Crazy things my Dad has done to cars.

[The Fireman]

If there are two things in this world that don't mix it's my Dad, and cars. Ya see he doesn't like to spend alot of money on fixing them so he thinks of weird ways to make them work again. One thing he did was back in the 60's, before I was born, on a 63 Galaxy 500 fastback with a 390 in it. He said the carburetor wasn't opening up all the way so instead of taking it somewhere to have it worked on he drilled a hole in the dash, and tied some fishing line onto the linkage with a piece of wood on the other end inside of the car. Whenever he wanted the carb to open up, he'd just yank on the fishing line. Some years later he got a little Toyota that had oil shooting out of the dip stick. Well for that problem he took out the dip stick, cut up a water hose, drilled a hole in one of the valve covers, and connected the valve cover to where the dip stick was with the water hose. My Dad bought a 85 Ranger back in 1990. It's been a good truck, but for the last two years or so it's been leaking oil real bad. Well it's Dad to the rescue again. This time he stole one of Mom's frying pans, and bolted it between the frame under the oil pan. I know it sounds bad but it gets worse. After awhile the oil started spilling out of the frying pan so Dad cut up some of his old socks, and put them inside of the pan to soak up the oil. There are some more of my Dad's car tales, but I think I'll stop for now. If one good thing has come from all of this it's that I've learned not to let Dad anywhere near my car.

[tireburner163]

I'm sure you dad is a nice guy, but if he ever gets ahold of a stang I will have to shoot him.

[PKRWUD]

Originally posted by The Fireman
One thing he did was back in the 60's, before I was born, on a 63 Galaxy 500 fastback with a 390 in it. He said the carburetor wasn't opening up all the way so instead of taking it somewhere to have it worked on he drilled a hole in the dash, and tied some fishing line onto the linkage with a piece of wood on the other end inside of the car. Whenever he wanted the carb to open up, he'd just yank on the fishing line.

LOL! Not long after I bought my '69 Chevelle SS, I was at a friends house, maybe 10 miles from home. As I was leaving to head home, about a mile away, I hit the gas pedal, and the throttle stuck open. Scared the crap out of me! I had my foot firmly on the brake, and the back tires were smoking! I finally thought to shut it off (duh!). Anyway, what had happened was the throttle cable had frayed, and was getting stuck inside the sheath. I tried peeling away the sheath, only to discover the cable was down to it's last strand, which broke the first time I tried it. I went to the toolbox in the trunk to see what I could come up with, and all I had was some fishing line and a few sockets. I ended up running the fishing line around the throttle lever on the carb, then through the hole in the firewall where the cable had gone, and up to where I could hold it comfortably. At my end, I ran it through a spark plug socket (kinda like the end of the rope that a water skiier holds on to). I then proceeded to drive it home, using my right hand for the throttle. This was much more difficult than it sounds because I wasn't bright enough to remove the throttle return spring, which made the whole thing very "jumpy". I must have looked like someone driving a stick shift for the first time! The worst part was where I was: in the San Fernando Valley. I was in Studio City, and had to make it to Van Nuys, and the traffic was thick. I made it, but it was definately an adventure!

Man. I had forgotten all about that until I read about your Dad. Go figure.



Take care,
~Chris

Your dad sounds like my uncle, he's a diesel mechanic. He is probably one of the best mechanics I know but only works on things if he has too. He knows how to keep a car going, thats for sure.

The stuck carb thing reminds me of when I was younger and riding in my brothers car(him 19, me 22 or there about). He had an old camaro and he was showing me how fast it was down a winding back road, where we grew up. He goes "OH CRAP! The carb is stuck again!!" It was stuck wide open! He hits the brakes and stops as best he can and says "GET OUT!" at this point I'm thinking what a brotherly thing to do, trying to save me... then he says "Then pop the hood and tap on the carb!". I reach over and turn the car off and look him straight in the eye and say "ARE YOU F'N NUTS!?! YOU WANTED ME TO GET IN FRONT OF THIS POS AT FULL THROTTLE?!?!" Heeh, brotherly love....

[mustangman65_79]

Originally posted by RBatson II
Your dad sounds like my uncle, he's a diesel mechanic. He is probably one of the best mechanics I know but only works on things if he has too. He knows how to keep a car going, thats for sure.

The stuck carb thing reminds me of when I was younger and riding in my brothers car(him 19, me 22 or there about). He had an old camaro and he was showing me how fast it was down a winding back road, where we grew up. He goes "OH CRAP! The carb is stuck again!!" It was stuck wide open! He hits the brakes and stops as best he can and says "GET OUT!" at this point I'm thinking what a brotherly thing to do, trying to save me... then he says "Then pop the hood and tap on the carb!". I reach over and turn the car off and look him straight in the eye and say "ARE YOU F'N NUTS!?! YOU WANTED ME TO GET IN FRONT OF THIS POS AT FULL THROTTLE?!?!" Heeh, brotherly love....

Nice brother. U sure that u didn't want to tap the carb?!? On my '66, when ever the carb stuck open, I had to put my foot under the pedal, and pry up on it. This worked because as some of u know, it's mechanical linkage.

[1969Mach1]

My carb is always stuck open.....but that's cause my foot is to the floor. I took her out last night and I had so much fun with her. Man woman make you do stupid things if you hate them or you love them.... I swear I either lifted my car off the ground or came very damn close. My ex was at the movies with 2 guys so I went to show her my car I'm like stay there and watch this. I pefrectly launch this car, I could of swore it came off the ground, the whole front end picked up and I was gone. Then around the corner 2 pretty cute girls looked over and smiled I smiled and let it go again.

My dad always has creative ways to fix stuff, but usually they are good creative stuff. lol Like he'll make his own brackets or something to make it fit and it looks good.

[Rev]

Back in '71, I bought a Fiat 124 Sport Coupe. It was nifty little 2200 lb. coupe with a 104 CI, DOHC with a five speed tranny (uncommon then). In Europe it came with 2 single barrel carbs @ 125 hp. My US version came with a 2bbl vac. secondary carb. Well the thing which was supposed to be kinda quick was an absolute dog. The problem was that in making it pass US emissions tests, they just put in such a heavy secondary spring that it never really opened, at least not until redline.

I fixed the little bastard though. What I did was put that secondary spring on the other side of the secondary diaphram, effectively making it a mechanical secondary carb. It then ran as it should. Really quick.

Rev