The worst hack job I ever did was on the original
1972 Ford Gran Torino Fizzball Racer.
We got the car because the previous owner said the
engine was making funny noises. She gave it to us.
after we added 5 quarts of oil to the motor, it
ran much better. (there was less than a quart in the
sump) We took off one of the valve covers after
adding the oil, because the oil was just sitting on
the valves. We reamed out the oil return passages
(which were plugged with crusty gunk) with a length
of welding rod. We scraped off a couple pounds (!)
of crap from the rockers and oil return passages and
decided against opening the other side.
We ran a couple cans of carb spray through the carb,
changed the plugs and decided it was race-ready.
When we ran out of fan belts during a race, I took the
spare out of my (chevy) truck and, noting that it was
way too big, wrapped the entire thing in about 5 layers
of duct tape to make it fat enough to stay on.
I raced with that setup. This was the same race where
we stood on the brakes and chocked the tires while we
chained the front top crossmember (radiator support)
to the back end of a Four-By to pull the radiator off
of the fan after Sam "Wrong-Way" Sjogren head-on'ed
another car at about 50MPH. After we pulled it off the
fan, I clipped the spewing tubes shut with a pair of
needlenose pliers and we went back out and raced like
that.
This was all after replacing the battery during a red flag
stop (on track!) and leaving the old battery under the
driver's seat and the BIG crescent wrench in my pocket.
You can't beat dirt tracking for this kind of experience.
J(a pair of pliers, a length of baling wire, and thou)Z
"Idiocy is no respecter of sex, race, creed, color, or shopping habits -
Stupidity is an Equal Opportunity Affliction."
-Scott Fisher
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