Cheap fixes, ETC

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by 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.

Friend, Ralph, got FREE, blackened heavy OAK from a lumber mill fire! Ripped & planed it & built a BEAUTIFUL body for his OOOLD, Star Huckster. (Ralphs' last name is STARR!) He finished it with TUNG OIL.
Bill W.

[crock]

Use a medical syringe to apply small amounts of grease. Take the needle off so you don't stick yourself.

[mike657894]

cut my own water pump gasket saved a whole 40 cents. now thats cheap. truth be told i just forgot to put it on the parts order and wanted it now

[ian Simpson]

I use hot water heater insulating blanket instead of Dynamat. About 25% of the cost, 90% as effective.

[Terry, NJ]

Mike That's pretty cheap! Which paper works best? The drugstore fliers, or the covers from old Model A News or letters from the bank. I've tapped out a few gaskets in my time too! I like the one Ian said about the hot water heater blanket for insulation. First, you're not violating judging standards and it sounds like a significant savings. Hey listen Guys, I want to thank everyone for their tips and hints! I'm sure we all got at least one we can use! Keep them coming!
Terry

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

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Originally Posted by 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 :-)

A Batchelor Friend buys $5.99 Harbor Freight Moving Quilts for his bedding.
Bill W.

[pooch]

Originally Posted by mike657894

cut my own water pump gasket saved a whole 40 cents. now thats cheap. truth be told i just forgot to put it on the parts order and wanted it now

I use cornflakes packets for gaskets.

[frank mcdaniels]

This isn't really a fix but an amusing story. Dad used to tell about a neighbor with a model T that had a leaky carb, his fix was to hang a bucket from it. That way when he ran out of gas he could pour the bucket back in the tank and make it home.Frank

[Ed H.]

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.

Do it right, do it once. Mickey mouse fix is just that, a temporary repair.

[Willie Krash]

I used dental floss to sew my brown carpet back together where my heel wore thru it.
Dental floss is white, carpet is brown. I flossed the dog's teeth first. Perfect match.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by Willie Krash

I used dental floss to sew my brown carpet back together where my heel wore thru it.
Dental floss is white, carpet is brown. I flossed the dog's teeth first. Perfect match.

Reminds me of the comic I just read in the Sunday funnies.

A man is walking his dog on a leash, and two bears are hiding in the bush looking at them and say "wonderful, it even comes with floss".

[mike657894]

this was a more in need fix than cheap. I had my radiator fall back into my fan on my 78 chevy truck. the mount had come loose. I was speeding up on the high way and heard tink tink at about 75 slowed a bit it stopped. so curiosity made me speed up and tink tink whoosh cloud of coolant. pull over on the high way in northern iowa at 7pm on a sunday. thinking thinking thinking. I get out the needle nose pliers. And grabbed the torn end of the leaking rad tube turned it over crimped did that ten times on both sides of the ten or so opened tubes. got to the next rest stop and filled my big cooler with water and filled the radiator. In the next 100 miles to minneapolis I only lost 1/2 a gallon.

[ronn]

this was a more in need fix than cheap. I had my radiator fall back into my fan on my 78 chevy truck. the mount had come loose. I was speeding up on the high way and heard tink tink at about 75 slowed a bit it stopped. so curiosity made me speed up and tink tink whoosh cloud of coolant. pull over on the high way in northern iowa at 7pm on a sunday. thinking thinking thinking. I get out the needle nose pliers. And grabbed the torn end of the leaking rad tube turned it over crimped did that ten times on both sides of the ten or so opened tubes. got to the next rest stop and filled my big cooler with water and filled the radiator. In the next 100 miles to minneapolis I only lost 1/2 a gallon.

Likewise have had a brake line blow on my truck. pulled out the vise grips, crimped and rolled and back on my way home!

[JRShaw]

Originally Posted by 1930-fordor

not me but I felt this fit nicely

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

NEAT-O!!! Thanks for sharing this gem. Started my day out with a laugh.