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

Used to work for a company where I had an idiot for a supervisor; if we ran into a problem, he would just say, "Never mind that! We'll fix it later!". Sometimes we would find an issue with a job, and he would scream, "I don't care! Right or wrong, just run it!". We wasted a lot of material because of him.

 

Cfmvw : been there myself. I have had customers in the past who would say "Just patch it up. We will build a new one in a couple of months. Got to get it ta goin." No thanks. It will have my name on it and you will forget what you said. I would walk and let my competitors deal with it if they wanted to.

 

"There, I fixed it"

 

Hello,

If it weren’t for those previous builders that had a sense of knowledge of what they were doing, it will take awhile to get things straightened out. In my first 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery, the owner was a friend who lived near us and grew up going to the same junior high school and high school. He had been involved in automobiles since he was little. When he constructed the 1940 sedan delivery with a 348 motor, it was done right. It ran like a drag race vehicle and everything looked outstanding in his parts and applications.

When he rolled into the Bixby Knolls drive-in restaurant parking lot, it was a well deserved build flow of “kudos” coming from everyone. He did it right. But, a little sign in the window said for sale. I was persistent enough to see it and bid on his for sale build. I was the low bidder, actually, it was the only bid and he drove off without selling his new build.

Weeks later, the reason he gave for wanting to sell, was that he had a real drag race vehicle build and needed the 348 motor for that project. So, I was able to buy the sedan delivery with a Flathead motor for my bidding price. (In reality, he did not like the color he had painted in the middle of the night, in his driveway. It was supposed to be Racer Orange and it came out Salmon Pink.) He was tired of answering the question… What color is it or Is it a Salmon Pink color?

Now, that sedan delivery did not cause me any problems other than a mysterious oil consumption thing. No leaks, no drops or smoke out of the exhaust pipes. A clean running motor and started every time. So, I was not worried about the oil usage or the color. It got me where I wanted to go, gave me teenage freedom and a reliable car for any journey short or long, down the coast. Plus, the money was not there for a full rebuild if that was what it was going to take. But overall, I did not have to replace anything, as my friend had put in good tuff in great condition.

Jnaki

That Flathead sedan delivery was a far cry from our second purchase of another 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery with a 327 SBC for power. It looked good and sounded very nice on the start up. It had the lowered look in front and overall it fit our needs and choice of a partial build for us to do our choices of parts.

The build looked good, but after many months of repairs, the cost was quite high. The lowered look was due to broken shocks, worn out or weak springs, the steering fittings were binding, overall, it took months to get things right. This included a professional replacement of upright shocks, brakes, wheels, tire, suspension alignment program that took a couple of weeks and made the sedan delivery ride like it was on air with superior cornering and braking ability. (even tire shaving helped…)

If your wife does not want to ride or drive the sedan delivery, then there is/was a problem. After almost a half year, the 327 SBC powered sedan delivery was far better than the original Flathead powered sedan delivery of my high school days. Now, it had the power to climb hills and steep slopes, handled like a sporty car and stopped on a dime when necessary. Plus, it was a big hit with our customers in the photo business. My wife love to drive it because it also had an A/C unit and was the go to short or long road trip hot rod choice.

A partial build of a hot rod does have its advantages. As most would say, the hard part was done, which is correct for the most part. The basics are there. But, if it was not done right the first time, then it will take countless hours and time to get it right for easy driving on our coastal roads, or roads anywhere for that matter.

NOTE:
The 2nd sedan delivery was built a few miles from Disneyland in So Cal, if that matters...
Mickey Mouse, indeed.

 

It's one thing to half-ass a repair or do a temporary fix, we've all been there.
It's a totally different thing to do that stuff and then pass it along to the next guy and not tell him.
I've bought cars with known issues, and that's 100% fine when you're made aware of them. I've also sold cars with known issues that I am always sure to disclose, even if it loses me money. There's enough snakes in this hobby, I will not add to their numbers.

 

I've seen wiring mentioned a few times in here. Thought I'd share my old headlight switch. We're rewiring my whole car right now because of stuff like this.

 

I think you need to have the attitude you're buying a used car and plan on spending some time/money on your "New" to you hobby car. It's a crap shoot, overall I think the quality of cars have improved in our hobby, not really the quality of the people in general with honesty, integrity, courtesy, Etc, IMO. Some of Old Timers remember the day when you looked someone in the eye and shook their hand, that was a contract, today you can't take anybodies word or check, cash or bank wire transfer only. A Newbie should be warned, vast majority of theses hobby cars are "Backyard" built by hobbyist, many more good/some talents than bad.

