The crazy S#%t you find.....

[ksjohn]

I am talking about the crazy S#%t you find that people have done to cars that you have bought over the years. These are the temporary "fixes" people do when they don't fix a problem properly for one reason or another.

As an example, I once found a 16 penny nail bent over and used as a pin inside a TR7 manual transmission.

Yesterday I found something in my boxster project that made me say WTF!!! several times. My hard top has rattled badly since I bought it. It is on the short list of items to be fixed very soon. I have driven the car just a few times, but a couple of those were at 70 or 80 miles an hour.

I was putting the hardtop back on after doing some engine work and noticed that the latch bracket was very loose and wobbly. While looking to see the problem, I gave it a little tug and if came off in my hand. Seems that the nuts in the windshield frame had failed and the bolts fell out. So a previous owner had "reattached" the bracket with some double faced Velcro tape. WTF?

Did they not realize this little piece secured the top to the frame? The only thing really holding my top in place were the spin lock anchors!

So, I have new rivnuts on order and it will be fixed properly in a couple of days. Here is a pic of the "Velcro fix".

[rusty69911]

now thats funny, sorry for laughing...

[BoxsterSteve]

Wow.
That by far beats splurging on 4 zip ties to hold the grille in my $200 '78 Parisienne back in the day because all the mounting screw locations were broken.

[78F350]

Wait, so your saying that instead of spending $99 for spinlocks and having to move a lever to hold my hardtop on, I could just Velcro it? Cool deal :dance:

Speaking of 16 penny nails, my first truck was a 1970s Chevy Luv. The key for the camshaft gear sheared. I reset the timing and stuck a 16 d nail in the keyway. A few years later the truck rusted away, but was still running strong.

[thstone]

Haha! We've all been there. At least I have. Lack of time or money or motivation (or all three) and the next thing I know, I'm patching it up with duct tape, velcro, or zip ties (or all three).

Glad that your situation had a good/humorous ending and kudos for doing the job right.

[stelan]

But it was "industrial grade velcro", lol

[jdlmodelt]

Originally Posted by thstone

Haha! We've all been there. At least I have. Lack of time or money or motivation (or all three) and the next thing I know, I'm patching it up with duct tape, velcro, or zip ties (or all three).

Glad that your situation had a good/humorous ending and kudos for doing the job right.

Yep. It happens. Sometimes we don't have the time or money to run to the parts store and do it right so we have to improvise in the short term and then forget in the long term because there are other projects that stack up. Some of us have too many projects on the back burner that occasionally come to the front burner.

[AaronPDX]

Originally Posted by BoxsterSteve

Wow.

That by far beats splurging on 4 zip ties to hold the grille in my $200 '78 Parisienne back in the day because all the mounting screw locations were broken.

There's nothing wrong with judiciously applied zip ties!


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[Retroman1969]

We all know how modern cars without alloy wheels have those cheesy plastic hubcaps that are designed to warp and break extremely easily and fly off on a regular basis. I rarely see a car with a full set.
Well this guy I parked next to had clearly had enough of it.

Actually rather brilliant solution I thought.
(Sigh! I remember a time when hubcaps were metal and it took a crowbar and a mallet and extreme force to get them on and off)

PS: I would have passed out after discovering the Velcro on the top bracket! Seriously, what the bloody hell were they thinking?

[Beer]

I used small nails to make pins to hold the windscreen between the seats in place. Works like a charm.

[mikesz]

In my younger days I used duct tape but as I grew older I graduated to zip ties. I leave duct tape for the younger crowd. Very proud of my daughters though, utilizing duct tape to hem their dance costumes. The baton has been passed!

[grc0456]

This is some funny sh&t! A person without WD40, duct tape, zip ties, and Velcro can never have a complete tool kit.


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[Meir]

not sure what is the problem.
i always use this chart to fix my car.

[Porsche9]

Originally Posted by Retroman1969

We all know how modern cars without alloy wheels have those cheesy plastic hubcaps that are designed to warp and break extremely easily and fly off on a regular basis. I rarely see a car with a full set.
Well this guy I parked next to had clearly had enough of it.

Actually rather brilliant solution I thought.

Oh come on. If your going jiffy rig it using zip ties then at least for this application get the clear ones.

[Retroman1969]

If you saw the car, you'd be surprised it wasn't duct tape or bread ties!
Still, dad's old Stratus has a severe cap shedding disease, and I think I'll try this trick using clear ties.
Decent hubcaps are getting hard to find for that car.

[Bootlegger]

I have 2 zip ties holding my $150 windscreens on the roll bar as we speak. More of a security measure but.......

[grc0456]

Originally Posted by Bootlegger

I have 2 zip ties holding my $150 windscreens on the roll bar as we speak. More of a security measure but.......

Ditto. I imagine most of us do


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[NewArt]

Originally Posted by Meir

not sure what is the problem.
i always use this chart to fix my car.

Perfect logic complete with diagrams!

[Sassmatt72]

Before I sold mine off I used a good blob of black Silicone II at each of the tabs and where it seemed to want to vibrate.
(cleaned it all with alchol first, then wiped off excess)

I had to used dental floss to remove them a month later when I sold them....
and the residue came right off w light fingernail work, and no marks.

[PaulDash]

You want to see the ultimate usage of duct tape?

Photographed in New Orleans a few years back. Car owner unknown.

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