Autoshite Bodge of the Year Award

[Richard]

A few weeks before my mk1 Sterling shat its engine, the wiper linkages decided they'd had enough a came loose rendering me wiperless during the monsoon we had sometime around March/April time. The linkage was a ball that clipped into a cup, both were quite worn and wouldn't hold. The RAC man repaired it by means of cable ties that worked quite well.

 

I did the same with the rear height corrector on my old Xantia.

[phil_lihp]

My Nova passed its first MOT in 5 years with an oversized battery sat on a piece of MDF straddling the gaping hole where a battery tray used to be.  It was quite secure because I wedged it in with two plastic wheel chocks with a bin bag stuffed over it to stop rainwater going through the hole into the driver's footwell.  It did have a new tray welded in straight afterwards but as it was 'non-structural' it didn't even get an advisory.

[barrett]

[hauserplenty]

1977 Bodge Aspun (sic) station waggin'. Wiper linkage disconnected itself from the motor when the retaining washer/clip/chingas decided it had had enough. Murphy's law being what it's always been, it was pouring rain and I had to drive it home about 30 miles...So I looked under the seats, and found some nylon twine which I had to figure out how to attach to the now liberated wiper mechanism. I ended up looping the twine around each wiper, closing the doors, cracking the windows enough to run it through on either side, and looping same under the steering column. I then tied a granny knot in it and bob's yer uncle. One pull to the right: wipers up; pull to the left etc. All the way home with the rain and the wind creeping in and the woefully inadequate defroster/heater set to immolate. Got home just in time too, as the twine had frayed to the point it was about to break. Which was a good thing, since I needed it to in order to open the door and get out of that old rattletrap...Forgot what I did to fix it later, but I'm sure it was a bodge too...probably similar to the one on an '85 Diplomat which I fixed with a lockwasher and a pair of needle-nose pliers...and quite a few words not found in your local Webster's...