Bubbas Anonymous - A Place for Confessions
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 200
Likes: 4
From: Richmond Virginia
Bubbas Anonymous - A Place for Confessions
My screen name is Loquinho, and I have used house romex and wire nuts to fix a headlight wiring problem in my '74.
Would anyone else like to contribute?
Would anyone else like to contribute?
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 208
Likes: 0
From: Hampton Fl.
St. Jude Donor '11
Even though I now live in a high concentration Bubba area, my car came from Pa. and I am originally from Mich.
That said, I lost my patience trying to solder and/or crimp my rear window defroster wire, and so I wire nutted and taped it under my rear carpet.
Some day, the next owner will get satisfaction correcting this.
If it's dust under the rug....I'll live.
That said, I lost my patience trying to solder and/or crimp my rear window defroster wire, and so I wire nutted and taped it under my rear carpet.
Some day, the next owner will get satisfaction correcting this.
If it's dust under the rug....I'll live.
Intermediate
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 48
Likes: 0
From: Ohio
When my Dad first bought his 74 vette, the front and rear bumper covers were cracked badly and looked horrible. Instead of replacing them, he used bathroom caulking to fill in the gaps. It still looked horrible, even thought the car was white and the caulking white, they were not the same shade of white and it was very obvious. 
This repair would last about three weeks until the caulking would fall out due to weather, wind, rain. So he would re-do the "repair" every few weeks. He drove the car this way for three years and probably spent more on caulking than the bumpers cost.
Finally the entire center section of the rear bumper fell off (the part with the license plate holder) and dad could not figure out how to remount it with the caulking (though he did try for two days straight), so Mom made him replace the bumper.
Thankfully both bumper covers have been replaced and the entire car painted since then.
This repair would last about three weeks until the caulking would fall out due to weather, wind, rain. So he would re-do the "repair" every few weeks. He drove the car this way for three years and probably spent more on caulking than the bumpers cost.
Finally the entire center section of the rear bumper fell off (the part with the license plate holder) and dad could not figure out how to remount it with the caulking (though he did try for two days straight), so Mom made him replace the bumper.
Thankfully both bumper covers have been replaced and the entire car painted since then.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 870
Likes: 2
From: Closter New Jersey
poverty forced my bubba hand. couldnt afford new floor pans to fix the holes in my floors and didnt have a welder. Cut out the rust and bought some steel and cut pieces to fit and riveted them in over the holes with some sealant.
not proud of it
not proud of it
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 26,545
Likes: 46
From: Huntersville NC
I had a break in my right front exhaust pipe. Put a soup can around the break, tightened a clamp around it, and drove like that for over a year. 
Needed a longer clutch rod, so I cut the stock rod in half and screwed both ends into a spacer... voila!
I have a 68, and couldn't get far enough up under the dash to remove the old defective braklight switch so I just adapted a 69 style braklight switch to work.... and the old 68 swicth is still up there somewhere.
Dang, if I ever sell this car this thread might be used against me!!!
Needed a longer clutch rod, so I cut the stock rod in half and screwed both ends into a spacer... voila!
I have a 68, and couldn't get far enough up under the dash to remove the old defective braklight switch so I just adapted a 69 style braklight switch to work.... and the old 68 swicth is still up there somewhere.
Dang, if I ever sell this car this thread might be used against me!!!
Last edited by PRNDL; May 31, 2011 at 01:19 PM.
Instructor
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 174
Likes: 0
I had a break in my right front exhaust pipe. Put a soup can around the break, tightened a clamp around it, and drove like that for over a year.
Needed a longer clutch rod, so I cut the stock rod in half and screwed both ends into a spacer... voila!
I have a 68, and couldn't get far enough up under the dash to remove the old defective braklight switch so I just adapted a 69 style braklight switch to work.... and the old 68 swicth is still up there somewhere.
Dang, if I ever sell this car this thread might be used against me!!!
Needed a longer clutch rod, so I cut the stock rod in half and screwed both ends into a spacer... voila!
I have a 68, and couldn't get far enough up under the dash to remove the old defective braklight switch so I just adapted a 69 style braklight switch to work.... and the old 68 swicth is still up there somewhere.
Dang, if I ever sell this car this thread might be used against me!!!
