BEST AUTOMOTIVE "MACGYVER" STORIES

From solsticeforum.com

I had a high-mileage Miata and one day, away from home, the left-rear caliper locked up. Couldn't unstick it, so I unbolted it from the carrier and left the brake line connected. I hung it high back in the wheelwell, out of the way with a coat hanger, jammed a block of wood between the pads and mashed the brake to insure that all was secure. Then I finished driving home, carefully, slowly and leaving lots of space, on three brakes. Posted by stevebad

Once had to put my wife into the trunk of a Wolseley 6/99 with a wrench with instructions to give the fuel pump a little whack every time it stopped clicking (or if I yelled at her to do it). Worked very well, got us home so I could change out the pump points, but the most amusing event was when we stopped for a rest and I let her out of the trunk. Two old ladies were standing nearby watching when I let her our and I said "OK, had enough yet?" Posted by wspohn

Back in Michigan, I got stuck in my parents unplowed, iced-over, rutted dirt driveway in my mid-70s Camaro during a Christmas visit. The ruts were more like deep swales, running cross-wise to the driveway. I got out the jack, jacked up the rear bumper a bit, then pushed the car backward off the jack. I think I did that a couple of times, to get up past the bottom of the swale and get traction. (After that, I started carrying a big bag of water softener salt in the trunk. It added weight over the axle, plus I could use the salt to get traction.) The next day, my dad insisted I drive his huge old Ford station wagon instead, he claimed it was "safer". The tires were so bald (my dad is notorious for not maintaining his cars), that I slid into a ditch. Luckily a snow plow driver was passing by, and pulled the Ford out of the ditch. Posted by gz9gjg

This may not be "McGyver" enough but I once had the starter fuse blow out leaving me stranded and unable to start my car, so I simply removed the fuse from the one being used for the car's horn and used it until I got home. It wasn't the correct voltage, but was a good temporary fix.

Another time, and a different car I had was stuck in a whole of mud. Tires just kept spinning. Easy way to get the car tire moving forward is to just find a tree branch or a good 2x4 and place it underneath the tire. Works well if you're stuck in snow too. Just repeat the process until you are cleared. Posted by Silver Ghost

We had a Healey 100 with a hot 327 in it. It used Stromberg 97s and the throttle linkage was hit and miss. We had it fall off once and got it back to the garage using a piece of string we had found at the side of the road. Only problem was that every time I (the throttle man) pulled on the string, the car accelerated, I slid backward off the toolbox that was serving as a passenger seat and pulled even harder. Very exciting as that thing had enough poke to actually get the front weels off the pavement. Posted by Bill in BC