Your most succesful inappropriate use of an object - Page 6

xcgates · 08-07-2011, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MortimerSickle

...
Motohead picture frame.

Cool idea, I think I'm going to steal that!

tgeliot · 08-08-2011, 12:39 PM

Yesterday my GF and I painted her bedroom, which involved moving her king-size pedestal bed. Mind you this thing is *heavy*. When we move it back, I realized that the three little legs attached to the underside of the middle of the bed had gotten folded over, and needed to be repositioned to be vertical. But I couldn't fit under any edge of the bed to reach them. Out came the floor jack. It jacked up the foot of the bed very nicely.

Sorry, no pictures.

LuciferMutt · 08-08-2011, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tgeliot

Yesterday my GF and I painted her bedroom, which involved moving her king-size pedestal bed. Mind you this thing is *heavy*. When we move it back, I realized that the three little legs attached to the underside of the middle of the bed had gotten folded over, and needed to be repositioned to be vertical. But I couldn't fit under any edge of the bed to reach them. Out came the floor jack. It jacked up the foot of the bed very nicely.

Sorry, no pictures.

That's not an inappropriate use of an object! Jacks are made for lifting heavy things! Good thinking on your feet though.

Would have been better if you used a long aluminum paint roller handle to lever the bed up and painted the wall with the floor jack...

MortimerSickle · 08-08-2011, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LuciferMutt

...
Would have been better if you used a long aluminum paint roller handle to lever the bed up and painted the wall with the floor jack...

He probably got enough grief over the greasy wheel marks on the floor.

troidus · 08-08-2011, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LuciferMutt

That's not an inappropriate use of an object! Jacks are made for lifting heavy things! Good thinking on your feet though.

I once used a floor jack, a 2x4, a couple of sockets, and the bottom of a car door to compress a spring plate for an automatic transmission clutch pack.

xcgates · 08-08-2011, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by troidus

I once used a floor jack, a 2x4, a couple of sockets, and the bottom of a car door to compress a spring plate for an automatic transmission clutch pack.

I used a combination of wooden blocks, ratchet straps, and a floor jack to "remove" the fork seals on my first bike.

There were holes in the fork tubes that share pressure between the forks, so what better way to remove the seals than removing the springs, filling her to the brim with oil, and pumping 'till she blows?

Lutz · 08-08-2011, 07:45 PM

I'm not sure if this counts as a MacGyver fix or using the wrong combination of tools/objects to do a job. In my defense...I did not technically fix the problem, and it certainly wasn't done with the right tools, and I know the DOT would not approve. But anyway...

When we were teenagers, by buddy had a mid-90's Ford Ranger. One day we were tooling along the countryside when the throttle cable snapped, leaving us dead on the side of the road. He called his dad for a rescue; I surveyed the situtation. The throttle cable had snapped right at the firewall and my buddy happened to have a needle nose vicegrip and a nylon fish stringer in the truck. Clamp the vice-grip to the cable stub; loop the fish stringer through the vicegrip - wallah! Instant hand throttle coming out from under the dash!

The next task was to drive this thing the 15 miles or so back to his house. In order to get the vice grip clamped on the cable, it had to be pulled just a hair, so the truck now idled several hundred RPM higher than normal. This happened to be helpful in getting the truck moving again. Did I mention the truck had a 5-speed manual transmission? Left hand steers, right hand does double duty pulling the throttle and shifting gears, feet do what they normally do (except for operating the throttle, obviously). At least this method guaranteed shutting letting off the gas while shifting (hold long on the stringer so that when you let off the gas there is enough slack to reach the shifter).

My buddy wouldn't even try to drive the thing that way - he ended up riding back to town with his dad. I'm sure the two of them thought I was sure to crash and die. I didn't though...

jaak · 08-09-2011, 12:08 AM

Just finished it yesterday for a friend as a fearwell gift.

JimVonBaden · 08-09-2011, 06:24 AM

On my old sand rail some guy stole my steering wheel when I was at the bar. I used two pair of vice grips to replace it and drove home. The next night they stole the battery. I used a motorcycle battery and push started it to get home.

A couple weeks later I sold it. Too damn many theives around, and the rail had easy access.

Jim

chammyman · 08-09-2011, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lutz

When we were teenagers, by buddy had a mid-90's Ford Ranger. One day we were tooling along the countryside when the throttle cable snapped, leaving us dead on the side of the road. He called his dad for a rescue; I surveyed the situtation. The throttle cable had snapped right at the firewall and my buddy happened to have a needle nose vicegrip and a nylon fish stringer in the truck. Clamp the vice-grip to the cable stub; loop the fish stringer through the vicegrip - wallah! Instant hand throttle coming out from under the dash!

I have also done this trick however, in the3 Uk we drive on the left, most cars are converted lhd vehicles, so engine layouts etc favour direct cable routes for lhd not rhd.

