Crazy Roadside Repairs and Other Shenanigans

[avgwarhawk]

Today as I sat on the side of the road waiting for my wife to bring me a gas can(yep ran out of gas in the 60 Electra) sigh....I thought I would start a thread on crazy roadside repairs and other shenanigans because of my experience this morning as I sat waiting. 

 

One gentlemen stopped and said his buddies have old cars.  He thought I may need help.  I said I ran out of gas, my wife is bring me a gas can. I thanked him for stopping.  He went on his way.   Not but a minute later a woman who was on the opposite side of the road waiting at a light to make a left screams out of her window, "What year is your car?".   I said, "It is a 60 Electra and it needs gas".   She says, "It is beautiful!"  Then drives off!   Did not even blink an eye or wonder if I needed help!  Oh well.....sigh...

 

Other roadside repairs...my pop always kept electrical tape in the car.  Always worked when a coolant hose would start leaking.  That tape got us to a repair shop more than once!    

 

Another trip we were on when I was a kid was a return from our vacation in Ocean City,  MD.  Our 73 Buick Estate wagon decided to drop it's muffler.  As we scraped along Rte 50 with a 455 growling like mad my dad decided to pull over and take a look.  He starting pulling and tugging on the muffler and pipes.  The Buick was rocking.  Eventually he broke it loose.  Dropped the muffler on the side of the road and roared off the the 4 barrel open wide.  He was a bit disgusted with the Buick.  She had a overheating problem all the time.  The muffler was just the icing on the cake.    

             

Edited March 17, 2023 by avgwarhawk (see edit history)

[Matt Harwood]

My '50 Chevy tow truck stranded me while I was out sorting it and I automatically assumed it was the fuel pump (it would idle but no power to move). The fuel pump was also the only part I hadn't rebuilt, so of course it was the issue. I walked to the auto parts store, bought an electric pump, a razor blade, and some wire clips, and rigged up this brilliant work of hack art:

 

 

Turned out that the float was stuck in the carburetor and a rap on the side of the fuel bowl with a stick fixed it. Either way, it got me home again.

[JohnD1956]

In 2008 we took the GS to Flint for the National Meet.  In my effort to service the car prior to leaving, I changed one vacuum hose which looked dry rotted.  After that change the car ran but it was obviously off.  Assuming it was water in the gas I loaded it up with dry gas and off  we went. It never got any better.  Along the way I had to run the AC for Linda and that of course, just made it worse.  Stop and go traffic on the Ohio Turnpike also made it worse. It began to run a bit hotter but the light never came on, and since we were caravanning, I just kept going. 

 

After a lunch break at some town on the off ramp of Rt 75 in Michigan, where it was somewhere in the 90* ambient temperatures, I had to make a pit stop for gas and the rest room.  I pulled up to the pump and then just had to go as a precedent.  When I got back to the car I filled up and hopped in only to discover I had no starter.  The lights all worked on the dash but turning the key was useless.  Damn!  All I could see was emptying the trunk to get the jack and the tools out to drop the starter and then trying to source a new one.  

 

Pushed it out of the way to the curb all the while cursing my bad luck.  Opened the hood and just for my own satisfaction, checked the battery terminals, but they were tight.  With my now over loaded anxiety at delaying the caravan, I had to make another pit stop.  Left the hood open, told the others to go on, and headed back inside. When I got back to the car I just looked at it and shuddered to think of all the work ahead of me.  Linda said, try it again.  I thought that was useless, but I would do so just so she would see that it was.  But the starter worked just fine and we were off. That whole meet I kept analyzing what could be wrong with that car.  It had not been any thing like that before I changed that vacuum hose.  So I checked the hose again and realized I used the wrong sized hose. It was loose on the fitting.  Before heading for home I stopped and got some of the right sized stuff.  A short piece later and all that was left was beating myself up over that stupid mistake. 

[EmTee]

Thanksgiving day 1981 driving south on I-5 headed to my aunt's house, my wife and I in her '71 Super Beetle which all of a sudden simply 'shut-off'...

