Roadside hacks, patches, and jury-rigs you have done

[lump]

Another post about a photo of an antique car with a water tank instead of a radiator reminds me of a trip I made to Hershey several decades ago. Rather than hijack that thread, I've started a new one for all of us to tell our stories of "emergency repairs" we've had to make along the road (the crazier, the better!)

 

I was a young aspiring vendor at the time, and had acquired a huge amount of very heavy steel and iron vintage car parts to sell. So I rented the biggest U-Haul trailer on their lot and loaded it to the rafters. As I had no truck, I put a trailer hitch on my daily driver, (a 1976 Cutlass Supreme). The load was really heavy, but I was young and just tried to drive carefully. All went well until I reached the mountains of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. That Cutlass overheated every time we climbed one of those huge, long hills. You could watch the temperature gauge racing to the redline every time.

 

After letting it cool down after about the 2nd time, I got off at an exit, and stopped at an auto parts store. I bought a whole roll of windshield wiper hose. Then I disconnected my factory windshield washer hoses and connected long pieces of my new hose to the washer pump. I zip tied two hoses at various points to reach the front of the car and ended both hoses directly in front of the radiator. Then I filled a large, discarded plastic jug I found with water, and wedged it under the hood near the battery. I rerouted the pickup hose from the washer pump into this new larger "reservoir," and hit the road. 

 

When we started up the next long uphill grade, I waited until the temperature gauge started moving pretty quickly, and then hit the wiper switch. Instantly a cloud of steam passed under our car, and the gauge began falling rapidly. I prayed that the distributor wouldn't get wet and foul out, but the car ran fine. The steam cloud seemed to cause a bit of panic among other drivers, and one of them shouted out his window to me that my car was on fire! 

 

Then at every exit or rest area I got out and refilled my new reservoir.  I could climb two small hills or one long mountain per water fillup. My wife was embarrassed, but also slightly impressed. When we got to Hershey, I made a point of discounting all the heavy stuff! 

 

So, what kind of road-side "hacks" have you had to do to keep rolling down the road? (I love true stories like this!)

[m-mman]

Dad rigged up the same evaporation cooling for our family 1964 Chevrolet Bel Aire wagon towing a overloaded 19 foot Coastline travel trailer.   5 gallon Jerry can under the hood, electric fuel pump to move the water, a copper tube across the top of the radiator.  Used it for years however the water and evaporation eventually ate away at the solder on the upper tank.  Had to spend an extra day somewhere getting the seam resoldered. 

[m-mman]

Not me but a friend.  
1949 Ford pickup. Three speed on the floor.  Driving on surface streets, at an intersection the drive line suddenly locked up! 
went into the corner gas station, borrowed their floor jack to lift the rear wheels and maneuver it out of traffic.  
 

pulled the floor and top of the transmission to discover that the first-reverse slider gear had broken in two and was jammed in the box.  
 

with the wheels off the ground and with some prying he pulled both halves of the gear out of the box. 
 

he then bolted the top back on and proceed home using second and high.  

[Jubilee]

  Sixties. Wintertime. Western Kansas, middle of night, middle of nowhere. Hadn’t seen another vehicle for over an hour. Wife and two small children in car.

   Road was dry, but wind was howling. Ran over tree branch in road. Lights dimmed, water temperature started climbing. Fan belts destroyed.
  Made belts out of wife’s panty hose. Made it to next small town driving slowly. Ran engine for heat rest of night until gas station opened up next morning.

  Have carried spare belts in every vehicle since then.

[Ron Green]

Almost midnight in the middle of rural PA with zero businesses or houses around my 72 Corvette broke a fan belt and started overheating. With very limited tools I used electrical tape to tape it back together, loosened the alternator and limped it home 15 miles. 

[SC38dls]

In college before interstates at U of I four of us went to Peoria for a basketball weekend and parties. Coming back to Champagne we were all broke. Every time we saw a gas station we pulled in and emptied the gas pump hose into the cars tank. We made it most of the way when a cop saw us and turned on the red lights. After hearing our story he gave us $2 and followed us to an open station. It was enough gas to use the car for a few days. Those were the days of 23-26 cent gas per gallon. 
dave s 

[lump]

wow! Several amazing stories already. I love it! 