 

My observation has been some shops don't always necessarily do things in a "competent workmanlike manner according to generally accepted trade practices". either. But in their defense they have an "excuse" - they are also busy as hell and if they did everything strictly by the book the labor charge alone would be off the charts. They can't afford to keep a lift tied up for very long, or the customer can't anyway. "Get that POS outta here!" Can hear it now.

Point being, if we're doing this for a hobby and our own enjoyment there isn't much excuse for halfassed, shoddy work, get right down to it.

I've been doing it long enough to know that cutting corners is usually a dependable reliable method to have to do it all over again. If I start to get fatigued (or angry) and keep at it too long, that's when trouble generally follows. That's usually a young man's game.

 

Amen...
I do have a little bit of the" red-ass" towards the two guys I bought this car from.
Not because I feel ripped off. Not because I'm unhappy with the car. I'm actually very happy with this coupe.

What I can't get over about those two guys is, they were liars.

They of course, knew they were lying. I knew they were lying. I'm pretty sure they knew, I knew, they were lying.
In a way it was a very sad game. I asked basic questions about the car, just to see how far they would go.

Fellows, Ya'll do not know me, at least how I am in person. I give anyone the benefit of the doubt. I try to be humble. What I'm saying is, I'm not the arrogant butthole buyer. I never have been.

There was an element of "The Emperor's New Clothes" with these guys.

The car would barely run, it was hitting on 5 maybe 6 and had to be choked ..... "Runs good, don't it?"
The car would barely turn the engine over cold and would not crank at all hot..."All it needs is a charge."
The car had no working brake lights.....
The car was braking on one fully functional wheel, the right front....
The fellow told me he had completely gone over the brakes. "I have personally gone over the brakes on this car."
I asked him that more than once and he stuck to it. It was obvious that the car needed brake work.
By far the following statement that upset me the most....
" You can drive this car home.".... Really?? So I asked just to be clear....
" You mean to tell me, that I can get into this car right now and drive it home through metro Birmingham at rush hour and then 40 miles home?"
" Yessir, she'll make it. I'd drive it to California. Now, if you are not comfortable with it, we will deliver it."
The condition that car was in, I would not have drove it to their mailbox much less home.
They were not going to give me an inch. It's OK to be firm on your price, but do not lie about it.

The thing is, they did not have to lie. I had the money. I wanted the car. I thought it was worth what they were asking.

I had something to fall back on. At home in the garage was a good 1950 8RT set up as a 8BA, complete and ready to go with the 3 speed, generator, starter...the whole thing. Also was a re-cored Shoebox radiator. So I had a Plan-B.

I would like to think, if it was a young person with more of a passion than sense or maybe an older person who wanted a good coupe. Maybe those guys would have been more fourth coming. Sadly I don't think so, and that my friends, is a shame.

I really do like these old cars but more importantly, I love the people. If I sale, I want the people to be happy. I want them to know what they're up against what's good, and what needs work.

Now I have fussed a little too much, I guess. But everything, every BS repair I come across, I see those two guys and I just add it to my list...Excuse my language but my shitlist. I think Arrrgh, "Those fuckers."...

BTW, I know those two, Daddy and Jr....did not do any of this work. They were flippers. They bought stored it, looked it over....we need dump this one.

I can make this car into a better car, than they ever thought it could be. For the most part, it already is.

 

I still haven't made my mind up if I was intentionally lied to about my 55 when I bought it or if the guy really didn't know what he had. I feel like the truth is he paid someone to build him a driver quality 55 and instead they cobbled it together from spare parts figuring he'd never know the difference. Then once he saw what a mess it was he flipped it on to the next guy, who was me.
I was young with a fistful of cash, overly excited and not knowledgeable enough to buy a car like this on my own. But that's what I did, and I've been fixing it ever since. Don't get me wrong I love this car, but it's been a long road to get all the NEEDS done.

 

I know exactly why it was done. Really it's kind of a mental illness. I know that's a strong statement but it fits. You tend to see this on automobiles but you'll also see this in home repairs
.
Why fix it with the right stuff and good parts when you can get it to work with garbage, quite literally swept off the floor? There's actually some pride factor in this.
"Hey look at me, I fixed it with a broken coat hanger, some odd nuts that I found in jar, and piece of speaker wire."

