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What's your best jury rig fix? Me, I'm the rubber band man. by jimbolaya
Started on: 07-30-2014 08:01 PM
Replies: 27 (890 views)
Last post by: David Hambleton on 08-02-2014 09:16 PM
jimbolaya
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Report this Post07-30-2014 08:01 PM Click Here to See the Profile for jimbolayaSend a Private Message to jimbolayaEdit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
Just thought I would share a temporary fix of mine that just occurred. My son calls me, says the hinge pin had fallen out of the driver door, and he didn't know what to do. Apparently the little clip had busted off and the pin had slid out. I didn't want to do a hinge pin in a parking lot, so I headed to him with rubber bands in tow. I just wanted the door to be serviceable, until he could get home. I pulled the pin down enough to where I could slide a thick rubber band down on pin and press up against the lower hinge. This would grip enough to hold the pin until he gets home later tonight. Not bad if I do say so myself. What's your best jury rig fix?

Jim

[This message has been edited by jimbolaya (edited 07-31-2014).]

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84fiero123
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Report this Post07-30-2014 08:53 PM Click Here to See the Profile for 84fiero123Send a Private Message to 84fiero123Edit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
not a rubber band fix but I have had a throttle cable go on a VW Bug of a friend of mine back in the early 70s and used some fishing wire we found in the back seat. We fed out the drivers window down under the rear bumper, remember the engine is it the back, under the hood to the throttle on the carb and got it home. I'll have to think about the rubber band thing, I am sure I have used it for something, maybe not car related but something.

Steve
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cyrus88
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Report this Post07-30-2014 09:08 PM Click Here to See the Profile for cyrus88Send a Private Message to cyrus88Edit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
fixing and rigging juries are felonies most states. Lol! I just couldn't resist the title of your post.
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Francis T
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Report this Post07-30-2014 10:16 PM Click Here to See the Profile for Francis TClick Here to visit Francis T's HomePageSend a Private Message to Francis TEdit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
My favorite is reseating sensor and ign connectors. Whereas more times than not no spark is related to a bad connector and not, say, a bad ign coil. Yes, a new coil can fix it, but often
becuase in the process of changing it out you had to resat the connectors and thus clean them a little. Lots of good coils end up in the trash.

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http://i16.photobucket.com/...ancis44/100_1147.jpg
[IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b50/francis4
4/000_0451-1.jpg[/IMG]
trueleo.com

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Taijiguy
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Report this Post07-30-2014 10:25 PM Click Here to See the Profile for TaijiguySend a Private Message to TaijiguyEdit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
I fixed a broken set of points once with a paper clip (used it as a spring) and electrical tape. Drove the car about 100 miles like that, ran surprisingly well.
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Neils88
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Report this Post07-30-2014 10:49 PM Click Here to See the Profile for Neils88Send a Private Message to Neils88Edit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
My best jury rig was actually with my old Jeep CJ5 with a 258 straight 6 when I was in college (about 25 years ago). Lent it to a friend for the weekend...he brought it back with piston that had decided to run away through the side of the oil pan.

I pulled the head and oil pan off. I removed the pieces of the broken connecting rod, plus another piston/connecting rod that was cracked. I removed the push rods from the two bad cylinders (to keep the valves shut on the bad cylinders) and used hose clamps to hold the journal bearings on the crankshaft. I then used a piece of thin gauge sheet metal, roofing tar and rivets and covered the big hole in the oil pan. I then put everything back together....all this being done in the parking lot of the college residence where I lived.

To the surprise of everyone, I started right up. Despite running on 4 cylinders, it actually ran quite smoothly and still had plenty of power. Ran it for more than a month before finally getting a replacement engine.

[This message has been edited by Neils88 (edited 07-30-2014).]

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fierofool
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Report this Post07-31-2014 12:16 AM Click Here to See the Profile for fierofoolClick Here to visit fierofool's HomePageSend a Private Message to fierofoolEdit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
A stripped hold down screw hole in the base of my 87 distributor caused the cap to sit high on one side. I used a couple of zip ties mated together, pulled around the base of the distributor and up over the top between several of the terminals. I drove it like that for several years until I picked up an almost new distributor from a pull-a-part car.
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Report this Post07-31-2014 02:19 AM Click Here to See the Profile for PonnariSend a Private Message to PonnariEdit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
This wasn't mine, but I inherited it when I bought my latest Fiero a few years back. Unbelievable, but very well done for a hack job.

