A friend his wife and I were heading to Calif orn eye yea, in an older winnebago. The throttle cable broke, and none anywhere to be found. I got a lawnmower throttle control, hooked it up so the passenger then became speed governor until we could find a new throttle cable. A shop teacher made a rotor out of a cork and a paper clip when stranded somewhere in Africa.
Forgot this one… My grandfather, who was a tool & die maker for 40 years, and a master machinist, repaired an old car he had (1940s I think) that had thrown a rod. He got a connecting rod (presumably from a junkyard) and attached it to the piston, which was salvageable, got a new set of rod bearings, and patched up the side of the block by welding a steel plate on. He smeared it with grease and dirt until it was pretty much indistinguishable from the rest of the engine, then sold the car shortly thereafter. I’m told it ran pretty well, at least when he sold it. I have no idea if he mentioned this minor repair to the car’s new owner.
Had the roll pin shear on the distributor drive gear on my 235 6cyl,I snapped a tap off in the hole and never fixed it proper.
Strangest way I saw a customer ruin a engine was to tow his bettle at freeway speeds 90 miles in second gear. The engine was brand new and he was towing the car to the exacct same rebuild mechanic so the after rebuild valve adjustment would get done right. I have be told this towing with the towee in gear is a fairly common way to ruin a engine.
Well, this is a bit embarassing as I had to resort to a bit of thievery to get home one night. This happened many years ago; about 1970. I went running around with a friend one Fri. night and left my '68 Roadrunner parked in front of a closed business near the edge of town. (Knew the owners of the business)
Came back about 1 in the morning, hopped out, and my friend drove off. Got in the car and it would not start no matter what. Thinking it was a stuck choke, I got out, raised the hood, and noticed the dist. cap was hanging loose and the rotor was gone. After cursing for 5 minutes and wanting to whale on somebody I calmed down and tried to decide what to do. No cell phones then and not a phone booth anywhere in sight.
Finally remembering the Chrysler/Plymouth dealer was a mile away I hit upon the brainstorm of going to steal a rotor there, but with a twist. I took a pencil out of the glovebox and a scrap of paper and took off walking.
There wasn’t a moving car around or anyone in sight when I arrived at the front line of full size Chrysler Newports, Plymouth Furys, etc. I assumed the Newports would have a 383 or 440 big block so I lifted the hood, removed a rotor, and only shut the hood about half way. I figured they would spot that real quick on Sat. morning.
I left a “Sorry, I was desperate” note on the distributor along with 2 bucks (new rotors were about a buck or less back then), hoofed it back to my car, and drove home after installing my new rotor.
Last summer, my wife and I were driving from central IL to Denver in her 1995 Grand Am. When we got into Iowa, the cruise control quit working. I lifted the hood at the next gas stop to see if I could fix it, as I didn’t want to drive halfway through the Midwest without cruise control. The throttle cable bracket had broken off, leaving the throttle cable still firmly attached, but letting the cable for the cruise slip off. I ended up using one of those spring loaded jaw-type hair scrunchies my wife had to reattach the cruise cable to the bracket. It stayed there until the car went to the grave.