I coasted to the shoulder of the highway and tried restarting the engine.  Crank, crank, crank...  No start.  Fortunately, I had my tool box up front in the trunk.  I opened the hood, pulled the coil wire to check for spark and there was none.  I then removed the distributor cap and used a screwdriver to open the points to look at the contacts.  As soon as I did that, the contact arm broke in half!  I did not have a spare set of VW points, but I did have a spare set of GM points (the adjustible type) for my Chevy in my toolbox.  I looked at the GM points and the arm was slightly longer, but I figured it was worth a try - so I disassembled the GM points and removed the broken arm from the VW contact set.  The GM arm fit on the VW pivot, with about 1/2 of the GM contact overhanging the VW contact on the base.  Despite that, they did make contact.  I used a zip-tie to attach the GM spring to the base and make electrical contact with the wire from the coil.  I just got the Frankenpoints installed as a CHP patrol car rolled-up behind me.  The officer asked me if I needed help and I explained that I had a plan and was nearly ready to see whether it would work.  He said "OK, I have to continue south about 10 miles and then turn around and head back this way."  I said that's good - I hope I'm gone before you get back here!  With that, he went on his way and I used a matchbook cover to set the point gap.  I put the distributor cap back on, hit the key and it started right up!  So, we lost about 30 minutes, but were back on our way and made it to my aunt's house for dinner.  Before heading back I bought two sets of points -- installed one set and put the second set in the glovebox.

[avgwarhawk]

I remembered another roadside what the heck.  It was with the 73 Estate Wagon again.  We went to pick up a 18 foot aluminum boat/motor out on the tip of Long Island NY.  One the way home the Buick once again overheated.  As we stood on the side of the road  figuring on a plan, a man pulled over.  He gets out of the car.  May dad notices the man has a pocket protector in his shirt pocket.  Sticking out of the protector is a tire pressure gauge, tread depth gauge and pens.  My old man thinks to himself, "Great. A mechanic. He stopped and will help". Nope, the guy asks what's wrong. Then asked for directions and left.  I learned a lot of colorful words from my father that day. As it would have it, there was a stream nearby we filled a jug with its water to replenish the boiled out coolant.  For the life off me I'll never understand why GM used a two core radiator for a 455.  But I certainly can say that my father with the help of this Buick expanded my vocabulary in ways that got me the wash your mouth out with soap treatment. 

[EmTee]

Sometime just before (or after) Thanksgiving in 1968 my family traveled to Florida for a two-week vacation in our '64 Grand Prix.  While driving along a highway somewhere in southern Georgia I remember hearing a loud 'BANG', followed by my father saying something and directing our attention to the trail of fluid following behind the car.  At the side of the road my father got under the car and used a screwdriver to cram a shop rag into a puncture in the gas tank.  Apparently there was a piece of metal debris in the road that was caught by the edge of a rear tire which propelled it into the bottom of the gas tank.  We made it a few miles to the next town as my brother, sister and I watched the gas gauge head toward "E".  Fortunately, there was an honest-to-goodness mechanic-owned repair shop in the town (the name of which I do not remember).  My father went in to explain our situation and a few minutes later came out with the keys to the owner's fairly new Dodge pickup truck.  We piled-in to the truck and my father drove us down the street to a diner, where we had some lunch as my father went back to assist with the repair.  As I recall, my father said they dropped the tank, drained the remaining gas, then filled the tank with water before the mechanic welded a patch to the gas tank.  All together, I think the delay was only 2 ~ 3 hours.  This event and the 'Magic Fingers' on the bed at a hotel in North Carolina are two of several memories of that particular trip that I can still picture in my mind. 

[JohnD1956]

I once bought a 1990 Oldsmobile for my son. He lived on the Massachusetts coast and we were to drive it out there. We were cruising along in the middle of Massachusetts when the engine started to rev up and there was no power to the drive wheels.  Well, at the time it seemed the highway mile markers were far and few between. The last milestone I remembered passing was the Blanford rest area. And thats what I told the 911 operator when I finally got a signal on my cell phone. Naturally we were more than 30 miles east of there.  I walked quite a distance either side of the location and could not find a mile marker so we sat hoping help would stop by. Eventually a highway worker must have saw us and called a tow truck. Having two cars we went to get a bite to eat near the wreckers service station. All together we were stopped for about two hours. 

When we went to get the car, and were expecting a blown transmission diagnosis,  the car was parked in a spot where it didn't  look like it could have been pushed.  I asked how they got it there?  You guessed it.  They drove it there. And couldn't find anything wrong with it.  I was so surprised.  Had to pay for the tow and we were back on the way.  And about 2 hours later, the exact same thing happened. Well I thought; it cooled off once and went again,  so I open the hood and we waited a half hour, where upon it moved and we made the rest of the trip.  About 6 months later we bought a GM rebuilt trans for that car and that fixed it.  I still have no idea what happened to that thing. 

