Old Mechanic's Tales

[Banjo]

Had this story told to me in a pub (the only pub) at Fords Bridge, out the "back of Bourke" in N.S.W.

 

Farmer was removing the engine out of his old 1950s Austin that had served him faithfully for many years, as a farm workhorse.

 

Truck under a large gum tree. Steel cable over a branch connected to the rear of a small cat bulldozer he used for clearing fence lines.

 

Got engine out O. K. and was hanging in mid air. Removed Austin truck and was just backing his flat top under the elevated engine, so he could lower, and then transport to town for repairs.

 

About a klm away some contractors were building a new dam for the farmer, and ran into a very large old tree stump that wouldn't budge.

 

A few sticks of "gene" under the stump should fix it !

 

Well I think they overdid the the few sticks.

 

A giant explosion rocked the earth for a couple of kilometres.

 

The tree rocked, the branch snapped, and the engine plummetted to earth passing straight through the weathered old boards on the back of the flat top, to become completely entangled between the chassis & tailshaft.

 

Three years after hearing this story, I was in the same area again and called on a property to ask for directions.

 

There near the outsheds was a flat top with a slightly bent chassis, and a truck engine firmly embedded between the rear chassis.

 

The farmer was so disgusted, he told me, he just walked away and left it there, but had used the timber off the table top for fire wood.

 

sob

Edited June 4, 2005 by Banjo

[crazy_bunny]

on removeing engine storys had to pull a 4AGZE out of a rolla.... so we just jacked up under it with a hilift jack that was inside the engine bay........

 

and carried the bitch

[Jason]

bah, getting the 4agze out of a sprinter :)

 

You just can't imagine how low this thing was, at first we couldn't even get a jack under the skirt !

 

Disconnected the Gbox. draged it out with some straps we found in it. That was fun considering it was 8pm at night and me covered in the lovely fragrant smell of transmission oil :) with 2 desk lamps for light

 

Then i go to teddy, hey what the hell lets get the motor out! With a stop sign post across the engine bay, attached again with the dodgy lock straps we found we got it off the mounts twisted the engine into a E-W configuration, and drooped it out between the Xmeber and the front lip!

 

Then got my engine stand on the ground bolted it up, then lifted the motor up right :) and wheeled it into the garage

Edited June 5, 2005 by Jason

[Banjo]

Recently I had the head off my 4K-U. When replacing the radiator I noticed the heater pipe spigot on top of the water pump looked a little blocked on the inside.

 

I ran a big drill down the inside diameter by hand to clean it out. After doing so, I was amazed how thin the aluminium wall was after the corrosion had been removed.

 

Being a bit concerned it might not have enough strength to be reliable, I put a little sideways force on it, only to have it break off in my hand.

 

Now it was late on a Sunday afternoon, and although there was a second hand pump lying around in the garage somewhere, I was inclined not to use same, as I have often found that water pumps that have been lying idle for some time, provide short lives before bearing or seal failure.

 

The pump boss below where the spigot had been seemed to have plenty of aluminium "beef" to it, so I wondered if it was possible to drill out and fit a new spigot/outlet.

 

A large drill (about 5/8") was used, and the a nice recess was soon formed. I then searched the shed for a bit of pipe that could be forced into service as a new spigot/outlet for the heater pipe. Nothing turned up the exact size I wanted.

 

Then I spied my box of tube spanners. A 13mm tube spanner had exactly the right outside diameter. Out with the hacksaw and off with the hex sections at each end, and I soon had a new spigot.

 

A quick mix of some Araldite, and I soon had the new spigot firmly in place. Next morning, I reattached the heater pipe, filled with water, and the daily drive was back on the road again.

 

That was some months ago now, and the repair has been both reliable & permanent, thanks to a 13mm tube spanner & a tube of Araldite.

 

:)

[demuire]

I once welded a spanner onto a sump plug. Unfortunately I can't weld for crap, so the spanner slipped off anyway :)

[Super Jamie]

i had to "machine" down a 17mm socket to have thinner walls so i could do up one of the manifold bolts when i put my SUs on. i say "machine" because i used the angle grinder, then i polished it with a buffing wheel on a drill so it doesn't rust, it actually looks pretty cool

[Banjo]

then i polished it with a buffing wheel on a drill so it doesn't rust

 

A true artisan !

 

:)

[coln72]

My old man has a collection of spanners with stategic pieces ground out of them from his days as an apprentice working on mini's and other assorted BMC machinery.

[Banjo]

Yeh ! I think everyone in those days used to mark their tools. Lots used to mark them with those vibrating electric etching engraving machines, made by "Scope". You don't see them around these days.

 

I worked with an electrican who even had his name engraved on the shaft of each of his screwdrivers.

 

:)

[Banjo]

Jamie's mention of sockets reminds me of a guy I worked with several years ago. He was a paraplegic engineer in a wheelchair that let nothing stop him from leading a productive life.

 

I went to a few parties at his house and I can assure you, nothing stopped him.

 

He decided to buy an old Sydney bus and fit it out and drive around Australia, with some friends (3 were girls). The fit-out took almost a year, but was beautifully done.

 

Anyway, finally the day came, he resigned from work and off he went heading north from Sydney.

 

About two months later we got a call from him requesting help. He was broken down near Rockhampton in Qld. with something in the gearbox broken. He asked if we could go down to the bus depot at Tempe in Sydney & see if we could get him this spare. He said the bus was parked on the concrete driveway at a service station just south of Rocky. Anyway, we got him the part, had it shipped up, and didn't hear from him again, until he returned to Sydney nearly a year later.

 

Anyway we are up at the local pub hearing his stories, when I ask about the broken gearbox.

 

"How the hell did you get the gearbox out of the bus ?" I asked.

 

"Easy" he says. "We jacked the bus up, took 2 days, laid out all the sockets in my socket set under the bus, with a thick piece of marine ply on top. Removed the floor, and lowered the gearbox with some rope, and rolled the 3/4 tonne gearbox out from under the bus on top of the sockets."

 

Reinstallation was, he recounted, a reverse procedure of the removal.

 

Now, there's ingenuity for you.

 

:) :D :D :D :D :fuzz: :fuzz: :fuzz: :fuzz: :fuzz:

[demuire]

Hehe, that's funny. Lowering and raising a 3/4 ton gearbox must be fun. Not to mention the fact that all the sockets would be a different size :)

[demuire]

Really? Mine must just be weird :)

[Banjo]

Grims right Fook. All my Sidchrome 1/2" drive sockets have the same diameter around the boss where the 1/2" drive coupling is made.

 

:)

[mikeys toy[RL]]

i bought a '73 mazda RX3 wagon with the replacement engine in the rear. living in an apartment complex, i really didn't have much for tools, or a place to work on stuff.

3a.m. i wrapped a piece of rope around the awning cover for the parking spaces and lifted it into the car. i was 17 and didn't know much about cars or rotarys especially and didn't know that you could not get the torque converter into the pump while bolted onto the engine, so i never got it started.

long story short.....10 a.m that same day i got an eviction notice........

[coln72]

Having a welch plug start leaking on the way to QLD one holiday, my old man tried to fix it by sticking a half chewed Mintie :)

 

It didn't work because the mintie melted. The units where we stayed were not impressed with engine parts spread all over the parking area.