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Inconvenient/unusual repair situations.


SherpaMog

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I can't be the only one on here that had needed to pull out some structural damage using a telegraph pole or a tree in as quiet a car park as possible...

 

No, I straightened out the front of my 1600E Orion using a chain and the shipping container full of old tyres behind Halfords when no-one was looking. Worked a treat!

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I dug a 1961 Imperial Crown Southampton out of the desert sand in a Yermo, CA, scrap yard, in July at 55 degrees (Celsius, not the stupid ones),

got it running, drove off to Carleston, SC, to have it shipped to Rotterdam, and actually not really broke down in Rice, CA, a town that was for sale

at the time (yes, the entire town!) with total brake failure. So I drove on to Parker, AZ, without a hint of brakes and fixed them in the car park of the

NAPA store there. In Tatum, NM, I changed the front seal of the gearbox in the car park of Mack's Motel and I rebuilt the carburettor in the car park

of the Sons of Herman Lodge in Aspermong, TX. In Texarkana, TX, I left most of the exhaust at the roadside and got a new one installed in

Tuscaloosa, AL, which means I had travelled half of Texas and Alabama without a fart of a silencer and red glowing floorboards.

In Sylvania, GA, I changed the alternator in the car park of the Brier Creek Country Club.

In Rentowles, SC, I had five new radials fitted since I thought it's a good idea to replace the 20+ year old dry rotted crossplies that had served me

faithfully on this 2,500 mile trip.

 

So all in all a rather uneventful collection 30 years before Roadkill, with many an unusual* repair situation.

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I think you are correct although I think most of the people living there PCP their cars (I'm not getting into a PCP debate, it suits some), and they think you have to take it to a main dealer to be fixed.

The shock of a man putting brake shoes in a hub upset them a little. Next door thought it was scandalous, jacking a vehicle up on the street.

I think they cost me thirty bufters, garage price$%#@#$$$, its not even difficult to do!!

Don't understand some people's attitudes.

 

Round here people are happy enough and I've done a few emergency repairs for some of the neighbours, like freeing up a seized hub for the lady down the street who was in a panic to get to work, or giving the lad a few doors up a jumpstart.

 

Its not just cars either, I helped the giffer next door when the cold water feed to his bog started leaking, and it means they all leave me in peace to bang away at the fleet. And when people walk past they stop for a natter, you get some great giffer stories that way.

 

My mum moved into a brand new development, they have a residents committee who complain if you don't bring the bins in quick enough or you don't cut the grass short enough. Fuck that......again up here there's a fella who puts everyone's bins away when he's doing his own as he's generally around during the day. Keeps an eye on the houses too. Mums place is every man for himself, what is wrong with people?

 

 

Sent from my SM-A510F using Tapatalk

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Just swapped the front brake pads on a colleagues Renault yesterday afternoon in the office car park...... She came in crying that the car was 'smoking' so we rushed out to make sure it wasn't already on fire. Turns out she'd been running on the metal of the pads - noticed the noise so put in her earphones and turned up the volume! Un-sodding- believable. Her local chop-shop had charged her for the work, but surprise surprise the pads were sitting in the box, in the boot.

Infrabel (the rail support group) is part of this lot so I cajoled a worker into pulling the van around while waiting for service and I pulled out the wrecked remains (once cooled down) and popped in the new pads. Pointed out to her the discs were now fubar'd and she took a load of photo's as I did it - as they had charged her.... she got home OK (is back to them this morning apparently). See how THAT goes!

 

Of course - the rest came and watched, muttered about a 'proper' garage etc... until told the garage had left her in this situation. Plus I got a few black looks for looking like a street urchin while doing a system demo on the latest software release..... hey ho

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Had to take the thermostat to bits on dads mk1 bx on the way to shitefest a few years ago. Chosen location was the police / site access lay by off the round about on the English side of the Severn bridge .

Then cleaning the alternator brusheson the roughest Saab 900 ever in the shitfest parking field

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Just swapped the front brake pads on a colleagues Renault yesterday afternoon in the office car park...... She came in crying that the car was 'smoking' so we rushed out to make sure it wasn't already on fire. Turns out she'd been running on the metal of the pads - noticed the noise so put in her earphones and turned up the volume! Un-sodding- believable. Her local chop-shop had charged her for the work, but surprise surprise the pads were sitting in the box, in the boot.

