Hot Rods Repairing On The Road...

Any Stories In The Group Concerning Repairing Cars While Away From Your Shop?...

 

No...you had to be there....

 

I changed ring and pinion gear for a Ford 9 inch in a hotel room once.

 

I have changed a water pump at a gas station.

 

Lost the inner bellcrank pivot on the road. Stole a body bolt in it’s place and away we went.

 

Water pump at a gas station? who would do such a thing?! these two guys lol.

I’ve also changed a water pump in someone’s front yard before plenty of other parking lot action stories. Gotta do what ya gotta do. @BigJoeArt has had pleeeeeeennntttyyyyy to fix, repair, ratchet strap, pretend its gonna make it the rest of the way, on his travels in his purple jitney

 

Cleaning some of winter's trash out of one of the jets in primary carb on road trip.

 

Changed a front brake hose in an auto parts store parking lot, only 900 miles from home.

Put a door window back on track so I could roll up the window, in a quarter car wash stall during a rain storm.

Helped my grandson put bolts in place of 4 out of 5 broken lug nut studs in an auto parts store so we could get back home.

Reinstalled a fuel pump on a 63 Chevy II with a V8 along the side of the road for one of the car club guys while we were on a cruise. Both fuel pump bolts fell out! Between the other guys, we managed to get a couple bolts that I made work.

Replaced a broken throttle cable with speaker wire on the side of the road on another club cruise for a guy. We made it the 100 miles home and lasted another two weeks until the replacement cable came in.

One of the guys got a load of bad gas, I pulled the top off his carb to "clean it out" about every 10 miles or so. We made it the 60 miles to his place.

Back before cell phones, one of the car club guy's 30 Ford Coupe with a Chevy V8 broke the aluminum bracket the held the alternator. Another guy and I cobbled together a bracket so he could drive the car to the next town, about 8 miles away. There he called his friend that came with the car trailer to haul it home.

 

235 lost all the water ... after trying all the easy stuff to fix, we must fix it. This was in the triangle wedge between lanes of traffic merging onto the freeway. Got water pump out & discovered the rebuilt pump had a plastic impeller that came loose. Broke a .002 feeler into a couple short pieces & wedged them in. Still working years later.
That's the legendary Starvin' Marvin on the right & me

 

In '62, four of us were rolling south through the boondocks of New Mexico, headed for El Paso and Juarez. It was half past midnight and we hadn't seen even one yardlight in over an hour. Suddenly my brother's '55 Chevy went dead and we were stranded on the side of the highway, no tools and no flashlight. So we have the hood open but we're just kicking rocks for what seems like forever (probably about 20 minutes) and eventually the first car drives past and develops enough pity on us to make a U-turn down the road and come back. Thankfully he has a flashlight and we were able to quickly diagnose that the problem was that the primary wire on the distributor had broken off at a crimped connector. I don't recollect the details but we must have had a pocket knife and a pair of pliers because we were back in business in a New York minute.

And then there was this time I stayed overnight in a mom-n-pop motel room in Yoakum, Texas to do the second day of a car show. The shag carpet had so much grease and oil that it pulled my socks off in about 3 steps. I'm not sure what got repaired there but I am sure it was a big job.

 

Years ago rebuilt a alternator in a 63 vette on the side of the road in front of a mechanic shop in a town with about 10 or so houses in the middle of nowhere Kansas.

It was 8:00 in the morning, heading for Arkansas last rod run. The mechanic had the needed bearings which we paid double for and while we installed them in his driveway he leaned up in his doorway grinning and watched us while the local cop sit across the street leaned against his patrol car watching us too. But not after the cop had done made his obligationing stop and question routine, how long you gonna be here? (Not long), where you going? (Car show), have you been drinking ? (We haven't stopped since last night), any alcohol in the car? ( No, just the last case of beer behind the seat)....

30 minutes later down the road we go.... with barney fife following along to the county line, where he stopped and waved his hand out his window. He sat there until we were out of sight....

...

