What's the Most MacGyver Repair You've Ever Made?

"Jcarr" (jcarr) 05/12/2015 at 15:17 • Filed to: QOTD

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Patch a tire with gum and duct tape?

Replace a broken drive shaft with a fence post?

Share the most mullet-and-explosion-worthy repair you’ve ever made on the fly.

505Turbeaux > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 15:20

2

bypassed a fuel pump relay that caught on fire due to water intrusion on my Scirocco with a paperclip. Made it home 3 states away

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 15:23

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I don’t have any good ones personally, but my father fixed a distributor once with one of my mom’s hairpins.

legacyGT08 > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 15:25

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Exhaust broke at a rear flange halfway home from the grocery store on my old 03 Legacy. (thanks salt belt). Wire coat-hanger FTW.

CalzoneGolem > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 15:25

3

I JB welded a sparkplug into my wife’s car. It almost lasted to the shop. Rolled in -1 cylinder with the plug already removed for a heliocoil.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 15:27

2

My transmission speed sensor failed. When I went to replace it, the retaining clip broke. It is now held in the transmission by packing tape. A year later, it’s still there.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 15:28

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True story - back in the 20s and before when some tires were canvas-sided or otherwise prone to split, it was A Thing to deflate the tire, pass a cloth gaiter around the tire and tube, lace up, and re-inflate. This goes beyond MacGyver-ing, this was something they sold gaiters to do. You can see tires patched that way in a couple of old Merry Melodies/whatever cartoons, but as far as I can tell it died out some time in the early 30s.

Firewrx234 > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 15:29

3

Not so much MacGyver as it is Fonzie...I will smash the dashboard square on the top and the radio lights and stereo lights will come back on when it’s after dark.

Rock Bottom > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 15:29

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I fixed a leaking Schrader valve on the fuel rail of my turbo Saturn (turbo tupperware) with some JB Weld and duct tape. Let it set up over night in Oglala Nebraska and drove to Kalamazoo Michigan the next day.

Jcarr > 505Turbeaux 05/12/2015 at 15:32

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Probably one of these?

Sam > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 15:34

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My 924 started overheating because the tempature switch for the fan failed, so we just bypassed the switch with some electrical tape and pieces of wire.

505Turbeaux > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 15:34

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had to be, looked just like that!

BeaterGT > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 15:36

1

Stock exhaust on my Z was rotting away and since the muffler looked like it was going to fall off, I decided to kick it off. I had a really loud Camaro for a week or so until my Magnaflow came in.

jariten1781 > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 15:37

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Tied a string to the throttle cable when the pedal mount sheared off. Hand throttled my ass for a couple hundred miles going home from college.

JEM > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 15:39

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I once made a new fender liner on my Tiburon using a pizza box and duct tape:

The ingredients:

Trimming to fit:

Test fit of trimmed part:

Increase longevity/structural integrity with duct tape:

And voila!!

Final installation:

I did use a bit of gorilla tape to adhere it to the remaining bits of the fender liner.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 15:40

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A blown heater hose was spewing coolant once so we stuffed a spark plug in and hose clamped it down to keep the coolant in. Had to put it back in once, but other than that it got us home a couple hundred miles later.

Opposite Locksmith > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 15:41

1

Replaced cracked intake with a duct tape wrapped Pringles can. You know, for weather protection

RallyWrench > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 15:43

1

I used a spare screw and a pair of Vise-Grips to plug a destroyed brake line on my buddy’s Mk4 VW rally car after he damn near tore the wheel off. Completed the stage, got it back to service and made a new line that night. At another rally with the same car, I used mechanic’s wire to hold the car in 2nd gear because the shifter pivot broke mid-stage and I didn’t have enough time to access it for a proper fix at the service stop. Again, got the car through the next stages (mostly at redline) and fixed it properly that night.

Baeromez > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 15:43

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I re-hung my exhaust on the side of the road with a coat hangar.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 15:46

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Plugged the hole in the outdrive boot on my brother-in-law’s houseboat, sparing the engine compartment and preserving the family gathering.

uofime > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 15:46

1

fixed my brake activation sensor with a water bottle cap and some scotch tape.

Strictly speaking it was the pad attached to the pedal that I fixed, it was a rubbery plastic that after 14 years decide to crumble to bits in the summer heat last year. since it had fallen apart it no longer pressed the switch meaning my brake lights would never turn off, that includes when the key is removed. Scrounged the bits from my office and the fix was good enough to last at least till I sold the car 4 months later. I sometimes wonder if my sketchy fixes on that car are still holding.

TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 15:47

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My father drove one of his Capris from here in Kingston to Columbus Ohio. On the way back the points packed up. And points for a 2 litre V6 Ford Capri from Germany are hard to come by. So he put a piece of cigarette pack behind the worn points, and screwed it back together. He drove it all the way home. He then put a Pertronix system in it and it hadn’t run since.

And there was the time he and I fixed a sheared leaf spring with a ratchet strap.

Tripper > JEM 05/12/2015 at 15:49

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Haha that will probably last longer than the original!

CalzoneGolem > JEM 05/12/2015 at 15:50

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That’s fucking art!