Cable snapped behind the exhaust manifold, no way to join the broken bits.

So what to do, yep give passenger mole grips and they operate the throttle whilst you do everything else.

Oh yeah another thing, the uk 99% of cars are manual transmissions, so it was interesting doing hill starts, yes Scotland has lots of hills.

Ahh...good times.

The Shifty Jesus · 08-09-2011, 06:40 PM

Old vespa...broken throttle cable...just enough slack to route it to, and tie it to my ankle.

arcanum · 08-09-2011, 10:48 PM

Used an old swingset frame as an overhead crane and mounted a utility bed on my truck. Fortunately,it was a heavy home made frame,and I keep it around just in case

msells · 08-10-2011, 09:50 AM

Not me but if what's going on is what I think then this may qualify...

tgeliot · 08-11-2011, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by msells

Not me but if what's going on is what I think then this may qualify...

Color me clueless. What do you think is going on here?

JimVonBaden · 08-11-2011, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tgeliot

Color me clueless. What do you think is going on here?

Dumbass drove off with the nozzle still in the tank.

Jim

08-08-2011, 12:39 PM	#77
tgeliot Topher Joined: Jun 2010 Location: Denver, CO Oddometer: 1,328	Most succesful use of an object in an inappropriate location Yesterday my GF and I painted her bedroom, which involved moving her king-size pedestal bed. Mind you this thing is heavy. When we move it back, I realized that the three little legs attached to the underside of the middle of the bed had gotten folded over, and needed to be repositioned to be vertical. But I couldn't fit under any edge of the bed to reach them. Out came the floor jack. It jacked up the foot of the bed very nicely. Sorry, no pictures. __________________ Topher 1989 Transalp. Sort of. I don't have a bucket list, I have a post-bucket list. So far it includes 1) Coroner's report is to read "Death by misadventure." 2) Dixieland jazz band at my funeral.

08-08-2011, 07:45 PM	#82
Lutz Killer Rabbit Joined: Jul 2010 Location: North Shore of Lake Superior Oddometer: 628	Vice grips and a fishing stringer substitute for gas pedal I'm not sure if this counts as a MacGyver fix or using the wrong combination of tools/objects to do a job. In my defense...I did not technically fix the problem, and it certainly wasn't done with the right tools, and I know the DOT would not approve. But anyway... When we were teenagers, by buddy had a mid-90's Ford Ranger. One day we were tooling along the countryside when the throttle cable snapped, leaving us dead on the side of the road. He called his dad for a rescue; I surveyed the situtation. The throttle cable had snapped right at the firewall and my buddy happened to have a needle nose vicegrip and a nylon fish stringer in the truck. Clamp the vice-grip to the cable stub; loop the fish stringer through the vicegrip - wallah! Instant hand throttle coming out from under the dash! The next task was to drive this thing the 15 miles or so back to his house. In order to get the vice grip clamped on the cable, it had to be pulled just a hair, so the truck now idled several hundred RPM higher than normal. This happened to be helpful in getting the truck moving again. Did I mention the truck had a 5-speed manual transmission? Left hand steers, right hand does double duty pulling the throttle and shifting gears, feet do what they normally do (except for operating the throttle, obviously). At least this method guaranteed shutting letting off the gas while shifting (hold long on the stringer so that when you let off the gas there is enough slack to reach the shifter). My buddy wouldn't even try to drive the thing that way - he ended up riding back to town with his dad. I'm sure the two of them thought I was sure to crash and die. I didn't though...

08-09-2011, 12:08 AM	#83
jaak Adventurer Joined: Dec 2008 Location: Estonia Oddometer: 41	Just finished it yesterday for a friend as a fearwell gift. Attached Images __________________ BR, Jaak

08-09-2011, 06:24 AM	#84
JimVonBaden "Cool" Aid! Joined: Feb 2005 Location: Alexandria, VA Oddometer: 41,491	On my old sand rail some guy stole my steering wheel when I was at the bar. I used two pair of vice grips to replace it and drove home. The next night they stole the battery. I used a motorcycle battery and push started it to get home. A couple weeks later I sold it. Too damn many theives around, and the rail had easy access. Jim __________________ Click here for BMW Maintenance and Repair DVDs and Corrections. "Combo-Order Discounts!"

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08-09-2011, 06:40 PM	#86
The Shifty Jesus Adventurer Joined: Oct 2005 Oddometer: 45	Old vespa...broken throttle cable...just enough slack to route it to, and tie it to my ankle.

08-09-2011, 10:48 PM	#87
arcanum Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Feb 2011 Location: Arcanum OH Oddometer: 235	Used an old swingset frame as an overhead crane and mounted a utility bed on my truck. Fortunately,it was a heavy home made frame,and I keep it around just in case

08-10-2011, 09:50 AM	#88
msells Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Sep 2003 Location: Canton, Georgia, USA Oddometer: 172	Not me but if what's going on is what I think then this may qualify...