Worst unorthodox repairs

[turbohounds]

As I start pulling apart the cab on my 66, I got to wondering about some of the worst repair ideas people have seen.

In one cab corner, under 1/2" of bondo I found a roofing shingle used to support the mud. On the other side they used a piece of window screen folder over several times to hold the mud in place. Or least try to.



The inner fender braces were rusted away, so the previous owner used a piece of galvanized ducting, to keep it from flapping around. It was mostly just shoved in place.


To keep the fender from coming off, they just welded it to the body. Took me a few minutes of wondering why the fenders wouldn't come off when I unbolted them. The welds you can see are amateur at best - for the fender's they gobbed in wire to fill a 1/2" gap.


Seems anything lying around the house was fair game to use for repairs. So, what have you found?

[Indian113]

I have galvanized metal under putty on my lower front fenders and rear fenders. When I started working on it I had to have metric and standard wrenches out because PO put any thing he could find in place. Also I took a ball of wire off of the frame used for Exhaust hangers.

[66Submarine]

There was a good thread on P.O. repair work a while back.

[jmabx]

Not a repair per se, but this is how the seat was "installed" in my truck. Wood blocks are nailed in from under the cab.



Scary!

[ol_skool_chevy]

Hey roofing shingle's are good for 30 years....why not?....LOL..

[ACK]

The speedometer in the truck originally didn't work because someone used a bent nail to hold the speedometer's drive gear in place. I'm guessing someone misplaced the drive gear clip while tinkering with its TH350. The short of it, the drive gear worked it's way up the shaft to the point that it wasn't making contact with the driven gear. The kicker, when I went to fix it, the drive gear clip was sitting loose, right there inside the casing. Here's that bad boy nail ...

[chevyrestoguy]

A buddy bought a 350 small block from a wrecking yard that had shag carpet siliconed inside the valve cover to quiet down the lifter noise.

[donthekawguy]

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

A buddy bought a 350 small block from a wrecking yard that had shag carpet siliconed inside the valve cover to quiet down the lifter noise.

This is awesome! Probably took more time to cut it and glue it in than it would to adjust the valves.

[63 & 64 Bowties]

I remember many years ago that you could buy a whole kit from Bondo that actually included a piece of window screen. So actually, I'd say that's acceptable.

[earl84]

Love the shingle idea. I just had to have some roof repairs done, so if anyone has some bodywork coming up and needs a shingle, let me know, haha.

[turbohounds]

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

A buddy bought a 350 small block from a wrecking yard that had shag carpet siliconed inside the valve cover to quiet down the lifter noise.

I think this is winning for the worst repair idea so far. Speechless...

[RANDY COX]

Originally Posted by 63 & 64 Bowties

I remember many years ago that you could buy a whole kit from Bondo that actually included a piece of window screen. So actually, I'd say that's acceptable.

I think the Bondo Kit still comes with some type of screen material LOL???
when I bought my 70 Burb 4x4 the lower quarter in front of rear tire they had crammed newspaper in there to fill the hole then mud over... How long would that last....

[Dans66Chevy]

I worked at a used car lot in the 80s. They had a car with a loud rear end. They took the cover off the pumpkin and filled it with Bananas.

[HemiChallenger71]

Originally Posted by Dans66Chevy

I worked at a used car lot in the 80s. They had a car with a loud rear end. They took the cover off the pumpkin and filled it with Bananas.

This thread is great.

[Shorty Cox]

I've heard filling the rear end with sawdust will make it run smooth.

[cooperhw]

I bought a 55 years back and someone had shot a 22 cal hole in the windshield. The old farmer had pulled off the wiper on that (passenger) side and put a small bolt threw it with a large rubber washer on both sides of the glass. Looked terrible but kept the water out.
He had also taken chunks of an old tire with the tread facing up and relieved the back side so it would fit over the clutch and brake petals using tie wire to hold it on. Also looked rough but worked.
The 63 I picked up two weeks ago we loaded on my trailer backwards (put his trailer touching my trailer and pulled it on) and on the way home a guy honks next to me and asks if I know the windshield had blown out and was on the hood. I stopped and a PO had installed it with caulk only. I guess it kinda kept the wind/water out while going forward,

[Shaky]

Originally Posted by Dans66Chevy

I worked at a used car lot in the 80s. They had a car with a loud rear end. They took the cover off the pumpkin and filled it with Bananas.

Read "The Grapes of Wrath". They used to add sawdust to the rears when they got noisy and loose.

[Shaky]

The cab on my '67 had a deep dent in the top. Somebody filled it with two-part epoxy. Boy, was that a treat to chip out...

[franken]

It always bugs me when rotted inner fenders and battery trays are fixed with plywood and drywall screws. These are not automotive repairs...

Then there's the some random water absorbent thing, like newspaper as a stabilizer til the mud hardens. Dude!

[OldGMJon]

I bought these two parts trucks from two different people a few years apart. Rust buckets both, but the prices were right...next to zip. I think the two owners must have known each other though because they used spray foam to fill all the rust holes and fill the rusty cowls and rockers. The doors were welded on the yellow truck's lower hinges when the door jam became too rusty to bolt. The guy who owned the blue one said it needed a battery, the radiator was shot, and the starter didn't work. Just to check, I put a battery in it, a couple gallons of gas in the tank, topped off the coolant, and gave it a prime to find it started right up. The radiator cap was toast and that is why he thought the radiator was shot. I went over the truck and found all the gauges and electrical worked, the brakes were fine, and the tires have good tread. The clutch is good but the 4-speed has a slight sincro issue going into 4th but if I baby it slowly it goes in without any gear mashing. No issue with the starter either. I know I look a little like Jethro Bodine driving it around town but I don't care...I like driving it better than my 84' Silverado. I figure it will be parts after something breaks down.