Many years ago the sender unit in the gas tank in my 1984 Dodge Power Ram shit the bed and my fix was a 5 gallon gas container tucked in front of the wheel well in the engine compartment with the gas line and vacuum line inserted into it. I got some funny looks at the gas station when I raised the hood and gas it up.
I've used a pair of vice grips for that very thing myself. To paraphrase Jeff Cooper, there ain't many things that a man can't fix, with a pair of vice grips and a thirty-aught-six.
I remember a wintertime dead battery, no cables, and we touched the chrome bumpers together and then used a jack to span the positive terminals. It worked. Bright Eyes got it correct.
Wifes car battery dead in a parking lot, cars tight on both sides. Ran the bumpers together, hooked the cables together to make one long cable to both pos. Worked like a charm.
That's brilliant! I am constantly amazed at how inventive and resourceful some people can be, As for me, I remember spanning the starter relay on my Gremlin with a screwdriver to get it going.
My high school shop teacher told us boys to buy a thick set of jumper cables and tape them together. Now at the age of 69 still have the cables, one of the best investments I ever made.
Needed jumper cables. Walked into store looked over all the offerings well and selected a set. They were well made and thick enough to weld with. My buddy said, "Why spend that much on a pair of cables? The cheap one's will get the job done." He might have been right, but I still have that good set of cables. And they don't make them like that anymore. ;-)
Guy brought his boat in a few weeks ago, the positive battery terminal was melted off. He used a big wood screw to attach the wire to it. Said he was having electrical problems. He needs $1500 in parts but doesn't want a new battery. Told him to come get his boat & that I couldn't help him.
I was in Quebec Province on a Harley. Bad roads. Sometimes coming right off the road on bumps. Got to a town, went to down shift and almost stepped on the road. No gear shift. Pulled into a gas station and only French was spoken. I kept trying to communicate, vise grips. Finally the Frenchmen went, Ah! He came back with a set of vise grips and I snapped em on the shaft. Pulled out money and he would not accept it. Good guy. I left there and headed for a Harley shop and got a lever. Vise grips never failed me and it was probably a hundred miles to the shop.
NICE! Reminds me of the time I was working in the oilfield, nobody had a lighter, and we decided to light a cigarette by sparking a wire across the battery terminald. Kinda dumb, but it worked.
He could have just as easily ran a spring from the muffler......
ReplyDeleteIf it works, it aint stupid. Done many similiar things myself.
ReplyDeleteNope. That is stupid.
DeleteThat a Nakatomi product?
ReplyDeleteMany years ago the sender unit in the gas tank in my 1984 Dodge Power Ram shit the bed and my fix was a 5 gallon gas container tucked in front of the wheel well in the engine compartment with the gas line and vacuum line inserted into it. I got some funny looks at the gas station when I raised the hood and gas it up.
ReplyDeleteHiker Mike
I will have to put a pair of vice grips in the truck
ReplyDeleteI've used a pair of vice grips for that very thing myself. To paraphrase Jeff Cooper, there ain't many things that a man can't fix, with a pair of vice grips and a thirty-aught-six.
DeleteI remember a wintertime dead battery, no cables, and we touched the chrome bumpers together and then used a jack to span the positive terminals. It worked.
ReplyDeleteBright Eyes got it correct.
Wifes car battery dead in a parking lot, cars tight on both sides. Ran the bumpers together, hooked the cables together to make one long cable to both pos. Worked like a charm.
DeleteThat's brilliant! I am constantly amazed at how inventive and resourceful some people can be, As for me, I remember spanning the starter relay on my Gremlin with a screwdriver to get it going.
DeleteHorrible workmanship. The cable tie should be farther down the handles to insure proper leverage.
ReplyDeleteMy only issue with that is the location of the zip tie. It's eventually going to slip.
ReplyDeleteMy high school shop teacher told us boys to buy a thick set of jumper cables and tape them together. Now at the age of 69 still have the cables, one of the best investments I ever made.
ReplyDeleteNeeded jumper cables. Walked into store looked over all the offerings well and selected a set. They were well made and thick enough to weld with. My buddy said, "Why spend that much on a pair of cables? The cheap one's will get the job done." He might have been right, but I still have that good set of cables. And they don't make them like that anymore. ;-)
DeleteAlways been vice grips for me. Accelerator cable end breaks off? Vice grips. Brake line starts leaking? Vice grips.
ReplyDeleteDaryl
Ain't much that vice grips and duct tape can't fix.
ReplyDeleteGuy brought his boat in a few weeks ago, the positive battery terminal was melted off. He used a big wood screw to attach the wire to it. Said he was having electrical problems. He needs $1500 in parts but doesn't want a new battery. Told him to come get his boat & that I couldn't help him.
ReplyDeleteI was in Quebec Province on a Harley. Bad roads. Sometimes coming right off the road on bumps. Got to a town, went to down shift and almost stepped on the road. No gear shift. Pulled into a gas station and only French was spoken. I kept trying to communicate, vise grips. Finally the Frenchmen went, Ah! He came back with a set of vise grips and I snapped em on the shaft. Pulled out money and he would not accept it. Good guy. I left there and headed for a Harley shop and got a lever. Vise grips never failed me and it was probably a hundred miles to the shop.
ReplyDeleteNICE! Reminds me of the time I was working in the oilfield, nobody had a lighter, and we decided to light a cigarette by sparking a wire across the battery terminald. Kinda dumb, but it worked.
ReplyDeleteHis Visegrips must be on his "going to town" rig.
ReplyDelete