Just witnessed up a variation of this word in another thread, and it gave me an idea for this thread. Anyone have any interesting "McGuyverisms", in other words, unusual tool/gadget/invention to get you out of a fix or to improve upon something? I cant think of any off hand, but decided to post before I lost my thought for this thread.
McGuyverisms
- Thread starter MAJA
- Start date
- Status
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2002
- Messages
- 39,798
I think MacGyverisms ...by MacGyverists are adaptive behaviors for prevailing conditions with available resouces. Sometimes it manfests itself in pure brilliant ingenuity and other times it the most pathetic excuse for a lazy (or cheap) man's patch job on the face of the planet.
Great topic! I used old wiper blades which were taken off thier metal housings to wedge in the rattling dashboard of a new Lesabre Limited. Still works after 4 years.
I had to do an emergency rewire of some tail lights on a 59 Caddy to get home. I bought a spool of wire and electrical tape, ran some from the fuse box to the tail, cut and voila, safe to drive at night and no longer stranded in rural SW Missouri.
I had to do an emergency rewire of some tail lights on a 59 Caddy to get home. I bought a spool of wire and electrical tape, ran some from the fuse box to the tail, cut and voila, safe to drive at night and no longer stranded in rural SW Missouri.
My friend widdled an oil filler cap from a piece of wood when his blew off going down the highway. When he got a proper replacement it also blew off so he had to do it again!
For things I've done, I use rags to secure chain hooks when towing cars. Another time I had to get my oil plug area really clean for a repair so I flushed the pan with gasoline. Then I couldn't get the gas to stop dripping so I lit it on fire...bwahaha, flames shot out the valve cover. Now I remove the oil pan to work on it. I've used gum to fix rattling interior parts with broken tabs.
Steve
For things I've done, I use rags to secure chain hooks when towing cars. Another time I had to get my oil plug area really clean for a repair so I flushed the pan with gasoline. Then I couldn't get the gas to stop dripping so I lit it on fire...bwahaha, flames shot out the valve cover. Now I remove the oil pan to work on it. I've used gum to fix rattling interior parts with broken tabs.
Steve
Wow, great idea, have got to try it
How about a 'MacGyver kit' to take along in the car or truck. For example, a small box of assort. cotter pins(Auto Zone), a coil of bailing wire (Northern Tools), a selection of fuses, a roll of duct tape, a roll of elec. tape, a hose clamp, and a small tool kit with basic tools. At the very least, a Philips and a flat blade screwdriver, vise grips, adj. wrenches.
Hey Schmoe,
I too have a 95 Ciera in the family. Dash rattles, but since I don't drive it, I have not gotten around to fixing it yet. Best I can tell, it is the panel between the passenger side air vents. I love this car except for all the rattles. It has a 3100 and runs great after 158K and best of all, no intake gasket issues. Lived on Trop-artic 5-30 all it's life.
I too have a 95 Ciera in the family. Dash rattles, but since I don't drive it, I have not gotten around to fixing it yet. Best I can tell, it is the panel between the passenger side air vents. I love this car except for all the rattles. It has a 3100 and runs great after 158K and best of all, no intake gasket issues. Lived on Trop-artic 5-30 all it's life.
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2003
- Messages
- 23,591
No, you got it all wrong! The beauty of macgyvering is that you'll always find everything you need in your immediate surroundings. You're only allowed a Victorinox (not Wenger!) Swiss Army knife as basic tool kit. And it mustn't be the really big one!
[ March 29, 2005, 11:54 PM: Message edited by: moribundman ]
HEY!!!! I've just GOT to try that on my Cutlass Ciera, that dashboard rattles like a snake past 70 mph. That's good stuff.
Don't dog bail wire!!! It's right up there with duct tape. I've used bailing wire to hold a muffler on my '76 Chevy Monza. Worked great up to the time I put sidepipes on it...that was a mistake by the way, hit every dang bump on the road which wore a hole in them and sounded like nothing but straight pipe. Speaking of duct tape, that is what is holding by my headliner on my Cutlass. Have both sticky sides out and then cram it between the liner and the mat....works great.
I once fashioned a bracket out of a Chock Full o'Nuts coffee can to support the back of the radio I replaced in my '82 Olds Custom Cruiser station wagon (it also served as an anti theft device for that radio; you grab back there and your fingers would be cut to ribbons!).
