Show us the hack work you've found

[BobinVirginia]

On 10/2/2022 at 1:55 PM, Grimy said:

"Field Expedients" get us home, and should not be considered "hack work," which has at least a semi-permanent connotation, but personally I would have been absolutely impelled to cut the tails off the zipties--OCD, I know....

Yes!! 
Zip ties are useful but, not trimming them is uncivilized!!! 
Cut flush and flat so not to cause a cut hazard either! 
😂😂😂

Edited November 13, 2022 by BobinVirginia (see edit history)

[Frank DuVal]

6 hours ago, BobinVirginia said:

Cut flush and flat so not to cause a cut hazard either! 

As a person that uses these a lot in work, electrical/electronic, the only way to cut them so as to not be a slice your arm hazard is to NOT cut them at all. 

 

There is a way using the proper tensioning/cutting tool and then follow that with careful filing, but who has that time? The tool alone works sometimes, but diagonal cutting pliers, etc., leave a sharp edge, and I leave blood all over my work later.

[kbeach]

Not sure if this falls under the heading of "Hack Job" or "Repair of Necessity" during the depression or WWll. But in any event this is what we found during the inspection of our 1928 Stutz. From it's history, we know that it was still in service in April 1948, when it was traded in on some farm equipment, where it sat, and the last attempt to drive it was August 1953. My guess is that the spring for the timing chain tensioner had broken and the fix was to braze the spring back together (interesting that this was done without destroying the spring temper), and as a safety measure, a block of wood was carved to fit into the oil pan to keep the chain from dropping down and causing the engine to jump out of time should the spring break again. Judging from the wear on the block of wood and the amount of petrified oil/dirt we had to chip of off the engine, this repair worked very well for many miles/years.

 

 

[kbeach]

One more from another 1928 Stutz.

Problem:  What to do when the oil pressure is low or non existant because of the thick sludge in the bottom of the oil pan.

Solution: If it is a car with an external oil pump its very simple and easy. No need to remove the pan and clean up the mess. First, drain oil from pan then disconnect line that runs from the pan to oil pump. Second, remove the 4 nuts from the oil pick up screen and remove. Third, using a 1/4 or 3/8" punch, carefully enlarge the holes in the pickup screen. Forth, replace pickup screen, connect oil line and refill with oil. Looks like using new oil is not a requirement. 

And there you have it. In just a matter of a few minutes you now have oil pressure. I think this is a true hack job.

 

[JFranklin]

Solvent was too expensive back then!

[Bimus]

Custom u bolts on a 1942 GMC  CCKW  front axle .

[Frank DuVal]

Bimus, that's not hack, that's brilliant!👍

[Restorer32]

My all time favorite still has to be a '60s car that came into the shop.  Someone had installed a tow hitch that bolted thru the underside of the bumper and had a long heavy steel brace that extended several feet under the car and was meant to be attached to the frame of the car.  What did they do?  Simple. Just stick weld the brace to the bottom of the gas tank.  I kid you not.

[28 Chrysler]

Would this be considered a hack ?

[rocketraider]

I think the hitch welded to the fuel tank just got dethroned...

[Frank DuVal]

Depends, does it work? Does the vehicle drive as well as before the repair? If yes, then not a hack, but... the JB Weld should have been applied all around the crack to make it look better (better? Ha!🤣) so still a hack.

[Fordy]

My Hupp came to me with heavy mooring rope for inner tubes. At least no flats. One of the tires was also 2 cut up motorcycle dirt tires held together with boot laces.

It was cut down to a truck and used on a cattle station 500 miles from any decent town so parts supply may have been an issue. 

[Angelfish]

6 hours ago, Fordy said:

My Hupp came to me with heavy mooring rope for inner tubes. At least no flats. One of the tires was also 2 cut up motorcycle dirt tires held together with boot laces.

It was cut down to a truck and used on a cattle station 500 miles from any decent town so parts supply may have been an issue. 

My son and I rode our bicycles to a vacant lot we were working on.  Upon arrival he had a flat tire.  There was a heavy hemp rope looped around a fence post so he cut it to length and wrapped it inside the tire.  Got him back home.  Sometimes it's hack, sometimes it's necessity.

[SC38dls]

Sometimes hacking can be MacGyverism’s in the real world. 
dave s 

[alsancle]

I have never seen this before, nor the guys in the shop, but I was told after the fact that this was a common fix for guys that have no money.    The plug wire was broke so someone took a screw and embedded it in one end of the wire and screwed it in to the other.   The car actually ran well.

[rocketraider]

😳

[EmTee]

Well, it's better than replacing it with a lamp cord...

[Str8-8-Dave]

This is an early picture of my 31 Buick 8-66S when I first brought it home in April of 2018.  I thought the windshield glass was particularly clear, guess what- no windshield.  That sure is pretty red paint on the instrument panel, don't cha think?  Too bad they were all black.  Then there's the 1932 gear shift lever with the extra bend in it.  But it gets even better, the emergency brake lever is also 1932 and was installed in front of the instrument panel where it would prevent you from ever accidentally driving the car with the emergency brake applied because when you tried to apply it, it crashed into the instrument panel and could not be pulled far enough back to apply the brakes.  And then there are the pedals, clutch and brake from a real 1932 car, starter pedal home-made.  Oh- and that's a genuine wood gas pedal on the floor, connected to an assortment of improvised throttle linkage that came with the incorrect heat riser.  And that's just what can be seen from one photograph.  I won't bore you with the rest...  I took the liberty of correcting a few things the previous restorer umm missed...

 

Before.  I still have that wonderful wood accelerator pedal as a reminder of where we have been.  At least there was no windshield glare...

 

After

 

 

Edited May 21, 2023 by Str8-8-Dave (see edit history)

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

On 12/19/2022 at 12:28 PM, 28 Chrysler said:

Would this be considered a hack ?

 

 

  More to the point, how in the world did that break?

 

  Ben

[Hans1]

no pictures here /  Starter with ovalized holes to make a different starter try to work. When the proper  starter installed, found the  flywheel gear was replaced with a thicker one. Thus the starter gear wont mesh, just grinds face of flywheel gear...........not to mention broken pressure plate bolts........opening water jacket cover - water cavity absolutely FULL of multicolored layers of dirt, antifreeze, and what ever.........well it is a project contuining.

[JACK M]

48 minutes ago, Ben Bruce aka First Born said:

 

 

  More to the point, how in the world did that break?

 

  Ben

It looks to me that it was cut with a plasma cutter.

Probably needed to space the transmission back a bit for some reason.

I would have spaced with washers. Which would have been my "hack".

[rocketraider]

There's a thread going on an Oldsmobile forum that made me think of this one. 1966 Toronado that an amateur "electrician" got hold of. I don't see how that car hadn't burned to the ground. Hope you can view it.

 

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums/toronado-27/66-toro-previous-owner-syndrome-175561/

 

Probably a good thing the current caretaker is an electrical engineer!

 

I'm sure we here have discovered more hacks since this thread faded out in spring. And with winter projects cranking up they're bound to show up. Keep 'em coming!

 

Yah, this one and the "identify this tool" thread in "What Is It" have been fun.🙂