 

Nothing major. Installed a full set of pushrods in a SBC in the middle of the Shades of the Past rod run when it was still out of town in the big field. Hardened tips started failing on the old ones on the way down. Dismounted a ruined 31X18.50X15 M/T in the middle of a Super Chevy show in Bristol with a couple screwdrivers. Found a new one on the manufacture's midway and mounted it up, rolled the wheel and tire up to the racers pits and found an air compressor to pump it up, then back to the 48 pickup to install. Helped a buddy replace the radiator in his 34 coupe when it failed at a show in NC. Fun times.

 

Seems like too many times,I had to fix something.
But looking back,and rethinking,likely not that much over 75 years of driving.
Just today coming home from a carshow { close to 40 miles from home } I over heated about 1/2 back, at this point have no idea way? Stopped at a gas station,to cool off and refill rad. Run on home with out prob.
Some looking in to it is needed.
I carry some tools ,fix-a-flat,tape and a bag of mixed nuts n bolts,bulb,fuses.Zip-Tys,wire {canbe coathanger },rags,oil,water.Jumper Cables n tow rope,jack n tireplug kit. I have no room for a spair tire. Fire X< that is full. .
Most times don't have whats needed,except when stop to help someone,other then my self.

 

Afraid I've done so many repairs on the side of the road, or in parking lots of auto parts stores that I can't recall all of them!
One time in high school in the 60's heading home from the beach when suddenly my '57 Chev began missing, and a cloud of oil smoke was seen in the rear view mirror! Had my girl friend along, and pulled over to the side. Had her fire it up as I pulled spark plug wires one at a time until I noticed one cylinder didn't change tone when the wire was unplugged. Checked it to ground and had a good spark, so I pulled the plug and saw it coated in oil! Tossed my tools in the trunk, and the plug wire for that cylinder also, and drove home on 7 cylinders with no more smoke since there was no compression. Pulled the head the next day and there was a pinhole in the middle of the piston! Dropped the pan and pulled the piston, and backside of the piston was a big crater around the hole. Bought one piston, and installed it on the rod. Drained the oil and put new oil and filter in, and it was good for several years until I sold the car.

Had another time I was driving my old Suburban and it coughed to a halt in the middle of nowhere with no cell service! Had a bunch of camping gear in the back, and took it out to get to my tool bag. No fuel in the filter, and pulling the gas line off at the fuel pump showed no gas getting to the pump either. Couldn't drop the gas tank alongside the road, so I measured out where the fuel pickup and sending unit was and marked out a 12"x12" area underneath the rear deck carpet on the wood deck. Used a hand push type hacksaw I had in my bag for emergencies and had to work it at an angle until it got through the 3/4" plywood deck. Took me an hour of sawing to get an access hole, and I removed the wood to see the sending unit. Pulled the hose and the sending unit to find no screen on the pickup tube, and a big piece of gas tank sealer pulled up into the tube! I pulled it out and it was about 10" in diameter! Hard to believe a fuel pump could suck that hard?
I put the sender back together, laid the wood piece over the hole, and rolled the carpet back. Jumped in and fired it up and it ran great again! Loaded up all my gear and headed towards home, but at the next small town I stopped at a NAPA store to ask about a filter screen? Didn't have one, so I went to the hardware store and bought some nylon screen. Unloaded my gear in the parking lot again, removed the pickup, and used a nylon wire tie to put screen on the pickup tube. Loaded it all again, and drove the last 150 miles home without issue. Ordered a new pickup with screen and redid it all again once it was delivered. Replaced the fuel pump also as I figured it might have junk in it too.
Had the electric fuel pump die on my Austin gasser and coasted into a restaurant lot. Called my son in law to come get me, and went to the local parts store to buy a new pump. I replaced it in the parking lot and was going again 30 minutes later. I bought a cheap inline pump and put it in the trunk as a spare. Been 10 years now and it's not been needed. first electric pump lasted 3 years, and 2nd was the same brand, yet keeps on going. Maybe it knows there's a backup waiting to replace it?
I keep an emergency tool bag in all three of my old cars just in case!

 

You started off like the beginning of a "Blues Brothers" movie.