Infrabel (the rail support group) is part of this lot so I cajoled a worker into pulling the van around while waiting for service and I pulled out the wrecked remains (once cooled down) and popped in the new pads. Pointed out to her the discs were now fubar'd and she took a load of photo's as I did it - as they had charged her.... she got home OK (is back to them this morning apparently). See how THAT goes!

 

Of course - the rest came and watched, muttered about a 'proper' garage etc... until told the garage had left her in this situation. Plus I got a few black looks for looking like a street urchin while doing a system demo on the latest software release..... hey ho

I did similar with someone at works seized rear caliper on a Clio... Few odd looks from the non car folk as I belted it with a lump hammer and my jack handle, but approving looks from the folk who knew what I was doing (older people mainly). The lady whose car it was was very grateful and bought me an ice cream later that day, so win/win!

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Don't understand some people's attitudes.

 

Round here people are happy enough and I've done a few emergency repairs for some of the neighbours, like freeing up a seized hub for the lady down the street who was in a panic to get to work, or giving the lad a few doors up a jumpstart.

 

Its not just cars either, I helped the giffer next door when the cold water feed to his bog started leaking, and it means they all leave me in peace to bang away at the fleet. And when people walk past they stop for a natter, you get some great giffer stories that way.

 

My mum moved into a brand new development, they have a residents committee who complain if you don't bring the bins in quick enough or you don't cut the grass short enough. Fuck that......again up here there's a fella who puts everyone's bins away when he's doing his own as he's generally around during the day. Keeps an eye on the houses too. Mums place is every man for himself, what is wrong with people?

 

 

Sent from my SM-A510F using Tapatalk

 

 

I do my spannering on my drive next to a busy road. After about half-an-hour I've noticed that you filter out this additional noise. I've found it dead rare to find anyone working on their cars outside these days, and make no mistake, it's not as if I live in a plush spot where everyone could afford to send their motor to the dealer or even the garage round the corner. No one has ever complained and occasionally people do take an interest including the one chap who 'likes his cans of Special Brew'. At first I was a bit concerned at this interest - he's a rather gruff fella - but it transpires that he was a mechanic in his former days. The S3 Land-Rover also seems to attract attention from old boys, who after about 15 minutes will 'fess up to have been in the Army.

 

Just out of interest They_all_do_that_sir does your Mum live in NI too as I've not heard of such 'rules' for new developments? I've noticed that people over here in NI are very keen on newer motors, unlike say Wales where snotters seem far more prevalent. Oh and I was in smart Tunbridge Wells recently and was very pleased to see someone working on their MK3 Golf in the car park at the bottom end of Warick Road for those that know the spot. Feet poking out from underneath and the sound of a ratchet being twirled.

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I've just remembered another one.

 

 

I changed a CV joint in a Discovery's front axle in a field in the middle of southern jockland while it was raining in October? Wasn't even my car & I had to fabricate CV grease with some normal grease & mixing in gear oil. Lucky some people had cans of petrol about as I had to flush the remains of the old CV out of the swivel bearings.

 

I gave a warranty until the engine was started :D

 

Then the bloke drove around the campsite pissed & nearly run people over that night. I wish I'd never fixed it tbh.

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  • 2 months later...

Just to add a little to the absurd story of repairing the X1/9 I posted up a while back.  Going through an older computer and found some pix.  Pictures are always good...

 

This was the caravan and awning that I had in welsh wales a decade ago:

 

post-3568-0-14872900-1515255996_thumb.jpg

 

 

It's impossible to see, but there's a blue X1/9 Gran Finale in that awning.  I was very careful to put the caravan so that the gravel went under the awning..

 

Just for amusement value:  I was there working with a friend, who decided, as he was "without fixed abode" at the time, to buy the biggest caravan I have ever seen in my life and live in it.  This is it on the back of a 19' long LWB high-top Citroen C25.  The Van is huge.  The caravan is ludicrous.

 

post-3568-0-19765700-1515256170_thumb.jpg

 

Bonus picture of thre front of the van, showing the home-made towing mirrors that I made from pre-facelift Talbot Express mirrors.  These were essential to see what the hell was going on..

 

post-3568-0-88618300-1515256301_thumb.jpg

 

I've found a whole load of twatting-about-with-cars photos on this machine.  I expect I shall be making a nuisance of myself with more of them on other threads soon... :)

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