Spotted a thread on another forum about bodge/get you home type repairs, its been running a while with not too many replies, been locostbuilders I'm sure the thread will get more replies on here......

I liked this one though, the guy broke his gear linkage going too a show, bought the battery clamp fitted it and got home, he actually says its still there.......

In the locost I guess using my shoe laces as a throttle cable is my best too date, whats yours....... ? I have been known too straighten a drive shaft with a 14lb hammer, hold a steering rack in cable ties, change a cosworth head gasket in the middle of a field, don't get me started on banger racing fixes, two bolts will pass as a uj on a prop shaft though........
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On one of my mini's the throttle return spring broke so i had to use all i could find which was a rubber band, worked a treat and was very locost. Also used a kit kat wrapper when a fuse blew, another locost idea.

Infact i would go as far to say that mini owners were and still are very locost orientated.

I used to have a pair of Mole grips as a drivers door handle for many years, at least I knew where to find them.

Once had an old mini with an electric fuel pump that failed in Lowestoft ( when shops didn't open on a Sunday ) Connected up the manually operated windscreen washer pump and spent the trip back to Cambridge pumping fuel into carb Thumb ached for a week afterwards

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Originally posted by rusty nuts
Once had an old mini with an electric fuel pump that failed in Lowestoft ( when shops didn't open on a Sunday ) Connected up the manually operated windscreen washer pump and spent the trip back to Cambridge pumping fuel into carb Thumb ached for a week afterwards

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I used a nice mahogany door wedge that i nicked from the pub i was staying at and used it to wedge in where my engine mounting rubber used to be!

Hammered it in with the edge of a thick glass ashtray that was on one of the beer garden tables and retained it with a cable tie that was actually in my not so comprehensive tool kit

This repair saw me 75 miles home and saved my engine mounting brackets too

Last year I went on a work trip to Iran collecting some data on a truck. The driver allowed a few too many revs downhill in the middle of nowhere and the engine spat out a follower, punching a hole in the cover. So me and a colleague had the rocker cover off, managed to get the follower back in place and reset the clearances by feel - they were all over the place so we did them all. Managed to find some glue to stick the bits of cover back in place. Ran perfectly afterwards - not bad as neither of us had done anything with truck engines before.

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Originally posted by rusty nuts
Once had an old mini with an electric fuel pump that failed in Lowestoft ( when shops didn't open on a Sunday ) Connected up the manually operated windscreen washer pump and spent the trip back to Cambridge pumping fuel into carb Thumb ached for a week afterwards

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Back when I was running a mini and had no cash I ran with no rad for weeks and used to drive through heavy traffic to work. When I eventually got round to fitting a s/h rad it was fine just needed a thermostat!!!

Dont like the close proximity of those Leccy connections to the gear linkage..... Zaaaaapppp FIRE... Bale out!!!


Seriously, its a bit close to moving parts, and not that well insulated.

not really a bodge but fitts the question.

Landrover 2 1/4 would not tick over or rev well at all. as it had been green laning must have picked some crap up in the SU.

Full chant ( or as high as it would go ) beer mat over the intake. sucks neat fuel and hopefully the blockage. in this case it was due for a tune up but the owner cancelled as it was just crap in the su.

Racing bodges wont start as some make me cringe these days ( split fuel tanks ect ).

regards agriv8

I recall screwing an M6 roofing bolt through a holed TZR 125 piston at a race meeting. I then had to pack the spark plug with washers to stop the bolt head from closing up the plug gap.

Quite mild but had to strap up a loose big more mini exhaust system with some domestic wiring cable after it fell off when driving around a posh part of Durham soon after passing test.

How about using a belt to keep an exhaust on attached!
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Used the wifes posh stockings for a fan belt on the way to a wedding with my beetle

Just thought of another - a bit stupid though.
Years ago had an old Mk3 Escort (1.1 pop). On way to Cornwall exhaust was blowing. Got progressively worse. It was holed where the tailpipe comes out of the back box. To quieten it down i tied an old cotton rag around the tail pipe. It worked for a while until we got into heavy traffic on motorway and were crawling along in the hardshoulder. It was then that i spotted the smoke. I had to pull over sharpish onto some gravel and pull the rag off quickly. Luckily it was just smouldering so fell off easily.
Once at destination i managed to get some paste to bodge it up and get us home which worked a lot better.

Brother's Triumph 2000 with broken driveshaft. We made a wire 'bearing' to stop the broken end from flailing and towed it round the car park to see if it worked. Stopped, brother said you get in and see what you think. Set off round car park again, he stopped rather too quickly, I stood on the clutch not the brake (strange pedal offset and I'd never been in the car before) and had the interesting experience of stuffing his car into the back of mine. Triumph came off worse due to the tow bar on my Cortina, but we did get the Triumph home though.

Jeff

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Originally posted by jollygreengiant

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Originally posted by rusty nuts
Once had an old mini with an electric fuel pump that failed in Lowestoft ( when shops didn't open on a Sunday ) Connected up the manually operated windscreen washer pump and spent the trip back to Cambridge pumping fuel into carb Thumb ached for a week afterwards

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Sorry mate but my dad beat that feat hands down way back in 1943ish. Flying his spitfire out of malta to attack sicily, he arrived over sicily and released his drop tank. The tank dropped partialy and then hung up cutting of the fuel supply and the engine stopped. Reported to his boss and he told him to bale out. He had a look out of his nice warm, dry, cockpit and decided on option 2, ditch the aircraft. On the way down he worked out that he could pump fuel direct into the engine from the Ki-gas primer pump. Hey presto his engine fired. So he carried on hand pumping fuel in, all the way from Sicily to Malta.

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Should have bailed out . The best experiance ever! Mind you shame to have trashed a spit

The day after I got my number plates, the bolts that hold one of the half shafts to the hub came loose. 1 fell out, 3 backed out and the last two snapepd. With a full bag of tools in the boot, I manages to get 2 bolts in and drove home slowly.

Somehow I had forgotten to locktite those ones.