Cheap fixes, ETC

[Terry, NJ]

Since we Mod A guys are renown for our, ahem .... "economy" I thought I would collect stories about how "Cheap" we have been with our restorations. My own efforts have produced my "roadside" saw which is a 10" blade, 1 1/2 HP Grizzly that someone had taken apart with a sawzall and junked at the side of the road. Thank God they only cut the bolts! Another time I was in a flea Market and I bought a large can of used and new screws for $.50. There was a large number of 12 X 24s round heads and oval heads in S.S. Then I had a large Ash tree cut down in the yard, rather than burning the wood, I took a ten ft log to the saw mill and had it ripped into 1'' and 2'' slabs from which I produced the pcs for my Town Sedan. I have a lot more but I can't remember them. So Please share what little tricks or lucky circumstances you've used to complete your projects.
Terry

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

We've used Horse Shoe Nails to hold top covering in place, BEFORE the final nailing. CAUTION: DON'T hammer the final nails TOO TIGHT, it'll make ugly PUCKERS!
Bill Trimmer

[Cool Hand Lurker]

Because of deteriorating insulation the field wires inside my Model A generator were bare. My cheap fix was to wrap some strips of old T-Shirt around them and then spray them with liquid plastic a couple of times.

[C26Pinelake]

Originally Posted by Terry, NJ

Since we Mod A guys are renown for our, ahem .... "economy" I thought I would collect stories about how "Cheap" we have been with our restorations. My own efforts have produced my "roadside" saw which is a 10" blade, 1 1/2 HP Grizzly that someone had taken apart with a sawzall and junked at the side of the road. Thank God they only cut the bolts! Another time I was in a flea Market and I bought a large can of used and new screws for $.50. There was a large number of 12 X 24s round heads and oval heads in S.S. Then I had a large Ash tree cut down in the yard, rather than burning the wood, I took a ten ft log to the saw mill and had it ripped into 1'' and 2'' slabs from which I produced the pcs for my Town Sedan. I have a lot more but I can't remember them. So Please share what little tricks or lucky circumstances you've used to complete your projects.
Terry

Times must be tough in Bucks County. And to top it all off you tell people about it. Wayne

[Tim Ayers]

My father has used old toothpaste tubes to build up a worn babbit bearings.

[C26Pinelake]

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[I[/I]

Originally Posted by forever4

My cheap trick is to buy quality parts and tools, and to do the job at hand correct the first time.
Never any regrets.

You sir are the exception to the rule on this forum. A great many here buy the cheapest possible and then cry bloody murder when it fails or does not work. They don't realize that quality comes with a higher price tag. I commend you. Wayne.

[Terry, NJ]

One of mine was to produce front seat spring from a mattress. There was a lot of luck involved here because of different coil dimensions, but it worked out perfectly. And a Mod A front seat spring has an "outrigger "(don't what else to call it) wire that goes around the front and sides of the spring and the rear must be compressed to about 4'' which I did with cables and those compression locks. All in all, I'm very happy with the finished seat. did I mention that the coils are smaller and there's more of them so the seat is a little firmer than the original. My old spring , the coils seemed to have lost their tension and when you sat on it, it compressed more than it should have. To see the finished spring, go to "My A" in my profile.

[Ray in La Mesa]

On a sunday night project I broke a hacksaw blade about 2" from one end. Didn't have another so overlapped the two pieces about 1/2" and weld a bead across the top & bottom.
Blades always wear out in the middle so I still had sharp teeth on the other end and finished the project.

[Fullraceflathead]

You can use Ladies Pantyhose to strain solids out of liquids.

[Synchro909]

I needed seasoned, dry timber to make the frame for a car I've just about finished restoring. Kiln dried timber was sooo expensive. For less than one tenth of that cost, I went to a second hand building supplies yard and bought what I needed. It had been dried over several decades in the frame of some house and with a run through the thicknesser, it was as good as the most expensive kiln dried hardwood. Very happy with the result.

[pooch]

I am currently building 28 roadster roof irons out of tapered steel table legs.

Not fine point but OK for my job.

[Synchro909]

Originally Posted by pooch

I am currently building 28 roadster roof irons out of tapered steel table legs.

Not fine point but OK for my job.

Done that too. The current retro fashion means these old kitchen tables are in demand and expensive. Bloody latte sippers!

[Big hammer]

I used chicken wire that my grandma had for my tudor roof! It was free and now a part of grandma rides with me :-)

[Benson]

I had squirrels, foxes and rabbits digging under my shed and living under there.

The neighbor threw out some "chicken" like wire, heavy gauge (about .050) with 1 inch by 2 squares.

I laid it on the grass up to the shed wall, extending out 2 feet and tacked it down with 6 inch long wire staples used to hold that cloth to prevent weeds from growing up through shredded bark around flower borders.

Six months and no more digging.

[1930-fordor]

not me but I felt this fit nicely

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDJxXdVpKVY

[mike657894]

I have a baseball themed childs comforter under my marine vinyl soft top on my fordor.

[C26Pinelake]

Originally Posted by mike657894

I have a baseball themed childs comforter under my marine vinyl soft top on my fordor.

Can't even picture it! Wayne

[Big hammer]

I used two or three army wool blankets for padding! Free from my father in law, so part of him rides with me also :-)

[ronn]

we all know the duct tape for the rim liner on the inner whls..........

but worth mentioning again for newbies.............

"you cant fix stupid, but you can muffle it with duct tape"

[Kurt in NJ]

Originally Posted by Cool Hand Lurker

Because of deteriorating insulation the field wires inside my Model A generator were bare. My cheap fix was to wrap some strips of old T-Shirt around them and then spray them with liquid plastic a couple of times.

The outer coverings from shoelaces works better for the wires, tied sewing thread with a dab of glue to fix the end from unraveling, torn strips of old sheets to wrap the coils

I collected the leftover parts from leakless waterpump conversion to rebuild my pump, so far the guy I got the parts from has replaced his leakless pump 3 times