 

[jrbartlett]

Vietnam, Navy Seabees. Sent to pick up two diesel-powered rubber-tired mobile cranes at dock in Saigon. Locals had stolen battery and generator from one, and generator from the other. Looked around on ground for stray nuts and bolts and used them to relocate belt tensioners and restore just a little pull on the still-really-loose belts to drive the water pumps, and found a piece of thin, bare uninsulated wire that one of my guys used as a jumper cable. The wire got red hot so he had to hold it with water-soaked rags to jump start the one without a battery. Got both running and drove them at idle 15 miles down the road to our base south of Saigon. They did not overheat as we apparently had just enough water circulating. 

[Glen Andrews]

January of 1971, semester break, my roommate and I drove from Lancaster, Pa to Ft Lauderdale in my '56 VW karmann ghia coupe. The car was running a little rough so I took it to a VW dealer in Ft Lauderdale for a basic tuneup, points, condenser, rotor, maybe plugs, so the service guy tells me I had zero compression in #4 and he could fix it in a couple of hours; two poor college students in a 15 year old VW, yeah right. I declined the valve job and paid for their tuneup, on a credit card. So we left there on a Friday around noon and about 11 hours later we were in Santee, SC, and the engine was barely running so we checked into a little motel.  I got up Saturday morning, popped the distributor cap off and one side of the points was burned away and were almost closed. There were three gas stations there and no one had points to fit, told me there was a VW dealer in Orangeburg about 30 miles away so I caught a ride in the back of a pickup truck, there was a cold snap and the temp was about 30 degrees. Got to the VW dealer, got points and condensor, hitch hiked back to Santee. The only tools I had were a small adjustable wrench and a screwdriver with a phillips on one end and a flat blade on the other, my roommate smoked so I said give me your matches, set the points that way (.013 basically) put the cap on, the car fired right up made it back to Lancaster, PA late that night. The car ran fine so I did not readjust the points and it was still running fine when I sold it in June of 1971.

I have told the story to my kids and other people and usually end with "try doing that with these newer type cars." So for a few years now this old car guy carries a AAA card in my wallet for the newer type cars in the driveway.

[CarFreak]

Mid 1980s, purchased a 1964 Cadillac convertible to drive home to the Midwest.  Also had two more cars on the trip; one tow-barring the other.  

 

Since the Cadillac would be towing a 10' enclosed Jartran (like Uhaul) trailer, added some Monroe air shocks before we left.  Got as far as Provo UT, southern part of the state when the rear end dropped - one of the air shocks blew.  Due to the weight of the trailer and weak coil springs, the car was leaning enough that the rubber gasket on the outside of the air shock was rubbed through. 

 

Checked the local parts stores - nothing.  One of the stores called their Salt Lake City warehouse and yep, the shock was available but it would be 3 or 4 days to have shipped.  Found a spot to leave the Cadillac & trailer, plus the other towed car.  Drove to SLC; was there the next morning when the warehouse opened, got the new shock and returned to Provo.  On the way back, stopped at a lumber store to buy a 2x4 which we had cut in short lengths.  New shock installed, 2x4 pieces shoved into the coil springs and we were back on the road.  

 

Cadillac also had a cracked timing cover so it used about FIFTY (50) quarts of oil on the 2300 mile trip. 

[3macboys]

Does the tomato soup can on the exhaust pipe count?  Lasted for a few months before I had to bite the bullet and do the proper repair.

[Matt Harwood]

I put this in the other post on hack work, but here's my recent field installation of an electric fuel pump so I could get home:

 

  

[3macboys]

23 minutes ago, Matt Harwood said:

I put this in the other post on hack work, but here's my recent field installation of an electric fuel pump so I could get home

She Ain't Pretty She Just Looks that Way - Matt, Melanie may get the reference.  Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do to make it work and get down the road.

[yachtflame]

In 1992 my wife and I drove from NH to Tampa in her “retired” and severely overloaded Toyota Celica. We took every tool we had. We had bought a burned out 65’ motor yacht and we’re restoring into a charter yacht. Do to the over stressing, the radiator developed a leak just as we got to Tampa. The marina was situated between two crack projects and I didn’t want either of us to overheat and sit in an unsavory neighborhood. Every penny and hour was spent on the yacht restoration so I didn’t want to put a new radiator in a car we were going to just junk soon. 
 I resolved the problem by rerouting the rubber tube going from the window washer tank and slipped it over the radiator overflow tube. This way if the car started to overheat, we just pushed the washer button and had two quarts of water to put into the radiator enabling us to get home.

 This worked for three years until we finished the yacht and sold the car for $300. Was offered $350 but talked him down because the car wasn’t worth $350.

[jpage]

Back  about 1985, shortly after I had finished restoration on my '28 Model A pickup, I was driving around some back roads in my area. I was about 30 miles from my home and in a rather unpopulated area, when, all of a sudden, the exhaust pipe fell from the manifold making all kind of racket. I stopped an inspected the issue and found that one of the bolts on the clamp came loose and it fell off. At that time I had no tools or extra parts onboard so I was in a predicament! Fortunately, I broke down just past the only house I had seen in 5 miles, so I walked over to seek help. Wouldn't ya' know, no one was home! I then spied about 20 plastic 5 gallon buckets lying in the yard and  the lightbulb went off. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so I procured one of the buckets, removed the metal handle, and wired up the exhaust the best I could. Jury rigged, but it got me home! I doubt that they even missed the bucket!

Edited November 16, 2022 by jpage (see edit history)

[zdillinger]

I once tried to reattach a muffler with a roll of duct tape... the experience gave the title for my third book... "Duct Tape is Flammable".

 

[SC38dls]

I would rename it “Duck tape is very flammable” but that depends on one’s personal experience I suppose. 
dave s 

[Marty Roth]

On 11/15/2022 at 12:45 AM, Jubilee said:

  Fan belts destroyed.

  Made belts out of wife’s panty hose. Made it to next small town driving slowly.  

  Have carried spare belts in every vehicle since then.

Teenager at the Jersey shore with a first date-

Fan belt broke on my '49 Pontiac convertible, and we were already late getting her home.

Used her stocking as a fan belt, got her home to her "WAITING" parents, and explained the situation and the "FIX".

One parent was pleased with my ingenuity,

the other was NOT ....

I'll let you figure out which was which,

but I was allowed to continue dating the young lady.

 

(to this day, I carry as spares, each of the parts replaced during my most recent maintenance)

[JACK M]

Maybe this counts.

Out in my old boat with a couple of drinking buddies, probably not much out of high school.

Stupid thing sheared a pin. (its actually made to shear, if you hit an obstacle the propeller pin will shear saving more costly parts). (and yes a guy should carry spares)

We were on the upper Willamette river where there is not much going on but farming.

We paddled to shore and looked for a more dilapidated fence post.

I have carried a Leatherman or similar for most of my life and was able to pull a nail out of a less sturdy fence post and bend it into place to get home.

The next beer tasted pretty good.

[pkhammer]

  Riding with a buddy on the blue Ridge Parkway about 40 years ago, his old flat-fendered Willys Jeep suddenly shut off. A little investigation on the side of the road revealed the fuel pump had died. We scrounged an empty gallon jug and a piece of fuel hose out of the back of the Jeep and proceeded to siphon gas from the tank into the jug. Then with me standing (top off) and holding the jug in front of the windshield, we ran the hose between the cowl and hood and was able to connect it to the carburetor after getting the flow started with more siphoning. I think we had to refill the jug a few times before we got home but we made it!

  Another buddy of mine swallowed a mouthful once when siphoning. He burped up gasoline fumes for a while but was ok. 

Edited November 16, 2022 by pkhammer
bad wording (see edit history)

[SC38dls]

In 63, senior year of high school, I was driving my older brothers 54 Chevy 6 cylinder 3 on the tree. Raining cats and dogs so I drop my girl in front of the gym for the Friday night basketball game. Pulled the shift down into first and it fell to my knee, tried second and it went all the way over the column. Got out and pushed it off to the side and opened the hood to find the 4 bolts holding the top of the linkage box had fallen out. My brother barely knew where gas was supposed to be put in a car and raising the hood for oil or maintenance was unheard of. So soaking wet on a Friday night date I went into the gym and asked my date and any other girl around if they had any Bobby pins? With a gym full of teenage girls in the mid sixties you would think that would be easy. I finally got three of them. Went back out fixed the linkage, drove home and changed and made it back to the gym in time to pickup my date. What we did after is between her and myself. 
dave s 

Edited November 16, 2022 by SC38dls (see edit history)

[pkhammer]

1 hour ago, SC38dls said:

What we did after is between her and myself.

My guess is went and purchased some bobby pins to keep in the glove box. 🤔

[1wonton]

A few years ago, I took my 1919 Pierce Arrow truck on a hundred-mile run, near the end of my trip the truck started missing and sputtering so I pulled over into a small park off the side of the road.  I couldn't figure out what was wrong at first.  I guessed maybe the points on the mag had closed up but after taking off the cover they looked ok.  After about 30 minutes of trying as many magic words as I could think of (that didn't work), I finally looked again closely at the point block on the magneto.  I saw that the part that held the adjusting screw was broken so that the point screw contact would not hold in position.  Since there was no Pierce Arrow dealer nearby, I was at a loss as to how to fix the problem.  Several interested experts came by as I was working and offered many helpful suggestions based on their years of antique car experience, but I was finally able to get rid of them by expressing my heartfelt appreciation and using several more magic words (that did work).  While I was looking up in the sky and asking, "why me?" a little fat kid came by on his bicycle, looked at the problem and said, "why don't you use some chewing gum and stick the little block back together?"  Dumb kid, I said, but before he left, he gave me his chewing gum and after he was gone and no one was looking I stuck that broken point block together, adjusted the points, gave the old beast one crank was headed home without another miss.  Dumb kid.

[hellerc]

Vietnam, 1st Inf Div.  My Maintenance Contact team  recovered an M-113, Armored Personnel Carrier that had encountered a land-mine.  Two of the road wheels had been blown off  and the fix was one that required Depot level repair (Japan).  The road wheels were attached to the aluminum hull by Rosan steel inserts threaded into the aluminum.  Since we had the inserts that were forced out of the hull, I figured we could try and replace them.  We cut strips from Hamm's aluminum beer cans (we had an abundant supply) and were able to insert them into the enlarged holes in the hull and reset the steel inserts.  The APC was returned to duty with the other damaged parts replaced from supply.  The vehicle was used for the rest of the operation.

[PFitz]

1970, driving upstate at night on NY 87 my hand-me-down 62 Chevy Biscayne over heated. Found there were some pin holes in the radiator. Miles from an exit I found a swampy drainage ditch with bug infested water. Refilled the radiator from that and went on my way. Next morning, I looked, and the leaks had stopped. Seems the dead bugs make good stop-leak.

 

Drove it for a couple of more years and then my father sold it when I went off to basic training. Never did have to get the radiator fixed. 

 

Buddy was driving his 1930 Club Sedan to a car show when it started to run very rough. He pulled over and found that the thumb screw needle of the Stromberg updraft carb's adjustable high speed jet had fallen out. Dug around in his toolbox and found a pop rivet that fit into the packing nut of the jet body. Started it back up and it ran surprisingly well. Made it through all the day touring of the weeklong car show and then back home, all with that highspeed pop rivet.   😁

 

Paul

Edited November 20, 2022 by PFitz (see edit history)

[nsbrassnut]

Two instances that come to mind in the days before cell phones to call for help.

 

Back in 1982 I had a summer job helping around a Funeral Home. The owner liked old cars and had a 1930 Durant that I got to service and drive in the odd parade. Near the end of the summer he asked me to take it to a parade and show about 50 miles away on a Saturday and the next day I was due to fly out on a family vacation. On the way back after about 10 miles I was stopped at the stop lights and when I when to pull away there was a bang and rattle from underneath and a failure to proceed. One of the end caps from the rear U-joint broke off and dropped the drive shaft on the road. I was able to push it over into a parking lot on the corner. I was lucky the U-joint didn't fail going at any speed. Well no cell phone, didn't know anyone in that area, and no sign of a telephone booth nearby. What to do.

 

A couple weeks earlier I did some work on the car and replaced one of the U-joints and put some left over bits in my tool box, which I happened to carry along just in case. By the way, it was a replacement rear end at the time and used a standard cross U-joint with 4 bolt on caps with needle bearings. Well I found an end cap, two bolts and a couple of greasy needle bearing rollers. Just enough to put the U-joint back together and get the car serviceable. Got home a bit late, but made it, and got to fly out on time the next day. A few month later a more correct rear axle was found and installed on the car.

 

But the one that I will always remember. A few years later I was asked to drive a friends '62 Nova convertable as a follow car and follow the owner in his 1926 Dodge Fast 4 Sedan to a show about 60 miles from his house. It was a long day and getting dark when we headed back after supper. That evening we were driving along on a 4 lane divided highway at dusk with me behind with the better lights. That Dodge really ran well down the road and could cruise around 40 mph. About half way home his Dodge started to miss then quite entirely and he coasted to the side of the road. That time we had a minimal tool box with us, but forgot to carry a flash light. And again, a few years before cell phones were available. Manouvering the Nova around and shining the headlights only partially illuminated the engine bay but left most of it in dark shadow. We couldn't see well enough to figure out what was wrong. So we got into the Nova and drive to another collector's place a few miles away to borrow a light and some tools.