[avgwarhawk]

I recall my roommate in college needing a car. His father in NJ found him a late 70s Mercury Marquis. His father said it was a peach of a car. He went to pick it up and drive it from NJ to MD. The car drive flawlessly.  Upon arriving at the college we all went to take a look. It was dark outside. We climbed in and sat a minute talking about it until my buddy says, "Why is my dashboard moving?".  No idea what he is talking about I asked him. He said the dashboard is moving.  He turns on the interior light and to our surprise there are cockroaches crawling in and out of the vents.  The car is then fumigated.  Not but two days later it starts overheating.  He is fed up. Can't understand how it ran without issue from NJ to MD.  No cockroaches insight. Drives the car directly to scrap yard.  Upon reaching yard the engine is so hot the paint on the engine was bubbling.  Called his dad and said the peach is at the scrape yard. Went and got a used 300 ZX. 

Edited March 18, 2023 by avgwarhawk (see edit history)

[dship]

Summer of 2014 I was on my way in my '92 Riviera from MA to Colorado Springs, CO to attend aa ROA National meet there.  About 150 miles east of CO Springs on rte70 the car over heated and made a bunch of wicked grinding noises.  Was able to pull off from the highway at a very nearby exit.  AAA sent a tow truck, and I had the car towed to the ROA meet hotel.  The tranny had burned up.  I attended the weeklong meet while I had the car sent back to MA via an auto shipping company.  I had to book a Delta Airlines flight back home at the end of the meet.  Ended up costing me $1200 to have the card shipped back home, $450 for a flight back home, and $2600 for a tranny rebuild.  

[JohnD1956]

Hard to "like" that one @dship. But I  gave you a thumbs up for participating. 😂

 

 

 

 

 

[Machine Gun]

11 hours ago, JohnD1956 said:

Hard to "like" that one @dship. But I  gave you a thumbs up for participating. 😂

Ditto.

[Machine Gun]

I may have told this story in another thread. When I was 18 years old I drove a 1950 Buick Special that I bought for $85. One day while en route to my favorite hot dog stand I made a hard right turn and the engine quit as suddenly as if I had turned off the ignition. I rolled to the side and attempted a restart to no avail. Nothing seemed obviously wrong under the hood, but while I was checking the spark plug cables I noticed that the distributor cap was loose. I reattached the clips and the car started right up.

 

It took me awhile to figure out what had happened. I didn't have a battery hold-down bracket, so the battery was just sitting there held in place (sort of) by the cables, which were longer than they needed to be. The long, narrow battery had tipped over during the hard turn, knocked into the distributor cap, and somehow righted itself when the car came out of the turn. When I got home I secured the battery with clothes line. That was the only trouble that car ever gave me.

 

[dmfconsult]

Good topic!

 

Summer of 1989, I was 18 and some buddies and I decided to road trip from Vancouver to Calgary, Alberta, 600 miles away through several mountain passes, in a friends 1979 VW Rabbit.  Why Calgary? Some girls we knew were there and the legal drinking age in Alberta was (and still is) 18.  Me being the only real "car guy" in the group brought along some tools just in case.  This car was a bit of a piece of crap given we were all poor high school students, and it had it's issues, mainly related to not restarting when it was hot (which meant not shutting down the engine at gas stops) and overheating.  The overheating problem could be managed by shutting off the engine and coasting in neutral down long hills as the car was manual brakes and steering, but that's another story...

 

Coming back from Calgary, while I was driving, after passing a slower vehicle I heard a "snap" sound and shortly after the battery light came on.  I was able to get the car stopped at a safe spot and opened the hood to find the bolt holding the alternate bracket in place had sheered off allowing the alternator to fall and the belt had disappeared somewhere up the highway.  We were about 20 miles west of Golden BC, where there is nothing around.  If we had cell phones back then, they wouldn't have worked anyway as that area still doesn't have coverage due to the terrain.  Luckily, my dad, who I learned most of my hackery from, suggested I pack a pair of my moms old pantyhose before I left.  So I simply left the alternator in place, tied the pantyhose around the pullies and headed back towards Golden.  That pantyhose stayed in place just long enough for us to get back to town and coast into a shop for a repair.   The pantyhose was long gone by the time we got there, but it kept the battery charged just long enough.  A few hours later we were back on the road, although not passing as many cars...

