I've joked and laughed at some of the things I've found that have been 'Bubba-ed' on my car. Things as innocently dumb as grounding the radio to fiberglass, or using electrical tape to hold the wiper wires on to their posts, to things dangerously stupid as the steering column being put together so wrong the wheel literally popped out of the telescopic slot. The whole ripped front crossmember/a-arm shaft fisasco was literally life threating. It's a wonder the front end didn't self destruct at 75mph on I-65 coming home.

I should have guessed I'd find something like this at some point when I started on the engine. My first clue all wasn't right was when I popped the timing chain cover off to find Bubba has put a shallow cover on a two row chain. The chain had played h-ll on the lower part of the cover to the point a large quanity of RTV sealent had been slopped around the lower part of the cover, just below the seal.

I shrugged, lit another cigar and inspected the chain itself. It's loose enough I'll replace it, so I bought the timing marks around to make it a little easier to set when the new one goes on. This is what I studied for about 5 minutes puffing away.



It's obvious he didn't have a clue how to use the crank bolt and socket to ease the lower sprocket on. He also lost the lower gear key, so he thought he'd just use whatever height key he had lying around handy. I'm fairly proficent at installing cams and have a nice degree wheel and magnetic base dial indicator. I've used offset keys to tweak a cam back into specs, (the old Crane Fireball cams were notorious for being out) but I've NEVER seen a cam installed so ineptly the 'mechanic' got it a whole tooth off! It ran, but poorly. I had a hard time setting the carb mixture. The car had a little 'lope' to it at idle. I'd passed it off as the cam being changed at some point in the past, but now I have to re-evaluate my thinking.

The feller I bought it off of had just rebuilt the brakes. The right rear now leaks so bad the brake fluid runs out of it. I dread getting into the brakes and rear end.....$$$$$$$
John

 

I hope that he didn't touch much else on the car.

 

I should write a book... We had a 'Vette come in with complaint of poor brakes.....the pads were reversed, as in metal to metal! Bubba lives!

 

I hope that you did not pay a lot for this car.

Thinking back to the day I bought my 79, the previous owner was using a jumper pack to start the car and had a can of brake fluid that he was constantly topping off the master cylinder with. He was clueless as to what was wrong.

Gee, you think maybe a new alternator and master cylinder might have helped him??? They are not overly expensive or difficult items to replace.

Some folks make you just want to lean back and shake your head.

But now when I get into my 79, and the delay wipers work, and the clock works, and the turn signals cancel when they should, and the dash lights and gauges all work, etc... etc...
I get a great deal of personal satisfaction knowing that "I did it right".

 

looks like Bubba beat the crank gear on with a hammer

 

Actually, it looks like he used a pointed object and hit the pointed object with the hammer. Even worse.

 

The only "pointed object" Bubba had was his head !

I just LOVE Bubba !

 

I've got two brass drifts laying in the shop. I've got one lead mallet, and a couple of plastic hammers. None of them are Snap-Ons or Craftsman or anything expensive. I probably don't have $5 total in the lot of them.

I can understand a lack of mechanical abilty. We all have God given natural talents. I have a knack for things mechanical, there's other things I've tried and simply have no knack for at all (you should see me try to ride a horse).

But you look at that bottom sprocket and timing marks and wonder where his COMMON SENSE was!
John

 

haha... i think the same guy used to own our cars....


the first pic is a crack along the quarter panel they bondo'd to fix... and painted over... TWICE...
and the second one is the Cardboard they screwed to the #4 body mount area to try to fiberglass... ps too much resin, barely any glass...

All for the love of the car right!!! .... i don't even want to know if my motor has stuff like that wrong!!!...

Looks like you have it under control though.. good luck with her~!!

 

Not that I'm defending Bubba but was moving the cam gear up a notch a no dollar way of getting some extra advance.

I thought I remember'd from the old days hearing about people doing this as a hot rod mod ???


Frank

 

If I recall if you wanted to advance or retard the cam, use an offset key or there should be other timing marks to line up with.

 

Maybe Bubba was planning for the future figuring if the chain jumped a tooth he wouldn't have to tear things a part.

 

Well, I'll be honest with you, when I first saw the picture, I didn't realize what you were talking about in the way of the timing marks being off. Once you pointed it out, it was obvious.

However, I've never installed a cam, cam gears, timing chain, any of that before, so I didn't have any clue on the fact that the timing gears had to be lined up like that.

BUT, knowing that a cam is important to the operation of the car, I probably would have read several books and service manuals before attempting to install a cam, so I probably would have seen the timing marks and lined it up correctly.

 

You're giving him way too much credit.I doubt that he even has a hammer,yet alone a punch.See if there any rock fragments in the oil pan and I bet the rad is bashed in for clearance to use the rock...

 

what exacltly does bubba mean like the same as bootleg , ghetto rigged , i can go on and on but is it the same meaning?

 

Yes....same meaning as you describe above......
Bubba can fix ANYTHING...just ask him....
I have included 2 pictures of "BUBBA"....
if you see him at your local Corvette Shop > RUN !

 

These guys are Father and Brother to each other.

 

AH! A mind reader! I should post a few more pics. After I pulled the hood, one of the first things I noticed was the radiator shroud had been hacksawed in half. Now it has a top half and a bottom half, and is about half as strong as it should be. Obviously dumba$$ couldn't figure out how to pull the shroud properly, or just didn't want to take the time.

Mine is a early '76, so it has the shroud beat out of diamonds instead of the late '76s whose shroud are merely pounded out of 24 carat gold. (Sorry for the sarcasim). I'll probably pull a Bubba my self and try to fix the old one instead of popping mega $ to get a re-pop.
John

My future license plate......MUNYPIT

 

You're already light years ahead of Bubba, and a h*ll of a lot smarter than some of my friends. No one knows everything. A smart man will ask, read manuals, take pictures, bag and tag everything as 'it' is being taken apart.

I've rebuilt a few manual transmissions with very good results. It is my opinion however that automatic transmissions are born of black magic, with little trolls or elves or sumptin' down in there doing all the shifting. (well....almost)

Anyways if I had to ever get elbow deep into a automatic I'd for sure have a couple of first grader, easy to understand manuals AND an experienced friend on hand (probably drinking adult beverages) just in case.
John

 

But if I don't leave a hacksawed radiator shroud, cardboard/duct tape defrost vent connection and occasional use of twine as a hose hanger, what will the next generation of C3 owners have to send pictures and comment about?