Home DIY with an Autoshite twist !

[ifc63]

Much to the annoyance of the wife I'd rather fix something that's broken rather than run out and buy a new one. This is always very satisfying for me and means I can justify spending on my 'old bangers' by pointing out how much I have saved by this 'make and mend' approach.

But today I think I really surpassed myself with a repair involving a piece of Autoshite crap I had kept for no good reason.

The kitchen sink has a stupid bit in the middle that decided to leak as the plastic it was made of has become brittle over time (we've been there 11 years and the sink was there already).

Last year I found a big washer to clamp it together but now there is no plastic left in the middle to clamp to. So I needed a washer with a 12mm hole attached to an even bigger washer stepped up about 30mm. Hmmmm, tricky one this. Into the garage thinking all was lost when the ideal candidate stared right up at me when I opened the first drawer. A little modification later and I present the finished result :-

 

 

The observant amongst you will recognise a gutted thermostat which I think came off the wife's Corolla EE100 but could have been off something else and by all rights should have found a home in the bin when the job was completed. Works a treat and should delay the purchase of a new sink for a good 8 or 10 years yet

 

Any one else got car bits holding the house together ???

[ashmicro]

Ha ha good stuff! In my old house I had a wee tiny handbasin in the downstairs lav, and the hot inlet pipe sprung a leak. It was a right sod to get at, and took me ages to hacksaw off the cracked part. There was no room to properly fit a compression joint, and a Yorkie was a no-no as the blowlamp would have cracked the tiles. Solution - Ford Orion rubber heater matrix hose and 2 jubilee clips=instant WIN.

 

The RTE aerial in this house is in the loft, hung up from the rafters with a mark 4 Escort exhaust rubber and the rear twist mount for a Mini exhaust.

 

The side gate at my parent's house used to rattle in the wind, even with the bolt engaged. A mark 2 Mazda 323 radiator mount with a hole drilled in it put a stop to that.

 

My parents old garden shed had a big sag in the middle of the roof apex. I Screwed two bits of inch by two onto the inside of it, and jammed a jack from a Hyundai Accent into the gap and wound it up. Straight roof.

 

And here's a "Don't Do It Yourself" from a mate of mine: got a stubborn tree stump? Can't be arsed digging around it? Why not hammer a big metal spike into it and chain in on to the back of your brand new Range Rover? Don't worry, it won't suddenly come out of the ground, fly up into the air and smash the RR's rear screen. Well, it might, actually....

 

The ludicrous thing is the same chap owns a JCB.

[dollywobbler]

Remember the saggy headlining in my Range Rover? Well, I ripped it out and left it in the storeroom downstairs, intending to fix it. Instead, it got mouldy. Threw the cloth away, sold the Range Rover and a few weeks ago, discovered I'd still got the cardboard. My wife has cut said cardboard into strips and is using it to hold insulation in place before we fit plasterboard beneath it (we're effectively insulating the upstairs floor, downstairs is just storage/garage). I was quite impressed with that!

 

I've got a REAL urge to make a bathroom mirror out of a door mirror. A Land Rover Defender one might work nicely. 'Borrow' a Volvo headlamp wiper and I won't even have to worry about it steaming up when I have a shower... (I s'pose I could fit a heated door mirror, but that seems less fun!). Sadly, bathroom refurb is well down the To Do list. Might have to make a prototype though...

[TimothyClaypole]

I've a new one of those you could have had for free.

 

 

(more time free then for looking for new shite).

[John F]

Ha ha good stuff! In my old house I had a wee tiny handbasin in the downstairs lav, and the hot inlet pipe sprung a leak. It was a right sod to get at, and took me ages to hacksaw off the cracked part. There was no room to properly fit a compression joint, and a Yorkie was a no-no as the blowlamp would have cracked the tiles. Solution - Ford Orion rubber heater matrix hose and 2 jubilee clips=instant WIN.

 

Hehe, I did a similar bodge!

 

The bath overflow used to leak badly in a house I lived in some years ago. Upon investigation, the 15mm copper pipe was much too small for the bath's overflow casting (presumably 22 mm) and some bodger had tried to make it fit by filling the massive gap around the pipe with solder. Unsuccessfully.

 

So I chopped the pipe back & removed the solder from the overflow casting, took a few measurements and disappeared off to the scrapyard. I came back with a piece of coolant pipe from a random BMW which was wider at one end & narrower at the other - it fitted like a glove, and was held in place with a couple of jubes. Permanent repair

[John F]

Also, I suppose my Calibra sofa falls under autoshite home DIY...

 

 

 

"Reclining" feature: