Technical Look out for the "Mickey Mouse" repairs of Previous Owners....

I never had the funds to buy a running project, so kinda like RJP, I never worried much about things. Kinda like buying a used engine sitting on a garage floor, I’d only pay core charge plus what I figured the bolt ina were worth to me.
Having said that, I’ve pretty much seen it all, well, maybe not everything, but a lot. The one that really had me wondering though was bailing wire holding what was left of the steering box rag joint. No leather/belting left. The nubs were pretty much gone. The car had to have had some miles on it like that, as I was uncoiling the wire, the were more and more pieces of it. Like the guy driving it would wrap it a few more times when the steering was getting too loose.

When I pulled the brake lines out of a ‘42 Ford PU, it had compression T fittings for splices, the open end of the T had a bolt with sealing tape on it screwed in.
I guess it’s a good thing I could never drive one home

 

fix it .....move on, content in the knowledge that the next caretaker will be getting a fine ride with no issues, concerns, or curiosities whatsoever

 

When the next guy buys my coupe someday he will start a thread similar to this one.

 

I guess in light of the shit that those that morally shouldn't touch Anything mechanical have done most of us that have mechanical sense have managed to catch the nastiness before it killed oneself or those around them...so it certainly pays to go over stuff thoroughly and that goes for any Hamb Friendly and IF you don't have the skills let a trusted mechanic do an A to Z...

The other thing is some jurisdictions don't even require a safety cert and that is pretty scary for obvious reasons...

 

My shoebox is the first car I've bought "done". The guy built it right, but man, he had a knack for not tightening nuts and bolts all the way! Lol. Still, all in all the car is good, a few repairs from time to time, but that's the fun part, right? We like turning wrenches, right?!?!

 

I don't believe you...but I will say I thought of a Thread you started on a similar subject though...BUT there is a difference...bailing wire steering and open holes in gas tanks are not crude mods...

 

Sometimes I wish I could be ok with slapping things together but I have to have it just so. How about when you see them at the drags, a pile of bungie cords and duct tape and then they go down the strip like there on 100%....

 

My step daughter took her Off Topic GM to a mechanic shop down town to replace the RAG JOINT. She drove around for a couple of weeks came over for a visit and ask if I could have a look at her car. She explain how the front end shakes and wobble’s now. It turns out who ever installed the rag joint had no understanding how they work. Some how it was bolted together solid! WTF! How’s that work??? It didn’t so to get some articulation the Idiot loosens the three steering box bolts!?? I informed her she was going to need a ride until this get rectified. It destroyed the input shaft / rag joint / steering column / and her livelihood. Her husband at the time wanted to argue about how to repair the mess and wanted to do it on the cheap . “I’ll have no part of that” I told the ASSHOLE . The husband and is friends attempted repairs with a steering column from the wrong “ make “of vehicle . It sat around for five years and went to the scrapper- Someone without the working knowledge- can fudge things up quickly.


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Mickey ears or Bunny ears...

 

When I mentioned Mechanics I meant competent ones...that is a challenge in itself...

Glad you all lived to tell the story....

 

I have learned to just laugh at stuff that previous owners have done (well at least the ones that aren't safety concerns). Makes for good stories and I am sure that some things I have done in the past might be viewed that way too by others. Anyway, all part of dealing with stuff that others have had the opportunity to make better or screw up... Here is my favorite "Mickey Mouse" repair I found on a car I have right now... The funnier part may be that I haven't changed it yet, because it is still working.

 

There is many levels of compromise on this subject and many make you chuckle but don't threaten...many are done just to get one home in a pinch but long term blatant butchery is really scary...the barn hinge is actually pretty robust...

 

Kind of amuses me....bashing a previous owner for butchering the car you bought, after you have already bought it, proclaiming how incompetent they are, shouldn’t anyone who’s an “expert” see all of the butchery before purchasing? Therefore what is there to complain about if you chose to buy it anyways?


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The first thing I do is put the car up in the air and start the tightening process.. Usually every damn bolt and nut is loose.. I like when the universal joint nuts are hand tightened!

 

Some cars are flipped so much it's hard to know who was responsible...but if you bought it make it yours...sniff sniff what's that gas smell...I've had tanks leaking from rust at the strap but never open holes from a botched gas sender install...

That's a neat looking Coupe...isn't that the same as McCord's brother was in in the Cali Kid?...

 

My point was there are a lot of experts who bash others work because they would never do things like that yet they didn’t catch that when they bought it...


And yes I’ve done shoddy work myself, when I was learning what all this car stuff was about. It seems as though some were born knowing everything, I was not. I’m 42 years old and still learning

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Agreed

 

The tank sender was cleverly covered up and the linkage went unnoticed as well...the older they are the more one has to be vigilant and careful who one bashes as it may not be who you think it was...You are right though, buyer beware is advice that has major relevance in this Hobby...I've been fairly fortunate and my compromise repairs are generally robust or I leave it again to those that know the ropes...I'm still learning too and I never profess to know everything...

 

I'd say a hinge is the perfect hanger for exhaust, allows the expansion and contraction of the system. Yea, Right. Ralphie

 

This nightmare still exists, nothing like adding weight to a flex plate to eliminate a engine vibration.

 

As a fabricator I am pretty impressed with this amount of creativity


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That right there borderlines on art.

 

I built a package tray for my coupe behind the seat. To attach it to the panel below it, I used a length of piano hinge. Beats it being in the scrap pile.

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My main intent of this thread is to be more diligent. Test all your road systems before hand.
Whether you bought or built it....test it at home in real world conditions.
I should have completely filled this car up at home as a test. Who does that? Well, really, you ought too. You may have loose connection...you may have missed something.
I posted this so maybe you will not look like a dumbass at the gas station like I did....I earned it. Of course there's obvious hazard and I would hate to see anybody hurt.

 

Honestly, this was a good reminder to all of us to look over stuff. I have had to work through several similar things on my daily driver Thunderbird similar to this that could have been avoided if I would have been more diligent to check things over closely. Some of my issues were from “Mickey Mouse” repairs while others were from degradation of parts (brake hose that sprung a leak ). Anyway, thanks for sharing.

 

Don't piano's come with 3 pedals too so it's only fitting...

 

My T Bird is a survivor. Sat in a barn for about 35 years (not a "barnfind" cause it wasn't lost), is basically unchanged from new. The only thing I've found is the coil wire from the ignition switch to the coil was about 3 inches to short and somebody spliced on an extension with a wire nut...

 

It was very very fortunate...the bird probably pecked his ass for that one...

I had a 66 GTO Conv...and I thought it was in great shape and I took a front fender off for some reason and there was a 6" sanding disc inside at the aft bottom backing about 1" of overflowing bondo...sure didn't expect that...White a grate color for a car full of bondo as it doesn't show it very well...

 

Damn. My grandpa taught me better than that when I was still in high school. And that's why I work on my own cars. I just don't trust anyone any more.

 

Seems the rarer the parts available, the more Micky Mouse you run into. My car is a 10 year restoration showing some wear and I'm constantly shaking it down, looking for problems others overlooked or caused. Nothing catastrophic, just things that lead to premature failure. Catch it early, address it, shakedown, next one........

Joe