Bush Mechanic Fixes

[popeye]

A couple of weeks ago l turned up at an event with a new to me but old sidecar, it had a damaged fuel tank on it, which was leaking quite bad, when l scoured the pits looking for bar of soap only one guy new why l wanted it, if you have a leaking fuel tank or crank case, rub the soap over the cracks and it will force its way through it and stop the leak, so long as there is no pressure it will get you out of trouble, and oil or fuel dosent affect it.........

So what bush fixes do you have?

[ksithumper]

Back in the day when I was perfecting the art of putting a CCM clutch back on it's taper between races, my girlfriend was a dab hand at making CCM clutch cover gaskets out of the front cover of girly magazines (no, not that sort....).

Somehow she could even get all the little bolt holes perfect, courtesy of a small pair of nail scissors. Brilliant.
 
She would drive the van home too when I was injured. She drove it more than I did

[GMC]

Finely ground black pepper works a treat in radiators.
It won’t fix major structural damage, large cracks and the like but it will stop that fine weeping.
Use one teaspoon into the radiator while the motor is running.
The waterpump will then get it flowing through the system and it will find its way into any pinhole.
I once watched a weep shut down with in 3 minutes of adding the pepper.

[pancho]

 Another old trick for radiators was to crack a raw egg [minus the yolk] into the filler hole. I never tried it
 pancho.

[pancho]

 Another one from the early motor car days was if the condensor failed [fairly common then] was this temporary fix.
 Disconnect the tail ight wire from the tail light.
 Cut the front end of the wire from its supply and remove the offending condensor and connect the tail light wire to the points.
 The tail light wire running alongside the chassis rail acted as a condensor and apparently allowed the vehicle to get home.
 I believe a few of the older NRMA mechs used this trick.
 
I wonder what's out there now-days for computerised ignition systems??
 cheers pancho.
 
 

[vandy010]

I wonder what's out there now-days for computerised ignition systems??
 

mobile phones and a mate with a trailer

[EML]

I wonder what's out there now-days for computerised ignition systems??
 cheers pancho.
 
Not much Pancho, in fact if a new Commodore blows a bulb it will trigger a code in the computer which will then have to be 'cleared' by a Holden tech, after the bulb is replaced. So that means a $3.50 bulb will now cost a punter $135.00 as that's what the code clearing costs at a dealership!!

[firko]

Not much Pancho, in fact if a new Commodore blows a bulb it will trigger a code in the computer which will then have to be 'cleared' by a Holden tech, after the bulb is replaced. So that means a $3.50 bulb will now cost a punter $135.00 as that's what the code clearing costs at a dealership!!

Same with my Jeep Grand Cherokee. If I blow a bulb or a fuse I can fix it as easily as any old car but I then get an annoying ERROR beep and message blocking all of the other info on the cars computer screen. Luckily I avoid the $150 dealer fee to reset the computer by taking it to my mechanic who has a counterfeit Jeep computer program. Cost: Zero .

[Lozza]

Another one from the early motor car days was if the condensor failed [fairly common then] was this temporary fix.
 Disconnect the tail ight wire from the tail light.
 Cut the front end of the wire from its supply and remove the offending condensor and connect the tail light wire to the points.
 The tail light wire running alongside the chassis rail acted as a condensor and apparently allowed the vehicle to get home.
 I believe a few of the older NRMA mechs used this trick.
 
I wonder what's out there now-days for computerised ignition systems??
 cheers pancho.
 
 

How often does a new car break down?  Most electronic problems with new cars are battery related.

[firko]

How often does a new car break down?  Most electronic problems with new cars are battery related.

Rarely.
The only time my Jeep has "broken down" in 6 years has been either battery related or a blown radiator hose (twice).
I owned my previous NB Fairlane for 12 years and 250K and a blown head gasket in the first year of ownership was the only time it ever broke down (fixed on warranty). A bit different to my old FJ Holden days where it seemed I had the motor out, the head off or the diff out every other weekend.
                                 

[Colin Jay]

Back in the early 1980's my wife was driving from Broken Hill to Adelaide when her Holden Gemini started running poorly. She pulled over and had her head under the bonnet when a good samaritan pulled over to offer assistance. The bloke was quite suprised to find her adjusting the ignition points using a nail file. She got it running a lot better and continued on her way, leaving the bloke who stopped to help with a story that nobody would ever believe about a cute young redhead with a heap of mechanical aptitude.

CJ

[asasin]

How often does a new car break down?  Most electronic problems with new cars are battery related.

 You keep believing that and Ill keep making money from them


I fixed my cr500  in the bush one day when the water pump case sprung a leak hole with a twig . pushed it in the hole and it expanded to plug it up. worked a treat got me the 60 km home

[firko]

I had a pinhole develop in my methanol DT1 tank which was getting worse as the meeting progressed. Not being aware of the soap method we emptied the tank, mixed up some quick cure araldite, cleaned the area  and liberally coated the hole and surrounds with Araldite. That was in 1996 and the Araldite is still in place and the tank is still not leaking 16 years later despite still having a cup of methanol in the tank left over from it's last ride in '99. I never leave home without my Araldite!

[vandy010]

I never leave home without my Araldite!

so true Firko,
last year a couple of mates and i trekked through Nepal for a month,
not quite bikes i know,
i took some zip ties, electrical tape and a tube of super glue.
the super glue was used the most.

[Rossvickicampbell]

Pratley putty, Devcon or 2 part liquid steel.  Rub together, press in place and voila.  Fixed a broken case after a chain derailment - got me through the rest of the meeting.