Sometimes in an emergency, you make due to get it home. I get that. Those skills can actually be handy.
The problem comes in when you have the means and the knowledge to do a proper repair but choose to "rig" it with garbage instead. Mainly because you can....
" I fixed it!"
Like I said, it's kind of a mental illness....a passion to bailing wire and bubble gum fix, when you have the means and the knowledge to do it right.

It's all part of it though. It's up to us to find this kind of stuff and correct it.

Maybe so, lets hope.... Probably though, he was "willfully ignorant".
I do like to give folks the benefit of the doubt. Maybe those guys I bought the '51 from got it mixed up with the '49 they sold the week before. It still does not matter. They told me it was safe to drive when they knew better.

In the end it does not matter. We own it, we have to fix it.

 

I'm actually quite proud of this...
I was fortunate to pull this one out of the hat.

How about some action being shown to overcome this kind of stuff?....
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
I had a set of headers left over from my 50 Coupe. I had three. Just where the third odd header came from, I have not a clue.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
All cleaned and painted.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Removing the cross over ( I felt the car would do better with headers, instead of that hot crossover under the bottom radiator tank.) Unfortunately they used 3/8 studs for the front exhausts instead of the proper 7/16 bolts. These studs were clued in with RTV and they had been over tightened galling the threads.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
I modified a 7/16 bolt to clean the threads. I double checked it on my spare engine to make sure it threaded in and out easily.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
On one hole the clean out bolt was enough, but on the others the threads were too damaged to start.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
The really damaged threads needed a tap to restore threads. A big problem was starting the tap square to hole. If the tap was off center I would cut the galled threads away instead of cleaning them.....Bad Ju-Ju.
On some, I had to use the countersink and the small file to work on the leading threads. All of this was done by hand. The counter sink was spun back and fourth through my fingers. The little file was used to ring the hole so it would start square.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
There was no room for a tap wrench so I had to use a regular wrench on the tap. This was another reason the tap had to be started absolutely square by hand.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
The last and most damaged thread absolutely would not take a tap square. I had to use the counter sink, the file and my special bolt. Back and fourth....turning backwards then forwards again, again and again.....Then my little bolt caught and I could tell by the butter smooth feel that it had engaged the threads.....
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Since the bolt was engaged in the hole, I put a wrench on it...In and Out....in and out many any times. Finally I could remove the bolt clean it it out then replace it. Finally it would take a regular bolt.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
The last thing I needed was the header gasket making it difficult to start the bolts.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
I was successful. I was very fortunate.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Installing the headers on some spots you can work through the wheel well.

This repair took several days. I cant tell you the care and patience required. It was a slow go and took a very light touch. Nobody and I mean nobody is going to do this kind of work. They don't have time and they don't have care..
All of this could have been avoided if they would have used the right bolts in the first place.

 

That story bought back sad memories. My avatar is a '62 GM Holden wagon. Kinda like a 3/4 scale '57 Chev. Made for an inline 6, and I have shoehorned in a 327. Everything is tight for space. Got the car back from the engine rebuilder, and it blew an exhaust gasket within weeks. Fenderwell headers on Dart iron heads. Found two bolts loose, and one replaced with a goober bolt that had been stripped. Could not remove the headers more than 3/4" from the heads due to clashing with the inner guards. Had to chase the head threads with a tap, but little room. Tap located up in the exhaust tube, and an open-ended spanner to turn it, 30-degrees at a time. Praying I got it square. That feeling when the tap starts to turn like butter is fantastic. Made me sad that a reputable shop would do Mickey-Mouse bolt work on beautiful Dart heads.

Cheers,
Harv

 

On some of my cars, half the work might be excellent, while other repairs were crap. I can only assume that it was done by two different owners. Electrical work never seems up to code. I actually don't see this as a "bitch session", I get a kick out of some of these god awful repairs. Every car I've owned has been sold in a lot better condition than when I bought it...

 

TRUTH. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't proud of taking this car from what it was to what it is. I've learned a LOT with this car, and I'm better for it.
That said, I'd still punch the builder in the mouth if given the opportunity.

