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So I finagled it


Finagler 6853 Life

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I have an old, 1987 model I think, 2 cycle golf car that we use to bomb around the property.  Well the muffler blew a big hole out of it.  Sounds like an angry, large chainsaw.  Really loud.  You can hear it in the next county.  I looked up what a new one would cost and durn near choked at how much they want for one.  Near to $250 as I recall.  So, I took the muffler off and examined the damage.  It had a good sized hole blown out/rusted out that also had some of the sound proofing (fiberglass) sticking out.  This area also had the mounting bracket welded to it which had cracked 3/4 of the way around it.  The other end of the muffler had two places that were rusting out and would blow out relatively soon.  I considered welding some new iron onto the muffler but there wasn't much good metal to attach it to.  Hmmm, I says to myself.  What would Fred Finagler do?  Well with the magic of 2 coffee cans and 10 hose clamps we now have a functioning muffler.  The cans were pre rolled so I wouldn't have to try to make them shape to the muffler.   I cut the cans so I could wrap the muffler with them, trimmed them strategically to fit around the mounting brackets, placed the hose clamps (they were small. I had to use 2 per wrap) so they would add support to the weakened mount and would hold the can in place over the rusted/blown out areas.  It runs nice and quiet now like it did when it was new.  I'll keep an eye out for a replacement muffler, maybe even fabricate a custom muffler but in the meantime, I'll replace the coffee cans as needed until the muffler will no longer stay attached to the frame.  Challenge accepted, challenge completed.  Have a better than average day.

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1 hour ago, Finagler 6853 Life said:

I have an old, 1987 model I think, 2 cycle golf car that we use to bomb around the property.  Well the muffler blew a big hole out of it.  Sounds like an angry, large chainsaw.  Really loud.  You can hear it in the next county.  I looked up what a new one would cost and durn near choked at how much they want for one.  Near to $250 as I recall.  So, I took the muffler off and examined the damage.  It had a good sized hole blown out/rusted out that also had some of the sound proofing (fiberglass) sticking out.  This area also had the mounting bracket welded to it which had cracked 3/4 of the way around it.  The other end of the muffler had two places that were rusting out and would blow out relatively soon.  I considered welding some new iron onto the muffler but there wasn't much good metal to attach it to.  Hmmm, I says to myself.  What would Fred Finagler do?  Well with the magic of 2 coffee cans and 10 hose clamps we now have a functioning muffler.  The cans were pre rolled so I wouldn't have to try to make them shape to the muffler.   I cut the cans so I could wrap the muffler with them, trimmed them strategically to fit around the mounting brackets, placed the hose clamps (they were small. I had to use 2 per wrap) so they would add support to the weakened mount and would hold the can in place over the rusted/blown out areas.  It runs nice and quiet now like it did when it was new.  I'll keep an eye out for a replacement muffler, maybe even fabricate a custom muffler but in the meantime, I'll replace the coffee cans as needed until the muffler will no longer stay attached to the frame.  Challenge accepted, challenge completed.  Have a better than average day.

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1 hour ago, Badlands Bob #61228 said:

We've got a word for that down South, but it ain't  politically correct.  Congratulations on the fix.

 

 ..... but, ... but there's no mention of Duct Tape ........  :(

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12 minutes ago, Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062 said:

 

 ..... but, ... but there's no mention of Duct Tape ........  :(

Hose clamps are duct tape for heat.

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My dad was the king of cobbling things.  I know it was due to growing up in the Depression. 

 

Dad gifted me an old International industrial loader.  It had a hydraulic leak in a steel line from the pump to the valve box on the steering wheel shaft.  He "fixed it" with a split rubber hose and hose clamps. It still leaked about a gallon every couple of months. Well, it was a very specific steel line that bent this way and that way.  The machine was at least 30 years old.  International was long out of business.   I took the line off and went to a tractor dealership and they cut the leaking section out, flared the raw ends and made up a short section of hose to close the gap.  $9.00 (it was a while back). Fixed it. No more leak. Showed dad.  He was not impressed.  Just a waste of money.  Even then the loss of the hydraulic oil would quickly out way the cost to repair.   I could write a book about the battles he's won at great trouble and experience. 

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Many years ago I had a Jeep CJ7 and a fellow told me he had an old Koenig PTO winch I could have as it wouldn't work. Took it home and when I got the cover off what was left of the grease and oil had turned into something close to taffy. About 3 gallons of kerosene later it was cleaned out and I put it back together and used it for many years.

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I’ve got some thing that y’all might be proud of. I bought a used Dodge Durango that had a broken oil check tube. Bought a new one with the hopes of replacing it. Upon taking most of the upper part of the engine apart, I realized that there was a second fastener behind the engine block directly above the fly wheel. Due to the fact that the engine was still in the engine compartment, it was unreachable. I called the local Dodge dealer and they said it require the engine to be pulled. That little task would have cost more than I paid for the truck! My fix involved four hose clamps, two galvanized fence ties and a coping saw blade. When it was all done, there was no flex or pull in the tube at all! The Durango is now gone due to a plethora of electrical issues. The last one involved smoke coming out of the defroster vents with the smell of electrical fire. I don’t like fire much anymore, so the Durango went away! MacGyver ain’t got nothing on me!

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On 9/13/2021 at 8:44 PM, Warden Callaway said:

My dad was the king of cobbling things.  I know it was due to growing up in the Depression. 

 

Dad gifted me an old International industrial loader.  It had a hydraulic leak in a steel line from the pump to the valve box on the steering wheel shaft.  He "fixed it" with a split rubber hose and hose clamps. It still leaked about a gallon every couple of months. Well, it was a very specific steel line that bent this way and that way.  The machine was at least 30 years old.  International was long out of business.   I took the line off and went to a tractor dealership and they cut the leaking section out, flared the raw ends and made up a short section of hose to close the gap.  $9.00 (it was a while back). Fixed it. No more leak. Showed dad.  He was not impressed.  Just a waste of money.  Even then the loss of the hydraulic oil would quickly out way the cost to repair.   I could write a book about the battles he's won at great trouble and experience. 

 

We have those resin chairs, you know the plastic ones the sun deteriorates so you have to buy new every two years?  One of the arms broke right where it attaches to the seat/leg area.  I have some old aluminum panel from the old race car so I cut myself a "band aid" and proceed to attach it with pop rivets.  My oldest daughter, who is one of the smartest women I know, asks her mother who both are watching my efforts, why is he doing that?  Meaning why is he investing his time and effort into fixing a cheap piece of plastic.  I refer to it a CPS.  I know a lot about CPS.  Her mother just looks at her and knowingly says, "because he can".  I used that chair for three more years before I finally pitched it out.  I'm kind of like my daddy.  Spend a dollar to save 50 cents.  I'm getting over that though.  I'm on medication.

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1 hour ago, Dubious Don #56333 said:

Well, I don't think there's anything wrong with that repair!!!

 

Of course, that's coming from a guy who repaired the exhaust on a Ford Pinto with a Mtn Dew can.....LOL

As a young Marine, I worked on VietNam service aircraft, (OV-10 Broncos, A-4 Skyhawks, UH-1 helos). Every now and then, we would find a sheet metal repair, (bullet hole), done with a piece of beer can. :FlagAm:

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