Your best roadside bodges
Discussion
On the way to Hospital for a not very important appointment in the heaviest rain we've had for months and all of a sudden sat in traffic my wiper blade snaps off! 
Turned the wipers off ASAP to stop it scratching the screen and (unsurprisingly) visibility was pretty badly reduced.
Pulled over to inspect the wiper to find the little plastic fitting has cracked in half.
So my attempt to save the windscreen....
Microfiber cloth to the rescue!
Got me to the hospital and to Unipart to buy some new wipers, suprised I didn't get pulled for it though (But I don't think the police like arguing the toss in the rain
)
So whats was your best roadside bodge to get you where you needed to be?
Edit to add:
Damn, missed an 'r' from the title!
Turned the wipers off ASAP to stop it scratching the screen and (unsurprisingly) visibility was pretty badly reduced.
Pulled over to inspect the wiper to find the little plastic fitting has cracked in half.
So my attempt to save the windscreen....
Microfiber cloth to the rescue!
Got me to the hospital and to Unipart to buy some new wipers, suprised I didn't get pulled for it though (But I don't think the police like arguing the toss in the rain
)So whats was your best roadside bodge to get you where you needed to be?
Edit to add:
Damn, missed an 'r' from the title!
Edited by Billy Hunt on Tuesday 28th June 20:44
Sunday mid afternoon
Getting a new (to my mate) car home from Doncaster to Norfolk
MOT'd but a smidge lacking in tax and running like a dog (black smoke from an overfueling issue - lots of it)
along a very unpopulated area the flipping car decides to dump all it's coolant by blowing out the gasket between the thermostat housing and the head
tools - not many but a 13 mm spanner and a flat bladed screwdriver was all that was needed
Road atlas cover - roughly shaped to form a new gasket
Antifreeze - nope - water gathered in a 500 ml evian bottle and numerous trips to put enough back that we could creep it to the nearest garage for a proper fill up
Gasket still in place and engine is located in same mates garage till I need it.
There were others care of my mates awesome crap buying skills
Getting a new (to my mate) car home from Doncaster to Norfolk
MOT'd but a smidge lacking in tax and running like a dog (black smoke from an overfueling issue - lots of it)
along a very unpopulated area the flipping car decides to dump all it's coolant by blowing out the gasket between the thermostat housing and the head
tools - not many but a 13 mm spanner and a flat bladed screwdriver was all that was needed
Road atlas cover - roughly shaped to form a new gasket
Antifreeze - nope - water gathered in a 500 ml evian bottle and numerous trips to put enough back that we could creep it to the nearest garage for a proper fill up
Gasket still in place and engine is located in same mates garage till I need it.
There were others care of my mates awesome crap buying skills
using some toweling as a fan belt (no tights laying at the side of the M25 that day), chain and padlock to stop the slant 4 from lifting ander throttle on me CF when the engone rubber broke up, fixing a leaking rad with chewing gum at lowestoft and it lasting to London,,,
Note if you run out of water and decide to pee in the rad cos you run out of water make VERY SURE the heater rad dont leak as well cos it fooking stinks !
Note if you run out of water and decide to pee in the rad cos you run out of water make VERY SURE the heater rad dont leak as well cos it fooking stinks !
I had the throttle cable snap on my transit on the way to work. I fixed it with a piece of string tied to the throttle on the fuel pump thingy (can't remember its name), and routed so I could pull it from the window.
Another bodge was fixing a coolant hose with sellotape, it worked well enough to get us on and off the ferry, then 50 miles down the road to the first open garage (early morning and we didn't really have time to wait in one place).
Another bodge was fixing a coolant hose with sellotape, it worked well enough to get us on and off the ferry, then 50 miles down the road to the first open garage (early morning and we didn't really have time to wait in one place).
Probably my brothers Escort Mk1 bodge , the wiper linkage came completely undone below the dash so no wipers working whatsoever , student days , raining , needs to be 100 miles down the road - His improvisation - rig up a loop of string out of each front window (quarterlight ?) then it was possible to pull them one way then the other , with your teeth if you were busy changing gear or steering! 
Getting a Mk1 Granada home from buying it 100 miles away. 5 miles from home it dies, exhibiting all the signs of running out of fuel, despite showing half a tank. So we stick £20 in anyway, no change. Odd. I spy a 'fuel saver' thing in the fuel line and I immediately don't trust it.
My mates missus has a metal pen in her bag which I smash up to use the body as a tube, and I manage to undo the jubilee clips on the fuel hose with a key. Swapped 'fuel saver' for pen body and the car ran sweetly for the next few years, pen in place.
My mates missus has a metal pen in her bag which I smash up to use the body as a tube, and I manage to undo the jubilee clips on the fuel hose with a key. Swapped 'fuel saver' for pen body and the car ran sweetly for the next few years, pen in place.
I had an auxiliary boost hose shear off at the sup air valve on the A14 on my way to Oulton a couple of years ago when I had my Evo
I could only manage about 60 and with huge plumes of smoke out the back and a fuel gauge moving even faster than usual I decided it needed a bodge.
Had no tools, so I twisted it round a couple of times and wedged it against the battery with some cd cases and a load of cardboard I pulled out of a bin. Held just fine until I got there (at speed as I was by then late)... Then at the track I plugged it with a wheel nut pinched up with a jubilee clip... Which held for a good 4 months until I had time to get a new sup air valve!
I could only manage about 60 and with huge plumes of smoke out the back and a fuel gauge moving even faster than usual I decided it needed a bodge.
Had no tools, so I twisted it round a couple of times and wedged it against the battery with some cd cases and a load of cardboard I pulled out of a bin. Held just fine until I got there (at speed as I was by then late)... Then at the track I plugged it with a wheel nut pinched up with a jubilee clip... Which held for a good 4 months until I had time to get a new sup air valve!
d when it needed replacing. Indicator unit fell out from my mk5 Escort on the M/way. Pulled over, chewed a full packet of chewing gum and used that to hold it (very) roughly in position. Then tied two shoelaces together, tied one end onto the indicator and the other tied tightly round the top of the suspension turret. Got me the 100odd miles home 
Also on that car, although no technically 'by the roadside', fixed the fuel tank with some PRC (polysulphate rubber compound) that was lying about in a hanger that we used to glue neoprene onto aircraft aerials. Lasted a few months 'til the car was stolen
Fixed a burst fuel pipe on my old 190E with a small length of rubber pipe (think it came off a breather pipe IIRC) and a couple of jubilee clips removed from non-pressurised pipes from elsewhere in the engine bay. A Leatherman was used to cut the burst part out. Ran like a dog but got me home. Took it to a garage the next day and they took my bodge out, and just put a new bit of pipe that fitted better in place!!! They also past the MOT like that a few weeks later. The chap said "it's not corroded, it doesn't leak and it works fine. Can't fail it"
Also on that car, although no technically 'by the roadside', fixed the fuel tank with some PRC (polysulphate rubber compound) that was lying about in a hanger that we used to glue neoprene onto aircraft aerials. Lasted a few months 'til the car was stolen
Fixed a burst fuel pipe on my old 190E with a small length of rubber pipe (think it came off a breather pipe IIRC) and a couple of jubilee clips removed from non-pressurised pipes from elsewhere in the engine bay. A Leatherman was used to cut the burst part out. Ran like a dog but got me home. Took it to a garage the next day and they took my bodge out, and just put a new bit of pipe that fitted better in place!!! They also past the MOT like that a few weeks later. The chap said "it's not corroded, it doesn't leak and it works fine. Can't fail it"
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