down and went post to post to jump it....I guess it saves money on cables.

Second was a 4 door caprice driving down the road with all 4 windows down, 4 guys in the car, each with one arm out the window holding down a mattres on the roof. No rope...just hands.

I guess common sense is not that common.

[PhilaTruck]

PPO had wooden shim between door hinge and cab. Can't figger out why the door doesn't shut.

Good thread-

[Mickey_D]

I'll have to get a picture of this one for you. I've used household expanding foam insulation to plug the cab rust on my truck. Used it on my Toyota Tercel wagon, too.

When I got my Jeep, I thought it strange that the radiator was wider than the grill. Come to find out he had been 4 wheeling and ran into something, causing the body to break all of the body mounts. When he took off, the body slid back and put the fan through the radiator. He found an abandoned truck in the woods, took the radiator out of it, and drilled new holes to mount it.

I've had cars that PO's put 2X4 blocks in for engine mounts, I've seen drywall spackling used for bondo, and oval-shaped fender washers in mag rims with the bolt holes expanded to fit the wrong axles (ford rims on a chevy car). I also saw someone try to use a screen door cylinder as a shock absorber on a hood.

The favorite was my dad using half a pool cue to hold up the hatchback when the gas struts gave out.

OTher than that I've seen someone put a 200W cigarette lighter inverter in and wire up a porch light as the interior light on a car. Including the 110V 100W light bulb in a 60W housing. Yes, the rest of the car was jury-rigged to match. Including a household light switch to turn on the ignition and a horn button as the starter switch because the ignition barrel was gone.

[edman87]

I have seen the 110v light switch for ignition before. I also love the pics floating around of the 110v ac units in trucks running 2000 watt or so inverters!

[Pyrotechnic]

The PO of my 78 didn't want to spend any money for a throttle return spring bracket, so he got 3-4 of those chain links with the nut on them to open them up and connect them to things and put them all together, then clipped one end to a hole on the A/C compressor bracket, then the other end to a spring going to the carb. Though not correct it wasn't like it was a safety issue as those chain links weren't going to break, and the spring was taught enough. I could think of worse ways for it to be done though.

[Ivan D.]

When I got my truck I noticed the temperature gage wasn't working, when I tore down the dash I found that some genius has cut the signal wire for the temp gage, cut the power wire for the blue light that indicates the high beams are on, and then hooked up the temperature sender to the said blue light. What were the logic behind that I just can't imagine, but when I broke the connection and hooked up everything like it's supposed to be both the temp gage and the high beams indicator worked.

[grinch4om]

growing up in Maine in the 60's provided a plethera of unique ideas to the salt induced customization we all observed....

[knightlife]

if it weren't for drywall screws, my dash would not stay in, they are the only thing long enough to meet the c-clips . good thing I have a billet plate hiding those eh?!

[Jim85IROC]

I picked up an 86 Camaro with a busted transmission for $100 a few years back. It turned out to be the best car I've ever owned, but I'll save that story for another thread. The kid I bought it from told me that he had tried to wetsand the paint, but it didn't work out so well. I almost fell over when I saw what he did. The paint was faded and whipped, so wetsanding wouldn't have helped it anyway, but his "attempt" seemed to include 180 grit sand paper judging by the size of the scratches. Unfortunately, he did almost the whole car before he decided that it wasn't going to work.

[MylilBowTie]

Originally Posted by Jim85IROC

It turned out to be the best car I've ever owned, but I'll save that story for another thread.

I like Camaro storys

[davidh]

I had an 80gmc that had the headlight switch removed and 2toggles. One did headlights only the other did parking lights and tail lights. Actually was kind of neat. Drove through my ex's yard with headlights on only. 12years ago. LOL. Also had the vice grip window cranks inside.
Its usually wiring and electrical that I find on older vehicles that makes me scratch my head Why?

[thegame55974]

I'll take the blame for this one. Broke a chunk out of the block on my 400 sb in my stepside. You know, the infamous starter hole. I brilliantly repaired this with a 2x4 to get the starter in the right spot to engage and then a really short rubber tarp strap to keep it there. Had to reposition it at least once a day!! Went through about a dozen tarp straps before pulling that engine and rolling down the hill by the river. Yes we have a hill in N.Dakota and I have rolled many things down it in fits of rage.

[longhorn71]

a rubber mat pop riveted and siliconed down for the rear floor boards in a 4x4 blazer.chunk of 1/8"plate with 1x4 wood spacers for front floor boards.expanding foam insulation for the rocker panels.all on the same truck done by the P/O who was a autobody man by trade

[Ivan D.]

