A little OT Primative working conditions

[Ross]

What's the worst conditions you've had to make a repair in?
Mine; changing a starter motor on a '67 Chrysler dangling from a bumper jack in a DIY (really a quarter then!)car wash laying in ice, snow and slush at around 15 degrees F.

[Dave M]

Wiring my vw scirroco headlights direct to the battery in near white out conditions along the Trans Canada in Saskachewan in February (-30 celcius). Its nice when your lights suddenly fail at 100km/h in a snow storm (relay blew chunks).

I scavenged enough wire from interior components that no longer worked, spliced it together and prayed for no fires. I had loads of snow to roll in if things didn't work out :D

I might thnk of something else later. I'm sure Winfred willhave a gooder.

Dave M

[Barney Paull-Edwards]

Two weeks ago,changing a flat on an Autobahn in sleet at night,had a trolley jack but could I get it under the sill? Mercedes took off door mirror, that did it, drove 15k`s on a flat!

[repenttokyo]

Wiring my vw scirroco headlights direct to the battery in near white out conditions along the Trans Canada in Saskachewan in February (-30 celcius). Its nice when your lights suddenly fail at 100km/h in a snow storm (relay blew chunks).

I scavenged enough wire from interior components that no longer worked, spliced it together and prayed for no fires. I had loads of snow to roll in if things didn't work out :D

I might thnk of something else later. I'm sure Winfred willhave a gooder.

Dave M

that one is going to be hard to top.

removing the complete exhaust system from my pickup, with no jack, lying in the snow -20.

tying my sagging gas tank to the frame rail with yellow twine, in the snow, same pickup, same temperature.

[CharlesAFerg]

Two weeks ago,changing a flat on an Autobahn in sleet at night,had a trolley jack but could I get it under the sill? Mercedes took off door mirror, that did it, drove 15k`s on a flat!

Somebody hit you on the Autobahn?

[Nick.Hay]

Hmm...

Full, double-engine swap (2 cars, swapping engines) in my driveway with nothing more than a basic tool kit, a cheap trolley-jack, and lots of wood and wheels to prop the cars up!!

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b104/stnick/Image124.jpg

There was a bit of 'lying-in-mud-on-a-blanket' fixing of the rallycar over the years too!!

[timandbim]

Its nice when your lights suddenly fail at 100km/h in a snow storm (relay blew chunks).



saskatchewan kind of did that to me too. didn't do any work, tho, so i don't think this counts. alternator died rapidly halfway between saskatoon and regina - was in a '75 cadillac hearse (that's right...) loaded with heavy music gear and people in a brutal snowstorm at night and it was at least -20'C. nowhere to stop and we might have died out there anyway. got behind an 18w truck, flashed what was left of the lights a few times and followed him all the way into Regina- shXt that was cold. always wondered what the driver was thinking, i would have liked to buy him a drink- he might have wanted one but i don't think he was all that anxious to stick around and meet us.

[Barney Paull-Edwards]

Somebody hit you on the Autobahn?
Yup,M-B van,flat on right thank god,left the jack and went! If that had been a flat on offside there is no way I would stop, especially on those roads with high fencing right by hard shoulder, nowhere to go.

[Barney Paull-Edwards]

Dont start me on bloody rally cars! After years of that I blessed engineers at Mitsubishi who designed the Gallant VR4 to be worked on with 5 sizes, and gave us an air-power backback to hold all spanners and sockets, saved hours and tons of gear,every bolt was sized to fit 10/13/15/17/19,never seen it since.

[Paul in NZ]

just about every motorcycle has 10 12(or 13) 14,17,19.My worst moment was trying to adjust the carburettor on my torana gtr in the midle of the night on a back road in the middle of nowwhere..the only light was the reflection of the headlights off me....

[E34-520iSE]

When I was 17 I had a mk 1 Toyota Celica. The clutch packed up in the middle of winter, and, having only a small income, I bought a new clutch kit and jacked the car up in the snow, in the street and took the g/box out etc by myself. It got really hairy when some of the pressure plate bolts were seized and I had to use a drill on the end of a LONGGG mains extension cable, lying in the snow, get them out ;) .

Cheers,

Shaun M

[Nick.Hay]

I love the VR4... What a brilliant rallycar (for its portly size!!). I used to rally an Australian-release BFMR Mazda Familia, but with the Group A turbo and engine, and only a standard gearbox... My what a HANDFUL!!

[mikell]

No snow involved, but had the electric fuel pump in my '66 MG crap out in the middle of Alabama late one night. Tools on hand: duck tape and a flashlight with a failing battery. Deciced the problem was a brokenb electrical connection (Thank you Lucas, Prince of Darkness) Hitched to a run down gas station, bummed some wire from a guy in a late '50's Cadillac (2 pieces, each about 2 ft long) - walked back to the car (no body would give a long hair a ride at night back then) and wired the pump to the tailights whilst 2 Alabama troopers inspected me and the car (they offered no assistance). Drove all the way to Boston on that little fix - ligths on, of course.

[Barney Paull-Edwards]

I love the VR4... What a brilliant rallycar (for its portly size!!). I used to rally an Australian-release BFMR Mazda Familia, but with the Group A turbo and engine, and only a standard gearbox... My what a HANDFUL!!
Might have been a bit big but how much power would you like? We were only limited by the gear-box internals.Aussie/Hollinger bits helped but we limited torque to 400 to make the driver work and to avoid `box changes in Dalby/Kielder and other sunny service areas.El Hefe had a 325ix and it was the best chase car going.

[Dave M]

No snow involved, but had the electric fuel pump in my '66 MG crap out in the middle of Alabama late one night. Tools on hand: duck tape and a flashlight with a failing battery. Deciced the problem was a brokenb electrical connection (Thank you Lucas, Prince of Darkness) Hitched to a run down gas station, bummed some wire from a guy in a late '50's Cadillac (2 pieces, each about 2 ft long) - walked back to the car (no body would give a long hair a ride at night back then) and wired the pump to the tailights whilst 2 Alabama troopers inspected me and the car (they offered no assistance). Drove all the way to Boston on that little fix - ligths on, of course.

Thats a good one, I can appreciate your imaginative wiring. Got a ticket in Alabama once. Don't drive there anymore ;)

Dave M