Nibbles > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 15:52

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Fixed the hall effect sensor on the 900 with electrical tape and RTV

Built the exhaust for the Dakota using the pipe from the 900 (same diameter lol), HVAC tape and baling wire

Fixed the center console lid in the Dak with cardboard and sheetmetal screws

Fixed the shoddy ignition cylinder in a MKIII Jetta with two rubber bands, a paperclip and super glue

Fixed the hazard flasher in an Impala with a business card

This is just a bit of the dumb things I've fixed with dumb fixes

CalzoneGolem > Baeromez 05/12/2015 at 15:52

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I have a wire hanger in my tool kit for just such an event.

Baeromez > CalzoneGolem 05/12/2015 at 15:58

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Also, Zip Ties; they’re better than duct tape.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 15:59

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Re-sealed a tractor tire with PL-2000.

Yeah, I'm not very MacGyver-y. Yet.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 16:06

2

while riding the old Puch 250,

the top cap of the Bing caburator vibrated loose and it ejected both the throttle return spring and the slide valve, because the needle clip was bent...

I found the needle and the slide valve, but the clip and the return spring were gonzo. so I rooted around in the nearby ditches and found a trashed old bike, I stripped out some of the brake cable and twisted it into a loose coil that would at least push the slide closed then i twisted the throttle back and I put wrapped another single strand from the same brake cable around the needle to hold it. it got me home, in fact I sold the bike with this still in place...

Confused Miata > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 16:12

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Zipties are the only thing holding the right half of the fairing onto my EX500.

Sir Halffast > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 16:19

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Fixed a leaky coolant hose on a Bronco II with duct tape. Patch job lasted sufficiently long to make it down the mountain and back to my college, some 25 miles away.

CalzoneGolem > Baeromez 05/12/2015 at 16:25

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Neither are particularly good at holding up an exhaust.

Osiris - I can haz Euro spec? > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 17:01

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I used a paper towel roll and duct tape to improvise a coolant hose for my radiator in my old ‘96 Exploder. I had a one hour drive back home from work and it popped. It ended up holding so well that I had forgotten about it by the time I woke up (went straight to bed after working graveyard shift) and I ended up driving with it still intact back to work. Remembered it was there and bought a new hose there but I was thoroughly impressed how well duct tape can keep things water (coolant?) tight!

KatzManDu > Jcarr 05/12/2015 at 17:47

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I had to do something with the generator mount on my old Corvette to keep the belt from coming off. I really have no idea what it was, but it was pretty funky. And it was in the line at the airport while I was dropping a friend off.

Also, using a zip tie to fix the parking break in the E39 M5. The black metal piece is supposed to be tucked into place by the bent silver square pieces hanging down. There is a hole a little further back in the aluminum casing which let me thread the zip-tie through to keep the black prawl in place which lets the ebrake lock.

JEM > Tripper 05/12/2015 at 18:05

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It only lasted until the next heavy rainstorm (couple weeks). I was just going to use the pizza box as a template to cut out a piece of a rubbermaid bin to permanently put in there (which I did, and as far as I know, is still there) but I got carried away having too much fun :-)

The Compromiser > CalzoneGolem 05/12/2015 at 20:40

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I did it with a bungee cord. Bang shhhhhh shhhhh shhhhh. No hangers in the car.

CalzoneGolem > The Compromiser 05/13/2015 at 06:31

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Sounds like a hook for a new hit song.

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > Jcarr 05/14/2015 at 12:40

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There are two that stick out:

In 1998, I had an 88 Plymouth Sundance that somehow snapped a motor mount. The oil pan was about two inches lower than it should have been. I was delivering pizzas for a Papa John’s that was near a construction zone where the road was scraped. Returning to the shop, I heard a BANG as I pulled into the lot. Then I saw a large puddle of oil forming under and around my parking spot. I borrowed the manager’s car - a 92 Sentra coupe, base-o-matic but with a kickin’ Pioneer stereo. Went to the AutoZone down the road and picked up four quarts of oil and one of these:

Used kitty litter to soak up the oil for disposal and was back on the road within half an hour.

2. A combination of a rusty exhaust and a bad catalytic converter meant that there was a huge amount of pressure in the exhaust manifold of my 87 Buick Century with the 2.5 Iron Puke. Still delivering pizzas (in 2002) I heard a BANG on my way back to the shop, followed by a serious increase in exhaust volume and a rattling/scraping noise while driving. No big deal... something fell off and was dragging the ground — par for the course for a $450 car I bought at the Goodwill. I got back to the shop and looked underneath and saw a wire and a sensor. Popped the hood and found that the oxygen sensor had been blown out of the manifold boss. I’ve never seen anything like that before or since.
Next door there was a construction site - and I found about a 1” x 2” piece of plate steel with a pair of screw holes and about two feet of heavy gauge wire sitting in a scrap pile. So I put the plate steel over the hole, stripped the plastic insulation off the wire, and threaded it through the screw holes and wrapped and wrapped it until it was as tight as I could get it, then twisted the wire. That car caught fire a few months later, and still never had a new cat or o2 sensor.