Hey now, I have a 1/4" thick rubber mat as a driver's floorboard in my truck, I was even the one who put it in there. Of course that's after all the rusted out metal was cut out, the cab mount was reinforced, and a subframe net of angle iron and flat stock got bolted in to support the rubber mat. All of that is covered by the stock carpet, and there are regular gloss black rubber mats on top of it - actually you can never tell the floor ain't sheetmetal no more, and the rubber mat ain't even siliconed down, lol

[neverfinished]

I just found a funny one last night. It looks like the mufflers were hammered in on the sides to clear the drive shaft. The sides of both mufflers are smashed in at the same spot. The rest of the exhaust system is straight as an arrow and all the welds are still in place. Either the mufflers were damaged before they were installed or they rubbed on the drive shaft and someone fixed the problem with a hammer.

[rick1956]

This thread is good stuff!

Several years ago I bought a 68 Bronco that needed a fair amount of work, not the least of which was a bad driver's floor pan.
Imagine my surprise when I started tearing out the "patch panels" to do repairs and found part of a stop sign and one of those green/white reflectorized street name signs pop-riveted in! To add to that, I also found a flattened Olympia beer can pop riveted in the kick panel alongside the road signs.

It also had a steering box from something else that was bolted in two spots, welded in two spots, and in a third spot had a piece of flat steel bolted alongside and used as a washer/retainer.

I never did figure out what the steering box came out of...

[James McClure]

OK. I've got one for you BUT, remember I was only 16, OK? I had a 60 Merc park lane convertable that busted a motor mount and the motor was laying on the frame so I jacked it up and hung it off the shock studs with pieces of chain. Drove it like that for a long time. LOLL, those were the good old days, gas actually was .30 a gallon back then. God I'm old. LOLL

[chevymotocross]

A previous owner added a killswitch that didn't really work correctly. I never knew about this switch until one day my truck wouldn't start. For some reason, while trying to get the truck to turn over, I hit the brake pedal while turning the key and it turned over.

I figured this was a neutral safety switch problem since it was starting fine in neutral w/o brakes.

I buy a new switch, put it in, still the same friggin problem. While scratching my head under the steering column, I notice this small aftermarket switch. I flip the switch, turn the key, truck starts. My foot must have hit it while using the emergency brake or something.

Someone wired a killswitch but really, it was pointless because if you held the brakes, the engine would turn over.

Napa luckily refunded my money on an electrical part.

[1984 swb chevy]

I pulled into a Pepboys parking lot once and saw a late 70's firebird with some home made wing on the back. It was about 2ft high and was made from chicken wire and filled with newspaper. When I got in side the store I saw two guys holding a couple big cans of Bondo. It was easy to figure out who owned the firebird.

[bird7263]

I had 2x4s as bushings between my stepside box and my frame. Also the guy left the stock steering colum in my 66 and decided to put in power steering.. All good right. No!! The power steeing gear box is much bigger then the stock manual one. He decided to leave the steering shaft the same stock length and then used that to mark the Rag joint. The powering steering gear box was mounted about 3 inches to far forward on the frame. Causing the steering to be compleaty off center. Thus causing the wheels to turn at different angles.

Also he was running 5 lug disc front with a 6 lug rear.. Silly!!!

[pokethesmot]

my coolant recovery tank is a bottle of coolant with a whole in the top

[pokethesmot]

and i got a toggle switch for my wipers now it would make since if my wiper switch dint work but the funny thing is...it does

[crossy]

Originally Posted by mySAVIOReigns

I knew a girl with a truck once who said she noticed wood screws holding on the fenders.

Wood screws...wow.

After parting out a few dozen and Owning another few dozen trucks there is NOTHING i haven't seen sheet rock screws holding together. i almost starting thinking they really were interior screws , headlight bezel screws right from GM.
Oh I only wish someone had started this thread many years ago when i joined because i would have my own section of boo-rigs, as i call them.
I had a Dodge here that the guy would ride down the interstate with a bungie cord through the outside door handle and around the seat headrest to hold the driver door closed which had no latch. Farmer(self inspection) said it was a cold ride in the winter. I bet??
the pic below does NOT do justice to how poor the quality of the FRAME welding really was, that was done to a daily driver truck I had here to fix. There were two BALD (cords showing) tires on the back and if it. Had it not been a leaf spring truck , with mounts fore & aft of the poorly 'C' sectioned frame,it would have fallen into two pieces. The rear frame looked like a 'V' when it got here. I Volunteered my welding skills when i noticed the baby seat in the rear of the cab!!

[crossy]

Oh yeah, I just had one here that the guy made a muffler CLAMP from a piece of tow chain.those are the kind that really make me giggle because a muffler clamp is only $2. ???
crossy

[PhilaTruck]

Hey Crossy- remember the wooden shim on the driver door on my piece o junk? I know you use shims to frame a door, but come on!

Just a bit of background- I bought my truck from Crossy. No I don't think he did the carpentry.