 

We got back to the Dodge around 11 pm when it was completely dark. Shining the light in the engine bay didn't show any problems. But when we took the distributer cap off the problem was obvious. The point breaker arm had snapped in the middle into two pieces!. Well, where to do you find a breaker arm for a 1926 Dodge at 11 pm?  Well some humming and haaing and brainstorming later we came up with an idea. Out of desperation we broke out part of an aluminum pop can and crimped it around the breaker arm. Then wrapped it with some solid copper wire and crimped and squeezed it together with a set of pliers. Then put it in the distributer, replaced the cap, said a prayer and turned the key. It fired up and ran! Not well, but it ran. It ran well enough to limp home at about 30 miles an hour for the next 30 miles until we got it back to his house.

 

After that adventure I took the breaker arm and the dash plaque from the car show and mounted them onto a piece of wood for the owner as a trophy and momento of the trip.

 

Drive Safe

Jeff

PS. And carry a flash light in the tool box when driving at night.

 

Try those repairs on any modern car and see how far you get.  🙃

 

Drive Safe

Jeff

[Paul Dobbin]

   On the 1984 Great American Race (Universal Studios to the Indy 500), we had 10 flat tires.  (The tubes came apart at the seams)  Then when we qot to the Indy

   Race Park across the street from the Indy track we had flat #10.   By that time we were out of tudes and patches,   I took took the wheel off and the tube out and   

   patched it with a McDonald's napkin and a tube of Super Glue, put it all back together and drove on.   Picked up the 3 man pit crew and drove the finish of the   

   race with la ap around the Indianapolis Speedway.   

   P. S.  The 17" tubes were from a major tire dealer in TN.   By the next race we were using radial motorcycle tubes.  (Now I use them in all our cars with tubes)

[Hans1]

A long time friend of mine, now past,  Vince Gayeski had several automobiles, 25 Dodge, 36 Desoto, Model A  and Model T. All were in the wedding parade to and from Church and reception hall.

 

I was driving the Dodge. The wedding was in  St. Clair Shores, 35 miles from my home in Dearborn. Of course no tools or any other items normally carried for old cars available.

 

 The Head lights on the Dodge quit and every thing came to a halt on way to reception hall in the dark. 

I previously had owned a 23 Dodge, had some knowledge of the brand.

We obtained a large diaper pin and I put it thru the wires under the dash. We had lights!

After reception the pin was used again to get car home.

Memories..................from a long time ago.

I wonder where the two lovely daughters, both married, are now.

[Restorer32]

On 11/15/2022 at 8:31 PM, Glen Andrews said:

January of 1971, semester break, my roommate and I drove from Lancaster, Pa to Ft Lauderdale in my '56 VW karmann ghia coupe. The car was running a little rough so I took it to a VW dealer in Ft Lauderdale for a basic tuneup, points, condenser, rotor, maybe plugs, so the service guy tells me I had zero compression in #4 and he could fix it in a couple of hours; two poor college students in a 15 year old VW, yeah right. I declined the valve job and paid for their tuneup, on a credit card. So we left there on a Friday around noon and about 11 hours later we were in Santee, SC, and the engine was barely running so we checked into a little motel.  I got up Saturday morning, popped the distributor cap off and one side of the points was burned away and were almost closed. There were three gas stations there and no one had points to fit, told me there was a VW dealer in Orangeburg about 30 miles away so I caught a ride in the back of a pickup truck, there was a cold snap and the temp was about 30 degrees. Got to the VW dealer, got points and condensor, hitch hiked back to Santee. The only tools I had were a small adjustable wrench and a screwdriver with a phillips on one end and a flat blade on the other, my roommate smoked so I said give me your matches, set the points that way (.013 basically) put the cap on, the car fired right up made it back to Lancaster, PA late that night. The car ran fine so I did not readjust the points and it was still running fine when I sold it in June of 1971.

I have told the story to my kids and other people and usually end with "try doing that with these newer type cars." So for a few years now this old car guy carries a AAA card in my wallet for the newer type cars in the driveway.

Where did you go to school in Lancaster?  College?  Restorer32/F&M class of '71.

[Restorer32]

Had a '55 140 Jag come into the shop.  Amazingly it did not leak oil on the floor, very unusual for any British sports car.  Turned out someone had fashioned a sheet metal tray to hold a folded diaper under the leaky spots. Owner had us change the diaper.