Edited March 21, 2023 by dmfconsult (see edit history)

[kar3516]

I had a 69 Camaro SS/RS 396 that I bought in 1980 as a freshman in college); it was original silver (faded) paint with a hockey stripe and red vinyl interior but unfortunately had a 307, turbo 350 and a 10 bolt rear end when I got it as someone had pilfered all the good stuff.  That summer I swapped in a low mileage 1970 300 hp 350 from an Impala and a 12 bolt rear end (from a 66 Malibu as I remember; I had a pipeline welder weld leaf spring brackets to the coil spring rear end).  It ran great!  I was driving across West Texas on a cool morning next spring and noticed that the water temperature was climbing slowly.  I started to slow down and the water temperature started increasing faster.  The speed limit was 55 mph as I remember it; I sped up to 70 and the temperature stabilized about 3/4 over towards hot instead of the normal straight up needle.  When I kicked it up to between 75 and 80 the needle moved to the left a bit so I drove about 30 miles that way and pulled into a San Angelo, TX gas station next to a NAPA parts store.  Opened the hood and coolant was pouring from the water pump weep hole.  Bought a new water pump and coolant next door, pulled my tools out of the trunk and changed the pump.  Filled it up with gas and hit the road.  Was stopped less than an hour start to finish.  Left a lot of anti-freeze on their driveway but I’m sure it cooked off the concrete by the mid-afternoon.

[kar3516]

[Marty Roth]

On 3/20/2023 at 8:34 PM, dmfconsult said:

Good topic!

 

Summer of 1989, I was 18 and some buddies and I decided to road trip from Vancouver to Calgary, Alberta, 600 miles away through several mountain passes, in a friends 1979 VW Rabbit.  Why Calgary? Some girls we knew were there and the legal drinking age in Alberta was (and still is) 18.  Me being the only real "car guy" in the group brought along some tools just in case.  This car was a bit of a piece of crap given we were all poor high school students, and it had it's issues, mainly related to not restarting when it was hot (which meant not shutting down the engine at gas stops) and overheating.  The overheating problem could be managed by shutting off the engine and coasting in neutral down long hills as the car was manual brakes and steering, but that's another story...

 

Coming back from Calgary, while I was driving, after passing a slower vehicle I heard a "snap" sound and shortly after the battery light came on.  I was able to get the car stopped at a safe spot and opened the hood to find the bolt holding the alternate bracket in place had sheered off allowing the alternator to fall and the belt had disappeared somewhere up the highway.  We were about 20 miles west of Golden BC, where there is nothing around.  If we had cell phones back then, they wouldn't have worked anyway as that area still doesn't have coverage due to the terrain.  Luckily, my dad, who I learned most of my hackery from, suggested I pack a pair of my moms old pantyhose before I left.  So I simply left the alternator in place, tied the pantyhose around the pullies and headed back towards Golden.  That pantyhose stayed in place just long enough for us to get back to town and coast into a shop for a repair.   The pantyhose was long gone by the time we got there, but it kept the battery charged just long enough.  A few hours later we were back on the road, although not passing as many cars...

 

Maybe prior to pantyhose becoming more common?

 

I've related my corresponding story on another thread, but

"Down the Shore", Saturday eve on the New Jersey coast in late 1959-mid-1960-ish,

On a date with a very sweet young lady, driving my red convertible 1949 Pontiac straight-8 with 3-on-the-tree,

approaching her curfew time, but enjoying a beautiful moon-lit evening. Somewhere, the fan belt took leave of the car. I didn't immediately notice the needle on the Amp gauge showing "Discharge", but the radio sounded a bit fuzzy, and the headlights dimmed. I pulled into a spot near the boardwalk, opened the hood, and realized the issue. We were some twenty miles from her home, maybe eighty miles from mine, and no auto parts stores or gas/service stations nearby, and minimal tools in the trunk.

 

I borrowed one of her stockings and tied it, creating a replacement belt but at first it was too loose to be effective. Taking both stockings tied lengthwise, I wrapped and looped them completely around the generator, water pump/fan pulley and crankshaft pulley to get a better grip - then got it appropriately snug. Using a slip-joint pliers  on the generator, I got a better adjustment. The battery still had enough grunt to turn the starter. It all held together! I drove slowly, and got her back home, only an hour-and-a-half past her 11:30 curfew. Her parents were awake and as you can imagine, they were not happy with our late arrival - especially since it was a 1st date with a guy they didn't know. She, on the other hand, was effervescent, even bubbly in explaining to her mom and dad, how creative I was in saving the day (and no, she removed the articles of clothing herself - again, this was a first date!). One of her parents was delighted with my ingenuity - the other less so! I'll let you decide which was which. I offered to replace the stockings but was told it wasn't necessary.

