Best Get You Home Bodge

[Geo]

The post re VWs reminded me of a time when my mates VW packed up on a Sunday morning on our way home from Wales, I towed him to the nearest village only to discover you could buy anything for a Massey Ferguson tractor or a Tilly lamp but no Link Removed spares of any kind, his problem was the fuel pump,
The bodge I came up with was pump up 1 gallon garden sprayer that i bodged up to pump fuel, it worked out to maintain the correct pressure it was about 10 pumps to the mile, as of course we had to stop every 20 odd miles to re fill the container.
but hay we got home
What was your best bodge??
Your idea may just get somone home one day
Geo

 

[Don Madge]

Getting the girl friend to take off one of her stockings when the fan belt went on my 1932? Morris 8

It worked every time.

Don

 

[Tony Santara]

Once in Turkey my truck developed a radiator leak it was a split in the soldered seam at the top of the rad i filled it nearly full with watergot the engine up to tempreture then added a packet of curry powder to the warm water then topped up the water you have to keep the engine running warm untill the curry powder has time to circulate and find the leak when it finds the leak it congeals through the heat of the engine and seals the hole

if youve ever tried to clean burnt curry off a pan you'll know how hard it gets
any way it got back to the UK without leaking again

 

[johnsandywhite]

:Cool: Around 35 years ago? I was returning from a Motorcycle Trial with my bike in the back of a Mini Pick-Up. The Pump packed in. I'm in the middle of the East Yorkshire Moors miles from anywhere. What did I do? I emptied out the windscreen wash bottle. Siphoned some Petrol out of the tank and put it in the bottle. The Windscreen washer was a manual push pump. I rigged up some pipe to the carb and pumped fuel into it from the W/Washer bottle. I did 18 miles like that.

 

[camcondor]

In South Africa in an isolated rural area about 15 years ago a similar episode unfolded as JSW has just told, with my elderly Nissan Patrol miles from anywhere and no farmer's radio coverage / mobiles......however, I managed to drip feed petrol into the carb from a water bottle held up on the roof by a valiant employee who had to lie on the roof clutching the bottle (used an intravenous drip line to feed the petrol, and operated it like a siphon)and hanging on to the side for dear life as we bounced along over rocky river beds etc, miles from a road........managed about 30 miles like this before getting back to the surgery.......the employee survived to tell the tale as well!!

Laurie

 

[dazzer]

I joined the RAC!!!!

Works EVERY time:thumb:

 

[Tony Santara]

I was a member of the RAC once I broke down with a Plymouth Fury car miles from home after a night out all suited and booted
they told me too call a garage out and then send them the bill :Sad:
what was the point of joining
dosn't work everytime

 

[fordy]

Hi all we had a crankshaft shell big-end go on us in Spain in an old commer camper van, i got a selection of bearing shells from a place in Madrid where we were stuck on a building site, drained out the oil removed the sump and bodged the shells in that were to slack to say the least made up the gap with paper and bolted it up, refilled with the same oil and made it back to UK all be it a bit of a knock by the time we were on the A3 but the old bus got us home for christmas just, this is the biggest bodge i have ever done

FORDY

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[Keith and Debs]

Really simple one this but requires a whole new approach.. Once had the throttle cable snap on a mk3 triumph spitfire............ Solution....... use the choke cable.. took some getting used too, pull out the choke to accelarate push it in to slow down easy....... try it, but it got us home..

Keith n Debs

 

[sandyketton]

A throttle cable broke on a Ford Anglia years ago so I tied a bit of cord to the carb. The cord went through a gap in the bonnet, which wasn't shut properly, and into the car through an open window. Driving was a a bit hit and miss and as it was winter I had lots of complaints from my familybut at least we got home.
Unfortunately we can't do these sorts of things on modern computer controlled vehicles!

 

[zaskar]

This year's holiday.


1/.
Southbound Loire Valley.
Drivers door decided it didn't wanna shut no more.
Had to strip the latch and catch and rebuild.
Pain in the backside but cost nowt but mucky hands!

2/.
Southbound - Dordogne. Electric step jammed. Whist ffiona sunned herself, I stripped the motor and gearbox off the step to find that all the teeth had stipped on the crown wheel and bunged up the pinion wheel. Luckily, I realised that although the gears have teeth over the full 360 degrees, the box only uses 180 degrees of movemeent. Stripped and cleaned the gears, spun them 180 degrees and refitted. just like a new step motor now..........and cost nowt but mucky hands!

3/.
Arrival in the Pyrenees (actaully my cousins garden! - which was fun witha 34 footer!)
Exhaust rear tail pipe hanger snapped. Made a new one out of a tent peg........which reminds me, the buggers still on there!
Bit of fun with me 'ammers and cost nowt but mucky hands!

4/.
Northbound - Just north of Le Mans.
Pulled off the autoroute for a brew. On re-starting, horrible banging/pulsing from the intake manifold. Suspect sticking intake valve. Nursed her home with no smoke/warnings or anything and she's much quieter now although it's definately still there.
Result? No roof over our heads whilst she's in for at least one of the heads off which is beyond me on a CL in Cheshire. One week and so far £780 and she's still not back :-(

I don't know why, but I get the impression somebodies trying to tell us something!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-( :-( :-( :-(

 

[Geo]

Ouch Paul.
and still no Smileys
Geo

 

[zaskar]

Ouch Paul.
and still no Smileys
Geo

Hmmmmm, tell me about it! :-(

Just heard from West Midland.