[Glen Andrews]

11 hours ago, Restorer32 said:

Where did you go to school in Lancaster?  College?  Restorer32/F&M class of '71.

Millersville State College, 1971;  at that time we lived in some apartments in Lancaster I think they were on Wabank or Wabash street. I'm originally from Reading, my roommate was from Denver (PA), lost track of him around 1975, I've been in NC in and around Raleigh for fifty years. Thanks, take care, Glen

 

[31nash880]

Small world. Lived in West Chester pa as a kid. Grandparents lived in York. Moved to Raleigh ,NC  in Jr high. Now live outside winston salem

[Bryan G]

My first longish drive in my '49 New Yorker, about 90 minutes one-way. About a half-hour into my return flight, I have to merge onto a highway. As I gun it, there's a tremendous backfire and then I lose power. The old straight 8 was still running, sort of, maybe on just a few cylinders. We coast off to the side of the road (across from the state prison!) I pop the hood and after fiddling around for a few seconds it was clear: the distributor cap had popped off! (the little spring clips weren't strong enough?) It was hanging on just enough for some spark to jump, somehow. In the process the center button in the cap had broken off and was no longer contacting the rotor. Well, I gave it a try anyway, and the gap was small enough that it would run, though just barely. I could gradually creep up on about 40 mph. I limped into the next town, where there was an AutoZone. (might as well have been a taco stand!) It didn't take much of a google search to let me know there wasn't a distributor cap for this thing within an hour; worse, when I pulled it back off to check things out, I managed to somehow crack the rotor. The sun was going down. I bought the only helpful thing I could find, some Krazy Glue. I glued the broken rotor to the shaft, then, fishing around inside the distributor, found a piece of the button, and glued it to the broken off piece in the cap. This bought me about 5 more mph, and enough confidence to stop and buy my wife some iced coffee along the way! And that's why I keep a spare cap & rotor (and tube of Krazy Glue) in the Chrysler.

[Restorer32]

5 hours ago, 31nash880 said:

Small world. Lived in West Chester pa as a kid. Grandparents lived in York. Moved to Raleigh ,NC  in Jr high. Now live outside winston salem

My family has been in York since before 1820.

[TTR]

While I generally try to avoid any kind of "patch work" jobs and if necessary, use them only as a "roadside emergency" solution, I'm actually doing one right now.

My recent inquiry about availability of reproduction fuel tank for my PB must've jinxed the old one and it started seeping through soldering around the drain plug area.

It's now obvious I need to fabricate a new tank, but don't have time for such project until late December or January at earliest and due to a few pre-planned driving events within next several weeks, I decided to pull the tank, clean & prep offending area and patch it with epoxy composite.

Hopefully, it'll get me through the holiday season or at least until I get the new tank made.

 

 

[TTR]

On 11/21/2022 at 5:13 AM, Restorer32 said:

Had a '55 140 Jag come into the shop.  Amazingly it did not leak oil on the floor, very unusual for any British sports car.  Turned out someone had fashioned a sheet metal tray to hold a folded diaper under the leaky spots.

I seem to recall similar setup long ago under a late fifties/early sixties Chrysler Corp car of some sort, except the "diaper" was a large (soaking wet) pet bed/mattress(?) supported by a large metal mesh attached to front suspension torsion bars with bailing wire.

Owner asked me to leave it alone. 🙄

Edited November 23, 2022 by TTR (see edit history)

[Frank DuVal]

1 hour ago, TTR said:

epoxy composite.

Hopefully, it'll get me through the holiday season or at least until I get the new tank made

Done right this will last longer than you need! I used "Slick" one of the old heavyweight plastic fillers ("Bondo") to patch a 70 Buick Estate Wagon tank bottom that started leaking on my driveway one night. Lasted 15 years with NO leaks  until I thought I would "do it right" and sent the tank to a radiator shop. Since "Slick" or any other heavy weight plastic filler was no longer available, I had to solder copper patches over most of the tank this time. Live and learn.

[TTR]

32 minutes ago, Frank DuVal said:

Done right this will last longer than you need! 

Possible, but hopefully I "need" a reliable tank for another 20-30+ years and therefor I hope to make a new one sooner rather than later, hopefully within 2-3 months.

Besides, having the old tank out now for this "temporary" patch job afforded a perfect opportunity to document all its measurements and specs, making the eventual fabrication of the new one much easier and hopefully without having to remove the old one until the new is ready to replace it. 🤞

Edited November 24, 2022 by TTR (see edit history)