Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Old-Nail]

Ok, so we've all done it, the not-strictly-correct repair or the get you home bodge that turns into a long term arrangement.

Tell us your most ingenious bodge or most common one found on old vehicles that you have bought!

Sometimes they are simple cosmetic 'cover-up' jobs and other times they can be downright dangeroud... tell us your horror stories!

The most recent of mine was when I noticed that a rear tail light on my Ford popular wasn't working properley, if you wriggled the wire to a certain position it came on, and if you let go it went off.

"Bad connections" I hear you say, check the connections for tightness, or perhaps there's a break in the wire, so replace that section of wire.... naw... I cable tied the wire to secure it in the 'working' position - job done!

[Uncle Joe]

Lot depends what you mean by bodge, but I can tell you, that after working on vehicles since the mid-sixties, there have been more than one!

The most memorable was a Heath Robinson Sterling engine!

[admin]

Not so much a bodge, as a 'get you home lash up that lasted many months' was when my sports exhaust fell off the red Triumph Spitfire, on the quayside at Conwy, North Wales. Fortunately I had a couple of elastic bungee straps so tied the rear silencers up, wrapping the straps around the boot catch. Stayed that way for many many months

Rick

[Standardsteve]

I once drove a 1600E Cortina from Leeds to Nottingham with a broken throtle cable by leaving the bonnet on the second catch and working the throtle out of the window with a piece of string - slow journey and cold arm but it got me home, I seem to recall repeating the trip a rew months later with no clutch having to time all the gear changes to the correct engine speed and praying for green lights all the way after the pipe from the master to clutch slave cylinder burnt against the exhaust and lost its fluid, got changing gear without a clutch down to a fine art - bet you could'nt do this with cars today. Regards al Steve

[buzzy bee]

Hi

I am a perfect mechanic so never make bodges, honest!

No I remember having to glue with loctite bushes into some very worn axles as the new ones kept falling out of the worn hole! I was told to do it, so it wasn't my idea!!

Cheers

Dave

[Scotty]

Best ever bodge - my 8 hp Ford side-valve engine was in dire need of some work, but when I got it apart it was shot! A friend said he had a spare 10 hp (more power! ) and could have it, but it too was in need of work - hey, it was for nothing, gift horse and all that.

Pulled it apart and everything was good except the white metaled big ends, they had broken up. I eventually found a company in Stirling who would do the work - for the cost of my first-born and a lot of money as well. I just couldn't afford it, so necessity being the mother of invention I looked at the problem and considered my options -

1. Put back together and hope for the best.
2. Bite the bullet and pay for the job.
3. Think cheap!

No. 3 really worked for me, so I pieced together the remains of the white metal into the big ends, ran a coat of Plastic Padding over them, let it set and then wet & dried them, all eight to baby bum smoothness. Built it all back together and bingo - everything ran quietly, so well in fact I sold the car to a friend (who knew about the repair) 4 years later and it's still got the Plastic Padding big ends 10 years later.

Who said we Scots are mean - we're innovative, I should sell the idea to Plastic Padding!

[buzzy bee]

Hi

Sounds suitably dodgy, Well done!! hehe



What is plassic padding?

Cheers

Dave

[Scotty]

[Uncle Joe]

buzzy, by not knowing what plastic padding is, you are showing your age.

As for myself, by never having used it, I'm showing mine!

[buzzy bee]

hehe

Yeah I am only a nipper!

Cheers

Dave

[admin]

great story Scotty! I've not been that creative with the wonder-gloop, but just the mention of Plastic Padding reminds me of its smell!

Rick

[admin]

talking of lash-ups ...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ford-capri-and-morris-minor-joint-together_W0QQitemZ160072263914QQihZ006QQcategoryZ27381QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I need to sit down..

[Old-Nail]

Even I'm not tempted by that one!

[admin]

I wonder if there should be a permanent repository somewhere for all images of true horrors like this, just so that they can be re-visited at any time for a good giggle

Rick

[buzzy bee]

Hi

Is that a serious one or is it someone mucking around????? Why on earth would you do, even think of doing that?



Cheers

Dave