Household Goop (and its brother Shoe Goo). I use this stuff for all kinds of odd jobs, including patching holes in a worn pair of leather gloves, holding a fuel line from rubbing against a bolt head, securing a shovel handle into the blade, fixing 1/64th scale cars and trucks, mounting a gauge on a dashboard, sealing leaks in motorhome windows, etc.
My 1995 Honda Civic auto tranny was not locking up because the speed sensor wasn't working. I had wired up a cigarette outlet plug with a switch on it, to power the lockup solenoid that is located at the front of the tranny. It was funny to mess around with it and see how harsh it shifts when I left the TC locked up and it changed gears!
Another McGuyver fix, using the ford type f tranny fluid in that dex3 tranny when it started to slip. That actually worked well, and got worse when I tried to do a auto rx (maybe it was to slippery!).
Last but not least... the VNT mechanism on the turbo of my current car- 2001 Jetta TDI- was broken off the actuator when I was trying to free it (common problem for them to get stuck). I first got it to run without boost issues by using wire to hold it at almost the lowest boost position. Then I ghetto welded the actuator rod to it at my dad's job a week later and its still working now!
Another McGuyver fix, using the ford type f tranny fluid in that dex3 tranny when it started to slip. That actually worked well, and got worse when I tried to do a auto rx (maybe it was to slippery!).
Last but not least... the VNT mechanism on the turbo of my current car- 2001 Jetta TDI- was broken off the actuator when I was trying to free it (common problem for them to get stuck). I first got it to run without boost issues by using wire to hold it at almost the lowest boost position. Then I ghetto welded the actuator rod to it at my dad's job a week later and its still working now!
I have a 1995 cavalier that has developed a problem in the fuel pump circuit the wiring is broken somewhere.
The car would not start due to this so what i did as a temporary fix was hook up a wire to the fuel pump through the hole that some idiot that owned it before me cut in the floor under the seat to replace the fuel pump
i am going to cover this hole after i fix the wiring.
Then i connected a lighter plug to this wire so anytime i drive the car i have to plug the fuel pump into the lighter or it will not start.
It works great though but you then have to remember to unplug it after you shut off the engine!
The car would not start due to this so what i did as a temporary fix was hook up a wire to the fuel pump through the hole that some idiot that owned it before me cut in the floor under the seat to replace the fuel pump
Then i connected a lighter plug to this wire so anytime i drive the car i have to plug the fuel pump into the lighter or it will not start.
It works great though but you then have to remember to unplug it after you shut off the engine!
Ive used a stapler to fix a sagging headliner.Works great and looks better than thumbtacks.
needed a new exhaust hanger for the dakota (original cut away by previous owner/idiot). bought a bolt with a longish shank, ground the head to a rough conical shape, heated with torch and bent a little offset into the shank.
had a small crack in the floor pan of the drivers side (dont ask me how it got there). welding seemed like too much trouble so a little jb weld fix that right up.
had a small crack in the floor pan of the drivers side (dont ask me how it got there). welding seemed like too much trouble so a little jb weld fix that right up.
heck, I've used a stapler to repair a split crotch on my pants......yeah, I'm brave...
A fiend in high school regularly used a paper clip to stop a test in chemistry. By inserting it (held in a book) into one of the power outlets at his worktable, the circuit breaker for the room would trip and it would take at least the entire class time to find maintenance and get it reset....
I've heard you can use women's panty hose to take the place of a fan belt if it breaks.
Probably easier to just carry a spare fan belt though.
Probably easier to just carry a spare fan belt though.
Not too exciting, but...
Wife and I were on vacation. We had a cooler in the bed of the pick-up for our food, it was a brown top Coleman thing. It didn't keep cool in the sunshine, it kept eating ice. Thought about those fancy gold-foil sunshields NASA uses. Taped some aluminum foil on top of the cooler. The ice stopped melting so fast. Excessive heat load problem solved.
Wife and I were on vacation. We had a cooler in the bed of the pick-up for our food, it was a brown top Coleman thing. It didn't keep cool in the sunshine, it kept eating ice. Thought about those fancy gold-foil sunshields NASA uses. Taped some aluminum foil on top of the cooler. The ice stopped melting so fast. Excessive heat load problem solved.
- Status
Similar threads