 

Oh man. 60 years of roadside repairs... fuel filters. fuel pumps. fuel lines. radiator hoses. radiator leaks. radiators themselves...
adjusting points. replacing plugs plug wires. distributor cap. Changing coils. replacing light bulbs. fuses. Shorted wiring. water pumps. and the list goes on and on. Not to mention tire failures and flats.
breakdowns and repairs Just to get down the road further... I got to stop and go fix the tire on my motorcycle...

I guess that's why so many people by brand new cars and trucks and motorcycles. Basically gives them no problems for a year or two. But that's generally not me. I like the old stuff... besides it's more affordable.

 

I was stationed at an Army Depot north of Reno in the early '70's. One day on a trip to Reno in my '63 Carry All the radiator started to give up the ghost. Started driving to a junk yard off the Mustang exit of the I-80 east of Sparks. Radiator finally gave up the ghost before we got there. Started walking on I-80 towards the junk yard when a convertible with out of state plates with 3 frat brother looking guys slowed down and asked how to get to the Mustang Ranch. Told them to take the Mustang off ramp and then follow the red arrows painted on the rocks along side of the road at the bottom of the ramp. They said thanks and hauled ass toward the exit. Continued walking to the junk yard and bought a radiator that was close to fitting with some bailing wire and plain luck that the hoses were the right size. Filled it with water and I was back at the depot in time for evening guard mount. And no I've never been to the Mustang Ranch, only the junk yard near it. And that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

True story. Way back in the Idaho forest deer hunting and the jeep we were in sprung a radiator leak. Patched it with juicy fruit gum. That and stopping every 15 miles to add water to the radiator got us home.

 

While not on the road per say, I had a belt break on the 455 Olds motor in my 30ft. Laffitte Skiff
while 10 miles offshore trawling for shrimp here in the Louisiana Gulf area just out of New Orleans. I had no spare on board at the moment. I made a belt with a length of poly dac rope. (Non stretching) I had to make a splice that would ride in the pully system where a knot would not do. It worked fine and I made the rest of the day trawling and then motored back to my slip. I forgot about the rope and neglected to acquire a new belt that evening. The next morning at 4am I arrived at my boat to make another day. The rope belt still was tight and the cooling and charging systems were working properly. So I just made another day with the rope belt.

 

Working on my NSRA RPU I had just won.
Electrical issues turned out to be a loose battery cable.

 

25 years ago a buddy of mine and I drove a '49 Crosley from Sacramento to Morro Bay (about 350 miles) - almost all on small highways and back roads. Car ran warm on the hills and lost some power and was making a weird noise as we got close to Paso Robles. I pulled into an auto parts store lot and popped the hood - the gasket on the exhaust manifold had failed.

I let the engine cool down a bit, then removed the manifold, traced the old gasket on some new gasket material from the store, made a gasket, and reinstalled. Good to go. Still ran warm.

Got to the destinstion - annual crosley club meet - and noticed that all the other Crosleys had a cardstock baffle next to the radiator, forcing air into it. Mine did not have the baffles (rotted away long before I got it I'm sure), so the air was just blowing past the radiator.

Dumpster-dived some cardboard that night, fabricated baffles and duct taped them in place. Car ran 30 degrees cooler on the way back to Sacramento!

 

Yes,,, Yes I have

 

If the 34 was a full fendered car you completed a tough job .

 

Sparks , Nevada , spent a week there in one night

 

well the story of the plethora of field repairs i've made to my purple T are told in detail HERE if you start about page 12.

but I've been driving junk all my life.

One of my fond high school memories is driving my buddy around in my bug, when the throttle cable snapped, right by the pedal. about 15 miles from town. He flipped out, but I just went to work. two zipties and a pair of needlenose vice grips later, I had a working facsimile of a throttle cable. My buddy was amazed, and I drove him home and drove back to my house no problem.