so, when I test drove the car it didn't stop very well. No big deal I can fix that. After I got it home,,, a few days later I decided to check out the brake system. Removed front wheels, rotors and pads look almost new. Having someone push the peddle while watching the calipers work everything seemed fine. Ok, now to check out the rears... Right rear seemed to work fine and park brake grabbed the rotor tightly. Now for the left rear.... Pulled the wheel, looked at it for a sec when it hit me there was no rotor!!!! Caliper was there and the part of the rotor hub that the lug nuts pass through was there, but the PO had broken the rotor disk off the rest of the hub with hammer or something????? So I removed the caliper was one of the brake pads bent in half and stuck between the caliper piston and the other side of the caliper!!!!! WTF!!!! I guess that is why they broke of the disk park of the rotor? Next I found that the connection for the rear brake line had been "plugged". I have never seen anything like this before,, ever!!!! But it did work! Car stopped ok, just not great. Needless. To say I replaced all the calipers front and rear, pads, rotors, brake hoses and lines. I wanted to make sure I new the brake system was in perfect working order! Wish I still had the pic's of that jury rig! My friend that was helping me take it apart was also flabbergasted on how it had been done.
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fieroguru
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Report this Post07-31-2014 06:19 AM Click Here to See the Profile for fieroguruSend a Private Message to fieroguruEdit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
I fixed a hole in a radiator hose at a gas station off the interstate. Used a bicycle inner tube patch and some electrical tape. I was able to buy the screw driver, patch kit, electrical tape and more anti-freeze there at the station and was on my way in about 45 minutes. After a month or two, I got around to replacing the hose with a new one.
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FIEROPHREK
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Report this Post07-31-2014 08:19 AM Click Here to See the Profile for FIEROPHREKSend a Private Message to FIEROPHREKEdit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
My transmission mount broke on my V8 S-10 blazer allowing the engine to rock forward and the fan to hit the radiator creating a leak. I was able to make it to a park were luckily we had some soda bottles and a creek nearby. I sent the kids to get water while i removed some fins from the damaged tube. I cut the tube with a pair of dikes then rolled the cut ends up with neednose and smashed them as flat as i could. The kids had to make several water runs but after only about 45 minutes we were back on the road and it held up for 2 months before i replaced the radiator.

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ARCHIES JUNK IS FASTER THAN SHAUNNA'S JUNK

12.3 is faster than a 13.2

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2.5
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Report this Post07-31-2014 09:44 AM Click Here to See the Profile for 2.5Send a Private Message to 2.5Edit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
Always though it was called Jerry Rig.

There have been alot, a few:

Truck broke a ball joint mount in the woods, rim flopped out so the tire was touching the top of the fender. Mud, brush, water and snow everywhere. Couldnt work on it there. We put an old refrigerator door under the suspension and took the rim off. That corner of the truck used the fridge door as a sled and we drove out of the woods.
Most of these I was young, the cars were beaters...
-I used gas tank putty and a hose clamp to fix a metal fuel line leak.
-2x4s to support a seat that was crooked due to floor pan rust.
-4x4 wood block to take the cabs weight off the steering column on a Dodge D50 pickup, cab rust had caused it to settle low on the frame, binding steering.
-On a road trip we snagged the oil pan on the edge of blacktop on a huge pothole in a parking lot losing oil. We drained the oil, siliconed the oil pan heavily and let it cure, filled the oil and drove home. 1000 miles. About every 75 miles we had to stop and refill the oil. Needeless to say we went thru alot of oil. Alot of STP treatments and 20w50 to slow the leak, even a gallon or two of bar and chain oil.
-Same car from the road trip years later, cat rusted off while driving, it was loud and pipe was dragging on the ground, I pulled into a gas station and bought a can of beans, laid on a piece of cardboard under the car, (it was a cold winter) I opened both ends of the can used the can and a wire hanger to join the two ends of exh pipe together til I drove the rest of my trip. Actually I let it last a week til I could get to a place and have time to to replace my exh pipe.

[This message has been edited by 2.5 (edited 07-31-2014).]

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fierofool
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Report this Post07-31-2014 11:32 AM Click Here to See the Profile for fierofoolClick Here to visit fierofool's HomePageSend a Private Message to fierofoolEdit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
The can around the pipe made me think of my brother. He wraps cans around the exhaust of his 86GT and clamps them down with band clamps. They eventually burn through and he just puts another one or two on there.

Another 86GT I worked on had a yellow household extension cord wired into the right headlight, running across to the left one. It was getting it's power from the left side light.

