Impromptu Running Repairs

[john.wigley]

I was chatting earlier with a neighbour who only recently acquired a very nice Morris 1000 and the talk inevitably turned to cars. He remarked on how simple and easy it is to work on compared to a modern car.

We've all heard the one about using a pair of tights as an emergency fan belt, but it got me thinking about all the other innovative repairs that we used to carry out in order to keep our cars running or simply just to 'get home'.

I think my own most unusual was using blood-red nail varnish to get a car through its MOT. That was in '67 or 8, I think it was, when my first car, an 'upright' Ford Anglia failed on faded tail lights displaying pinkish-white light. A couple of coats painted inside the lenses restored the required red light output and an MOT pass was issued.

On another occasion a year or so later, I had complete brake failure on a '61 Mini when a front flexi burst. The RAC patrol topped up the fluid, clamped a Mole wrench firmly on the offending pipe, and followed me the few miles home. I'm not sure that we would get away with that one today!

What was your most unusual 'repair'?

Regards, John.

[Polestar Pete]

Back when I was a nipper, we used to have a Ford Cortina that would occasionally not start. The magical fix was reaching down through the engine bay and pressing down on a particular part.

It was just a loose connection on the starter motor, but to me it was just mystical and magic that I was allowed to do this. The real challenge came in not having your arm smeared in oil and grease while doing it.

I ended up inheriting the car as my own but never had this fixed.

[DaveNP]

My first Mini developed an electrical problem which meant the engine could die when the brakes were pressed, on a couple of occassions I basically 'hot wired' it to get it to run without the ignition switch being on properly so the brake lights didn't work (or the indicators). The problem turned out to be corrosion in the electrical control box on the inner wing which led to shorting if it was damp, I found the problem quite quickly when I tried hot wiring it again and smoke started to rise from the box
In my work as a truck driver I still carry a selection of cable ties as a 'get you home' fix for all sorts of things, a 'design flaw' of cable ties is that they are far stronger than they need to be for just holding wiring, but they do an excellent job holding on mudguards etc.

Thinking about it, in terms of MOTs, my best must be the Coke can wrapped around the exhaust (with the wording showing) to cover a hole as I couldn't get the exhaust replaced until after the MOT as it had to be specially ordered, it was in the days before written comments and advisories but the tester did comment on it.

[EssexExile]

Travelling back from Bordeaux in the Corsair there was a funny noise and the charging light came on. The crankshaft pulley, two halves spot welded together, had come apart. I found the other half in the ditch and on searching the local area found a farmer welding up some machinery. He welded the pulley back together for me. On refitting, the the fan belt was tight/loose/tight/loose but good enough to get home.

[philcox]

Not really relating to the topic (apology!) but reading this set me thinking to when I was living in Cornwall and my beloved all time favourite car a '69 Mk2 Triumph Vitesse was due its MOT. I checked everything over as much as my then limited knowledge allowed, and duly took it to a local village garage.
Thatched roof, one old pump and the 80+ owner lived at the back.
He was sat in the tiny 'office' and asked if everything was OK?
I replied yes I think so but I guess you will decide.
He puffed on his pipe asked registration details etc. and then asked for If memory serves me well I believe £4 and issued me the MOT Certificate!
Those were the days!

[Whyman]

I used to have a Wolsey 18/80 the posh land crad and it would not start most mornings in the winter.

If I changed one of the plugs it would fire straight away. Did not have to be a new plug just another plug?

[EssexExile]

Originally Posted by Whyman

I used to have a Wolsey 18/80 the posh land crad and it would not start most mornings in the winter.

If I changed one of the plugs it would fire straight away. Did not have to be a new plug just another plug?

I had a Vauxhall Carlton, if you moved it off the drive to get the other car out, when you went to put it back it would never start. Plugs in the oven for 15 mins (fan 180) did the trick.

[TeamG]

My first Cortina Mk5 wouldn’t start with the key, but a flat head screwdriver in the ignition worked fine.

Second car, Mk2 Escort had a dodgy starter. A pipe wrench to turn it an eighth of a rotation or so would be enough to work.

Army Landrover snapped a throttle and a clutch cable on the same journey. Both my bootlaces and two sticks over the wing mirrors allowed me (driver) and vehicle commander a joint control over it to get to Salisbury Plain from Newport.

My Jeep Cherokee had a knackered low pressure fuel pump. Easy start was 100x cheaper per can than a new fuel pump, so always started it with easy start.