 

Upon finding this I thought where to begin.
My 30's I spent with a gang of van operators, working under contract for same day deliveries.
So many,,, too many. Fuel pumps, on the freeways. etc etc. I was the Pollyanna.
But thinking back to "the days when" Having just been 'learned' about setting points,
Driving home one evening traffic was backed up terribly.
I found a guy, with family in the car and his motor dead.
I was totally jazzed when I looked at his points, and had a tiny pair of pliers, enough to make him a gap.
One more to brag on, was my off topic Ford P/U the starter died in my driveway.
How lucky izzat. Went to Pep boys got another and felt pleased.
Well two years later one morning, after a heavy snow, my neighbor needed a ride.
We wound up at the Auto Zone, where upon my Pep Boy starter died, quit, dead.
The guys at The Zone lent me the wrenchs. I was set, but really felt lucky
Because, Six months prior I had major back surgery. The back brace that I had to wear
( called 'The Alpine' ) kept my skinny butt and back warm from the snow.
Just sayin' I always keep that magic hose repair tape with me, haven't used it yet.

 

Hello,

I was given the job of installing the real Moon Spun aluminum Discs on my brother’s pale yellow 1951 Oldsmobile sedan. He had just bought it and drove around with a happy owner's face. But, he wanted to immediately change the full hubcaps to make it look racy.

Thanks, @themoose for bringing back the original look of the 1951 Oldsmobile two door sedan.

The only yellow car photo I had was taken in 1957 and it was one of the last days we owned the 51 Oldsmobile sedan. The new Lime Green paint was applied, so our long time, neighborhood, friend would buy the Oldsmobile sedan for his first car.

We were going through several changes to make it look like a nice cruiser. lowering it too much in front cost us a new set of springs. chrome pipes along the bottom of the doors made it too low and could not get in various driveways, etc. so, now, it had to get new Moon Discs.

My brother was only 15 at the time he bought the 52 yellow Oldsmobile sedan. He needed it for his after school job as a grocery box boy/checker on off hours. He had saved up enough to buy the Oldsmobile, but our dad had to co-sign the pink slip. But, was tired of walking to work or riding his old Schwinn to work. Now, he was car owner and his first item to get were the set of original Moon Equipment spun aluminum discs for all 4 wheels.
Finally, the lowered stance was perfect for cruising and getting into various driveways and entrances to the local drive-in restaurant, teenage hangouts.

He installed the rear units and I had the job of installing the fronts onto the steel rims. These were not the snap on hubcaps, but the real screw-in units. So, I cautiously drilled and installed the discs. Those discs made the Oldsmobile look fast just sitting in our driveway.


It looked great and I was a good installer. Now, my brother would or could take me where I wanted to go without having to walk or take the bus. So, a mile or two away to basketball practice was a long way and now I would arrive in a cool car.

Jnaki

The one day, around noon in the summer, I get a phone call. My brother was on the other end. He said I need to bring one of the tires from the garage to where he was. I had no car, no way to get there and our mom also did not have a car. What happened was he that used his spare for one front wheel. But, needed another one for the other side.

Somehow, the front two tires leaked to go flat. What? How can two tires go flat at the same time? Luckily, the other tire in the backyard garage was for an Oldsmobile. But, now I had no way to get it there. My brother was downtown and that was 6 miles away, past his high school, near the beach.

I went over to my neighbor’s house and again, I was lucky he was just leaving for his job near the downtown area. So, he gave me and the spare tire, a lift.

Note:

I found out that the two front tires went flat from an air leak. The leak came from the holes I drilled into the rims to screw on the Moon Discs. I used our correct size drill and I used a new sheet metal screw for each hole. A sheet metal screw had a sharp end and it was not the exact ones that came with the Moon Discs. I must have grabbed the sheet metal screws instead…duh…

The sharp points held the disc to the steel rim, but also, punctured the rubber tire and caused a slow leak. Every time my brother stopped or turned, the air leaked out faster. Then, now, he had two flat front tires.
He told me to replace the last flat tire and rim with the one I brought from home. He watched and I worked.

I did get a giant lesson from him about using the right screws for the right job. As young as I was, it was a lesson I never forgot. Luckily, I am still alive to tell about this giant screw up (pun intended) YRMV

 

A few times...Yep. Good times.

 

I Had to change a ujoint were the car stopped on the side of interstate 35

 

There are some good ones in the "Road side repair stories" thread. Here's one of mine,
Road side repair stories
Mike