Left hand head off, intake valve definately leaking. probably due to the hydraulic lifter failing which in turn was due to the oil failing on our French jaunt.
...........which is another story in itself which i think I'll entitle
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CORRECT OIL.

Give me a bit of time to type it up cos now i know the score, ALL RVers need to read it, actually, all 'vanners, full stop.

 

[pappajohn]

Getting the girl friend to take off one of her stockings when the fan belt went on my 1932? Morris 8

It worked every time.

Don

hi don,
i tried this trick on a vw beachbuggy in south africa.
now let's see, it lasted.........................Mmmmm.............................

as long as it took to start the engine then just shreded itself. probably 'cos it was turning a fan the size of a dustbin lid as well. :helpsos:
turns out it was a cracked dynamo pulley so i took an alternator pulley off a burnt out car on the roadside( many of these as folks fall asleep at the wheel and crash) and cobbled it onto the dynamo. got us to a dealer though.:thumb:
john.

 

[kijana]

Most old British cars were fitted with SU electric fuel pumps. They had this really complex jiggly top end, involving the diaphragm pushrod operating a contact breaker, and the 'points' frequently ceased to function, so the engine stopped due to fuel starvation. The solution was to open the boot (or bonnet, depending on model) and give the pump a sharp tap with a heavy object to free the points.

My brother in law solved this problem on his Morris Minor by running a bit of string through the bulkhead, over a bonnet web, and tying a bunch of nuts onto the end now dangling over the petrol pump. The inboard end of the cord terminated in a curtain ring against the engine bulkhead.

Every time the engine died, you grabbed the curtain ring, pulled it back about a foot, & let go. The nuts descended rapidly onto the pump, & jarred it back into life for a few more miles.

Worked well for months.

Another mate burnt his Triumph motorbike clutch out touring in Spain. He opened the casing, revealing the clutch plates. The friction elements were a series of cork inserts. So he acquired a load of wine bottle corks, sliced them up, and forced them into the holes in the clutchplates. Got him back to UK!

I was driving a Morris Minor over the downs in a winter gale when the bonnet catch failed, and the bonnet blew back over the windscreen. Tried slamming it shut, but kept happening. So I ripped out the wiring to the retro-fitted flashers at the back, and tied the bonnet shut with that.

The spark failed on a Lambretta I owned once, when I was driving in London. Magneto dead. So I bought a 9 volt bell battery and wired it across the contact breakers. Got me to college!

 

[johnsandywhite]

My brother in law solved this problem on his Morris Minor by running a bit of string through the bulkhead, over a bonnet web, and tying a bunch of nuts onto the end now dangling over the petrol pump.

That's rather ironic. A friend, his wife and I were returning from a Dance in Bradford (many years ago) when the throttle cable broke on his Mini Van. We passed some string through the bulkhead and fitted it to the carb lever. It got us home.

Back in 1969 when I was in the RSDT (Royal Signal Display Team) White Helmets. We were performing on a Sunday in Tidworth. We arrived there on a Friday evening. I bought a BSA Lightning off a team member and rode back to Catterick. Come early Sunday morning to set off back to Tidworth. The battery was flat. I pushed it up hill and down dale and eventually got it started. Rode of south on the A1. It started chucking it down with rain. Pulled into a Motel just north of Doncaster . Went into the Toilets and wrapped toilet paper, newspaper and any old thing around my legs to stop them from freezing solid. Further south I needed to get some Petrol. It had by now started hailing and snowing. Pulled off on a country road and came to an hairpin bend. Laid the bike over and slid straight into a ditch. Manhandled the bike out and pushed it the 2 miles into the village. Filled up and asked the garage to give me a battery boost to start the motor. On the road again travelled onto the A43 and through Oxford. Several miles later. The chain snapped. A bike passing the other way stopped to help but didn't have a spare chain link that would fit. Pushed the BSA up hill and down dale for several miles. Decided to leave the BSA at a Country Inn and hitch hike. I arrived just in time for the second show. The Team Captain took one look at me and said 'Don't bother with explanations. I can see you have been through an ordeal. Get changed'. I cannot remember a single thing about the show. I must have been on Automatic Pilot.

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[jacko]

added a packet of curry powder to the warm water then topped up the water you have to keep the engine running warm untill the curry powder has time to circulate and find the leak when it finds the leak it congeals through the heat of the engine and seals the hole

I did the same on my 'moggie thou' using custard powder

 

[motoroamin]

I love these kind of stories, of ingenuity and resourcefullness - very uplifting in todays' throwaway, 'if it's broke, blame somebody' society mindset.

My bodges pale into insignificance after the stories on here Keep 'em coming...

 

[Digger Driver]

My gearstick snapped off at Stafford services on the M6 and i ended up bolting a 24 mm spanner to the gearbox!
I could change up the gears but not down!
Got me to Morecambe though!

Sorry! It was a 1996 Ford Transit!