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 200
Likes: 4
From: Richmond Virginia
I had an issue with my heat/AC control wheels grinding, and finally getting stuck. After taking the console cover off, I learned the console itself had sagged and the wheels were getting stuck against the transmission hump. I tossed a couple ideas around in my head, then took part of an old paint stick and used it to prop up the center of the console. Put it back together, and it's been in place for several years now with no problems.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 3,363
Likes: 32
From: Bowtie, Pennsyltucky
St. Jude Donor '13-'14-'15,'21
"Fixed" a rotted crossmember on an '81 F250 4x4 with rigid conduit, muffler clamps and a ratchet strap to keep the transfer case from banging around. P.S. farm truck, not on the road.
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Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 24,160
Likes: 78
Bless me father for I have sinned. My history of bubbafications began in 1993 when I routed the heater lines of my 1967 Jeep to a heater core from a Ford Fairmount which I placed in the passenger footwell and then strapped a 12v fan behind it.
Pro
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 556
Likes: 13
From: C3 Forum, Colorado
I'm guilty too.
Just the weight of the speedometer cable puts enough downward force on the speedometer gear housing to lift the driven gear off the drive gear causing the speedometer not to work.
So Bubba thought, What can I do to fix this just temporarily till I can fix it right?
He said I know, I'll just fold up this piece of cardboard and wedge it between the cable and the cross member.
Been that way now for 5 or 6 years.
The funny part is I completely forgot I did this years ago and was underneath it just recently for a different reason and seen it and thought WTH is that!?!?
Then I remembered and said oh yeah, I forgot about that.
Sheesh, got bit by my own Bubba.
This is on my..............I mean Bubba's Chevelle not the Corvette.
Pro
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 658
Likes: 0
From: east rutherford new jersey
one time the seat brackets (bench) wore out on my 74 monte carlo.
i put a milk crate behind on the drivers side to keep the seat in place.
if the crate wasn't there, the seat would slide all the way back.
i put a milk crate behind on the drivers side to keep the seat in place.
if the crate wasn't there, the seat would slide all the way back.
Instructor
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 125
Likes: 0
From: Merchantville New jersey
I had to move a Kamen Gia that had been sitting for about 15 years rotting away. I didn't want to spend any $$$ on a tow so I figured I would just get it running and drive it out of the garage and to its new place to rot. Poured some gas down the carb and it would run until the gas was gone then it died. Gas line and gas tank were both full of rust. Looked around the garage found a 5 gallon metal can and some old hose. Filled the can up with gas and strapped it in the back seat and ran the hose from the can to the fuel pump. Drove it 25 mile that way. That was when this bubba was young and REALLY REALY STUPID!!
Pro
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 581
Likes: 5
From: BC
Thank God for you guys. You've been my source for cheap cars forever.
All those little "repairs" (not the fixes to get you home, but the ones that live on in the cars) accumulate. Then one day there are enough of them that the car officially becomes a "piece of ****". You try to sell it at what you percieve to be the going rate, but no one bites. Someone comes in and low ***** you and you grab it, because in your mind, it's a piece of ****. Hey, it's held together with cardboard and wire nuts.
I get it home, put in the $10 speedo gear, repair the wiring harness, get the cruise working, the air working, the radio playing. I fix the horn, the wipers that haven't worked in 2 years. I clean it up and do the cosmetics. Pretty soon, with not a lot of money, I've made it into a car again. Usually the first one out buys it and I've made a tidy profit.
Carry on guys.
Steve
All those little "repairs" (not the fixes to get you home, but the ones that live on in the cars) accumulate. Then one day there are enough of them that the car officially becomes a "piece of ****". You try to sell it at what you percieve to be the going rate, but no one bites. Someone comes in and low ***** you and you grab it, because in your mind, it's a piece of ****. Hey, it's held together with cardboard and wire nuts.
I get it home, put in the $10 speedo gear, repair the wiring harness, get the cruise working, the air working, the radio playing. I fix the horn, the wipers that haven't worked in 2 years. I clean it up and do the cosmetics. Pretty soon, with not a lot of money, I've made it into a car again. Usually the first one out buys it and I've made a tidy profit.
Carry on guys.
Steve
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 803
Likes: 4
From: Christchurch, New Zealand
The 76 body I just bought has an old security sign cut and bent to cover the rusted floor.