Yes, we did continue to date until I went off to college, and I had in the distant past wondered --  "What If ?".

 

[Grimy]

3 hours ago, Marty Roth said:

 

Maybe prior to pantyhose becoming more common?

 

I've related my corresponding story on another thread, but

"Down the Shore", Saturday eve on the New Jersey coast in late 1959-mid-1960-ish,

On a date with a very sweet young lady, driving my red convertible 1949 Pontiac straight-8 with 3-on-the-tree,

approaching her curfew time, but enjoying a beautiful moon-lit evening. Somewhere, the fan belt took leave of the car. I didn't immediately notice the needle on the Amp gauge showing "Discharge", but the radio sounded a bit fuzzy, and the headlights dimmed. I pulled into a spot near the boardwalk, opened the hood, and realized the issue. We were some twenty miles from her home, maybe eighty miles from mine, and no auto parts stores or gas/service stations nearby, and minimal tools in the trunk.

 

I borrowed one of her stockings and tied it, creating a replacement belt but at first it was too loose to be effective. Taking both stockings tied lengthwise, I wrapped and looped them completely around the generator, water pump/fan pulley and crankshaft pulley to get a better grip - then got it appropriately snug. Using a slip-joint pliers  on the generator, I got a better adjustment. The battery still had enough grunt to turn the starter. It all held together! I drove slowly, and got her back home, only an hour-and-a-half past her 11:30 curfew. Her parents were awake and as you can imagine, they were not happy with our late arrival - especially since it was a 1st date with a guy they didn't know. She, on the other hand, was effervescent, even bubbly in explaining to her mom and dad, how creative I was in saving the day (and no, she removed the articles of clothing herself - again, this was a first date!). One of her parents was delighted with my ingenuity - the other less so! I'll let you decide which was which. I offered to replace the stockings but was told it wasn't necessary.

Yes, we did continue to date until I went off to college, and I had in the distant past wondered --  "What If ?".

 

Yes, Marty, you and I remember the days before pantyhose, the days of garter belts 🙂  I was well aware of the potential emergency uses of stockings for automotive repair, but never had to demonstrate my knowledge.  🙂

[avgwarhawk]

12 hours ago, Marty Roth said:

 

Maybe prior to pantyhose becoming more common?

 

I've related my corresponding story on another thread, but

"Down the Shore", Saturday eve on the New Jersey coast in late 1959-mid-1960-ish,

On a date with a very sweet young lady, driving my red convertible 1949 Pontiac straight-8 with 3-on-the-tree,

approaching her curfew time, but enjoying a beautiful moon-lit evening. Somewhere, the fan belt took leave of the car. I didn't immediately notice the needle on the Amp gauge showing "Discharge", but the radio sounded a bit fuzzy, and the headlights dimmed. I pulled into a spot near the boardwalk, opened the hood, and realized the issue. We were some twenty miles from her home, maybe eighty miles from mine, and no auto parts stores or gas/service stations nearby, and minimal tools in the trunk.

 

I borrowed one of her stockings and tied it, creating a replacement belt but at first it was too loose to be effective. Taking both stockings tied lengthwise, I wrapped and looped them completely around the generator, water pump/fan pulley and crankshaft pulley to get a better grip - then got it appropriately snug. Using a slip-joint pliers  on the generator, I got a better adjustment. The battery still had enough grunt to turn the starter. It all held together! I drove slowly, and got her back home, only an hour-and-a-half past her 11:30 curfew. Her parents were awake and as you can imagine, they were not happy with our late arrival - especially since it was a 1st date with a guy they didn't know. She, on the other hand, was effervescent, even bubbly in explaining to her mom and dad, how creative I was in saving the day (and no, she removed the articles of clothing herself - again, this was a first date!). One of her parents was delighted with my ingenuity - the other less so! I'll let you decide which was which. I offered to replace the stockings but was told it wasn't necessary.

Yes, we did continue to date until I went off to college, and I had in the distant past wondered --  "What If ?".

 

Awesome story!

[Marty Roth]

On 3/25/2023 at 7:28 AM, avgwarhawk said:

Awesome story!

Thanks, Chris,

 

I learned later that the young lady's father was into hunting, and had several rifles, shotguns, and a collection of antique weapons. 

Things must have simmered sufficiently, because at least for the next several dates, he was not cleaning any of his collection when I arrived to meet his daughter. We were never again to get back late for her curfew - 

And this was a year or so after Don and Phil, The Everly Brothers released "WAKE UP LITTLE SUSIE"