I also spotted a Fiero that I didn't recognize, pulling into a restaurant. I pulled in to introduce myself and the club. I noticed that the quarter windows were held in place by sheet metal screws all around the perimeter.

After getting the passenger side ripped out of my first 85GT, the paint and body shop suggested by State Farm installed the right side aero trim on the door with sheet metal screws. Apparently they didn't look for or couldn't find a GT door with the metal mounting strip.
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Blacktree
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Report this Post07-31-2014 11:32 AM Click Here to See the Profile for BlacktreeClick Here to visit Blacktree's HomePageSend a Private Message to BlacktreeEdit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
I recently had to jerry-rig the headlight switch on my Fiero. I guess the switch is going bad. Because I noticed that sometimes the headlights will go up and down, but won't light up. But if I insert a paperclip in the terminals to bypass the switch, the lights come on. So I drove home with the "paperclip mod".

[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 07-31-2014).]

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84fiero123
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Report this Post07-31-2014 12:14 PM Click Here to See the Profile for 84fiero123Send a Private Message to 84fiero123Edit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
Then there is the gas tank I ripped a hole in going over concrete storage garage lip. a simple bar of ivory soap rubbed on that and it held the gas in until I got it home.

Steve

[This message has been edited by 84fiero123 (edited 07-31-2014).]

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Report this Post07-31-2014 12:44 PM Click Here to See the Profile for RPYRAZOOClick Here to visit RPYRAZOO's HomePageSend a Private Message to RPYRAZOOEdit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
Zip Ties, Duct Tape, Super Glue and a BFH and we all become "Tim the Tool-Man Taylor"!
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Report this Post07-31-2014 01:04 PM Click Here to See the Profile for TopNotchClick Here to visit TopNotch's HomePageSend a Private Message to TopNotchEdit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
When I bought my 88 coupe, the duke had a knock. I found that one of the rod bearings had spun. The crank looked OK, so I just put on new rod bearings. But that particular rod felt loose compared to the other ones. The rod had worn a bit where the bearing spun in it. So I removed the rod cap, put a piece of aluminum foil between the cap and bearing, and tightened the cap back down. It felt OK now. And the engine ran just fine that way -- for 20,000 miles. When I later rebuilt the engine, that foil under the cap was still there.
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Report this Post07-31-2014 01:14 PM Click Here to See the Profile for thesameguySend a Private Message to thesameguyEdit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
We once used shoelaces to keep the radiator in my friend's Honda Accord strapped in. The fix only lasted for a few minutes, though, as we realized the reason the radiator had been yanked loose from it's mount was because the engine mount had failed. Shoelaces were then repurposed along with a coat hanger to keep the engine in place.
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Report this Post07-31-2014 06:24 PM Click Here to See the Profile for rogergarrisonSend a Private Message to rogergarrisonEdit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
I had a tie rod end pop off the ball joint in a friends driveway. I pushed it back on the ball and wrapped clothline rope around it to hold it on to drive home.

I was way out in the boonies in Oklahoma City before cellphones and got a flat tire with no spare. Used the jack and tire iron to break the bead and open the tire on one side. We then packed grass in the whole tire as hard as we could, replaced the bead back on the rim and drove 15 miles back on a dirt road to a station.
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Report this Post07-31-2014 06:30 PM Click Here to See the Profile for phonedawgzClick Here to visit phonedawgz's HomePageSend a Private Message to phonedawgzEdit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
Lost the fuel pump in my son's S10. Took a Fiero fuel pump put it in a 5 gallon gas can, ran the output to a T that went to a fuel pressure gauge and then into the fuel pressure test port on the fuel rail. I wired up the pump so it supplied fuel into the test port but then added a vice grips on the fuel line from the tank to keep the fuel pressure below (where I guessed) the bypass fuel pressure regulator would allow the fuel to flow back into the truck's tank. Drove it home 45 miles that way.

Was happy that I didn't splash fuel all over the cab and burned myself up. Did end up pumping quite a bit of the fuel from the gas can into the truck's tank by the time we got home.

All to save the price of a tow.

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Later on he gave the truck to me when he got a company car and had no use for it. So I started driving it.

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It was winter the brakes had been grinding for a long time. I knew the rotor was grooved already so wtf, who wants to work on the truck when it's cold out. So I put it off and put it off. Well one time I was stopping and yeah it was grinding nasty as always and then all a sudden BANG and the grinding went away! Nothing fell off of the truck and the truck did still stop...just not so great anymore. Infact on snow covered roads even with the brake firmly applied the truck would still inch forward unless I took it out of gear.

