On Thu, 1 Sep 1994, Vern Klukas wrote:
> Well now that I have been royally entertained by your stories, here're a
> couple of mine.
Hold on folks, I think we have a winner! Vern, you're either the list's
greatest Bodger or the list's greatest liar (but I can't help but trust
someone who knows what a "trenail" is). :) Either way, your bodge stories
were great! After reading yours, I'm no longer too embarrassed to reveal
a few of my own.
Bailing Wire Category: A couple of years ago the steering in my TR4
suddenly got _very_ vague, with a tendency for the car to dart off in
directions completely unrelated to what I was doing with the steering
wheel. It's a very early TR4 with the rack mounted on those flimsy
stalk-like brackets (as opposed to the later type with the rack mounted on
mushy rubber). Inspection showed that one of the mounting stalks had
broken loose from the frame. Further inspection showed why: The front
cross member had also broken loose at one end, so the only thing
preventing the frame rails from splaying out was the rack itself and those
silly stalks. The strain was too much, so one of the stalks broke.
As a "temporary" fix, I pulled the frame rails back together with a
carpenter's pipe clamp, then lashed the rails together with 12 1/2 gauge
high-tensile fence wire and a very large turnbuckle. Couldn't figure any
way to do a quick fix on the broken rack mounting stalk, so rigged a
diagonal stiffener from one end of the rack to the opposite side of the
chassis using strap iron and U-bolts. It worked so well that I drove it
that way for several months before getting the chassis bits welded back
together.
Bits of String Category: A couple of years ago the TR4's windscreen
wiper rack broke in the midst of a torrential rain. It broke between the
motor and the left-hand wheelbox, so the wipers would still move in unison
(but not at the request of the motor, unfortunately). We stopped at the
closest house, begged some clothesline rope. Tied a length to each wiper
arm, and ran it in through the side windows. While I drove, my daughter
pulled first one way then the other to work the wipers. That was quite a
trip, with me screaming "Pull faster!" and her screaming "Drive slower!".
Stick Of Wood Category: Back when my MG-TC was still my daily driver, I
got overzealous in a cornfield funkanna and broke the main leaf on one of
the rear springs. There we sat with the rear axle hard up against the
underside of the body, about 100 miles from home. Lashed two pieces of
2 x 4 lumber to either side of the frame rail and to the axle, and drove
home very gingerly. Directional stability wasn't the greatest, but the
ride wasn't much harder than normal ("normal" for a TC being as close to
springless as you can get without actually doing away with the springs).
We got home okay, but this was my daily driver and I had to get to work
the next day. This was long before Federal Express (or any other kind of
one-day delivery) was invented, and besides neither Abingdon Spares or
Moss Motors had new springs in stock. The lumber stayed in place for
several weeks before I was able to locate another spring.
Next contestant, please...
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Chip Old 1948 M.G. TC TC6710 NEMGTR #2271
Cub Hill, Maryland 1962 Triumph TR4 CT3154LO (daily transportation)
feold@umd5.umd.edu
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