 

Over the years I figured out a way to stop sellers from having to lie when I asked questions. I just stopped asking those questions. Now days the only question I ask is "We got a deal?". Transaction time is cut to minutes instead of hours. Since I know I'll be fixing what's broke, and straightening out work that ain't up to my standards, I really like to keep the sellers bullshit to a minimum. I just put the cash in their hand, load the car on the hauler and hit the road.

 

Maybe you should be glad they didn't apply any of their skills to the car.

 

This is my car when I bought it. I didn't really find any surprises.

Gary

 

My classic story is a VW bus we bought many years ago to carry our 3 babies. There was always too much car and too little engine in that combo but it was before Astro Vans etc., that were great kid haulers. The van engine just stopped one day so I decided to do a ground-up rebuild. How hard could it be? When I split the case, couldn't believe what I saw. The engine had blown for a previous owner so he built up the missing cam stands with epoxy paste! They were 100% plastic. Learned my lesson to never work on a magnesium engine again. Give me good old cast iron every time.

 

My solution to Mickey Mouse repairs is very simple. I buy the car/truck/motorcycle/tractor when the condition is Hopelessly Shot. This way, there are no surprises. The joke on our farm is that if it’s not brand new, it can not come to our place if it runs, moves, and stops on its own. On the trailer is the only way into our driveway……

 

I enjoy the HAMB every AM with my coffee and you hit the nail on the head Buddy, Some of the "Bitchin" is entertaining and I usually read the tech, rarely post in tech as there are so many experts here and that can be pretty interesting/sometimes pretty funny as some men have no clue what they attempting to help with. It seems there is always people that want to share their misery, noticeably more here in recent times. I sometimes wonder what world do some of these guys live in. I hear my Parents Advice when reading the whining/crying/complaining/it's to hard/BooHoo/it's not fair/cost too much, Etc. "There are No Excuses, Make it Happen"

 

When I am looking to purchase a car, I try to find all the problems I can and decide whether I can fix it or if it's gonna be cost prohibitive. After all, this is what gets the car to my price point...
Maybe I'm weird, but I love making a car better.
On the other hand, if I paid big bucks for a finished car and then found some shady, unsafe repair work, I'd be more than pissed!

 

Happens all the time. I see guys buying high dollar cars sight unseen then asking me to come look it over, See some wacky stuff done and probably done by shops! Then they ask if I can help them fix it. Sometimes yes sometimes no thx, Always wonder about the places doing this shady work Just looked at one--decent at 1st glance but then looking closer I see a lot of questionable work.

 

I had an OT SUV a few years back, and I started noticing the speakers would lose a channel when I went over bumps. I took the radio out and instead of buying the $10 adapter kit he cut the plugs off the CD player and the car harness and just twisted everything together. I thought what the hey I'll check out the subs no fuse at the battery and he had it attached to a smaller piece of wire with some black tape and had the whole thing zip-tied to the fuel line. Then I found a couple of pieces of household wiring that he used for the trailer brake, and some with bare ends dangling around hooked to nothing.

 

I bought a VW Bug one time for parts, it had some good fenders and other parts I needed for another one. When I started stripping it out, I noticed it had been rewired. Every wire was the same size, and color, red! Guy probably bought a roll of wire and used it all on the one car. Would have been about impossible to trace any problems....

 

I knew a guy who bought a VW Bug with a "rebuilt" engine that didn't run very well. Took it apart and found, amongst other things that weren't right, a lifter made out of a piece of oak wood.

 

My new tank arrived and I'm in the process of installing it.
Today I was reminded why I started this thread.
Safety and Responsibility.
It does not matter what somebody else did. If you own the car, you own the repair. If something bad happens due to such a repair, it's your fault. You own it.
I spilled some gasoline, maybe a pint. Little did I know the top of the tank was leaking. The gas spill was my fault for not fully checking things out.
This dawned on me toady. This car had an exhaust system put on it 2 weeks ago. Those guys were all around that tank with welders. I know gasoline is pretty hard to ignite except when it does but....
That Would Have Sucked....!!!!

Lord have mercy. I am very thankful.

Check your stuff.

 

This was one of the Mickey Mouse jobs on my Lincoln when I got it. This was hidden behind the hubcap. Ford 8" Mustang II rear end. Scary thing is, somebody actually drove this car with this crap on it! I know they did, because the transmission pan had the impression of the wishbone in it where it had been hitting!

 

Lord have Mercy!....That's bad Bam, that's real bad.

 

The list is too long on my RPU from previous owners, this is just one item. Also ALL the wiring was black. JW