[This message has been edited by phonedawgz (edited 08-01-2014).]

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FTF Engineering
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Report this Post07-31-2014 09:01 PM Click Here to See the Profile for FTF EngineeringSend a Private Message to FTF EngineeringEdit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
I once constructed a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bearskins.

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fast40driver
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Report this Post08-01-2014 12:16 AM Click Here to See the Profile for fast40driverSend a Private Message to fast40driverEdit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
Sailboat, going up the coast, alternator regulator died, batteries getting pretty low. Ran a wire out the back of the alternator from the brush, tried full-fielding it, but discharge voltage was up around 18 volts, even hooked to the batteries. Started stripping light bulbs out of the cabin lights, and wiring them - with electrical tape sockets into the field wire, five bulbs in series brought the voltage down to about 13.5 volts, figured we were good there.

Mike
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Report this Post08-01-2014 02:01 AM Click Here to See the Profile for AkghandiSend a Private Message to AkghandiEdit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
just yesterday i did one hell of a rigging.

I bought a 90 caddy deville, it had the normal vats problem.

so i intercepted the wires in the column and soldered the spare key to the wires.

worked like a charm!

then the fuel data system and the heater controls quit working so i took them out and jumpered two wires behind the fuel level data panel.
worked like a charm!

damn I'm good
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Report this Post08-01-2014 02:43 AM Click Here to See the Profile for IXSLR8Send a Private Message to IXSLR8Edit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
When I was first married, my wife and I drove up to Oregon from Los Angeles in our 71 Chev suburban to see her family. The water pump sprouted three leaks and emptied the coolant system while we were on I-5. Fortunately I carried extra 2 gallons of water just in case. So, we filled up the rad with coolant so we could see the leaks. But what to do about the leaks? My wife scrounged around the rig and found some toothpicks. We jammed them in the casting where the leaking holes were and the 190 degree coolant caused them to swell up sealing the holes good and tight. We drove 80 miles like that until I could get a new water pump in Roseburg.
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onesexyfiero
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Report this Post08-01-2014 12:32 PM Click Here to See the Profile for onesexyfieroSend a Private Message to onesexyfieroEdit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
I believe Jerry and Jury are both right. Then again, its slang, so I guess there is no right or wrong. Jury can be traced further back:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_rig

Though not in that article, I've heard rumor that Jerry came out of WWII, as a way to insult Germans, commonly referred to as Jerry, but I'm not certain of this.
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White 84 SE
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Report this Post08-01-2014 02:19 PM Click Here to See the Profile for White 84 SESend a Private Message to White 84 SEEdit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
 
quote
Originally posted by cyrus88:

fixing and rigging juries are felonies most states. Lol! I just couldn't resist the title of your post.


I think they had 12 Catholic latino women on the 2nd trial of Blagoyavich after finding out how latinas voted the first jury which dismissed the charges. It may be a felony but the Feds are not going to convict themselves..... It is also not legal to try someone twice for the same crime but he is in jail serving 30 years I think.
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Report this Post08-01-2014 02:32 PM Click Here to See the Profile for rogergarrisonSend a Private Message to rogergarrisonEdit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
Zip ties and duct tape are in all my emergency road trip bags.
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Report this Post08-02-2014 02:23 AM Click Here to See the Profile for Oolab1Send a Private Message to Oolab1Edit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
Earlier today I noticed one of the hangers on my right rear exhaust pipe was broken and the thing was bouncing around like crazy. One disassembled coathanger, a conveniently placed rust hole in the trunk frame, and one of the two springs from the pipe coming out of the cat later and voila! No more bouncy tailpipe!
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David Hambleton
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Report this Post08-02-2014 09:16 PM Click Here to See the Profile for David HambletonSend a Private Message to David HambletonEdit/Delete MessageReply w/QuoteDirect Link to This Post
Along jimbolaya's rubber band theme, when my '84 SE 4 speed shift cable end fell off the tranny lever ball I used a heavy duty broccoli rubber band to hold it in place. The rubber bands would break after a few weeks so I made an aluminum wrap around clip to hold it together. That was about 10 years ago... I should probably fix it properly...

The steering shaft on one of the garden tractors is held to the arm at the wheel by a broccoli band - they're pretty strong!

I used a heavy duty paper clip to fix the clutch ignition interrupter switch on the '84 SE about 15 years ago at a gas station... I can't remember exactly what was wrong - haven't looked at it since...

[This message has been edited by David Hambleton (edited 08-02-2014).]

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