Outback ingenuity & bush mechanics - Lessons needed!

HI MIKE,

Metho does the job in petrol ,but not diesel try acetone .Mix a little water,metho and diesel ...not good.




Cheers,

Tassie.

It's not in the same category, but if your bush mechanic ing doesn't work.
Always carry a white sheet. In the deserts they can be fashioned into a crude all over cover for you. Take off clothing beneath and voila...instant robes. Don't forget to cover the head.
Apparently you will not only look ridiculous using this garb, but also sweat a lot less. White, of course won't absorb as much heat from the sun.
I've been lucky and never had to resort to this garb.
But I was given the tip by an old Legionnaire years ago, well before a certain movie came out :)))

Black pepper for holes in the cooling system used to be the go in years gone by ? I've no idea how it would affect a modern cooling system.
Warming the contents of an old battery can sometimes revitalize it.
(but be careful how you do it)
No wheel, no worries. Lash a log, sled like for short distances.
I've seen a vehicle driven with a flat tyre for 20km,,,the wheel was square! (But they made it into town)
It was a front tyre, so the steering must have been awful.

ABC TV had a series on 'bush mechanics' with the technical ingenuity of some of the Aboriginal drivers.
Log under the missing front wheel and drive backwards.
Heat the battery in coals to get an automatic vehicle started.
Cut the roof off and tow it behind like a sled if you have to fit more mates in and their luggage is too much to fit inside.

I only saw a few episodes, should be worth chasing up on DVD.

cheers

Mick

I will try to remember some......................

Dead Battery 1.
To start manual petrol vehicle. Jack rear wheel of ground, turn ignition on, put in 3rd or 4th gear, use belt, snatch strap or rope to start like lawnmower.

Dead battery 2.
Heat up battery. But better still, decant battery acid into saucepan. Bring to boil over fire. Pour contents back into battery. Car should start. Throw saucepan away...lol

What? you forgot the billy? Pour water into plastic bag. Tie at top so there are no leaks. Scrape coals out from fire. Place bag with water in one movement onto coals. When water boils lift off in one movement and wonder where to next...aaaah!!.... decant into aircleaner(removed and plugged prior to operation).

Use tree stump or log to prop up broken spring.

Clamp brake line with wire if brake hose gets snagged.

Remove rear driveshaft on 4by if you have broken an universal or maybe even the diff(depends on what sort of 4by). Drive away usingg front wheels


If you have 2008 ToyoNissaJerozukiundaikiaover use Staphone to call Breakdown Assist!!!!




That's off the top of me head for the moment.


Cheers

Mick good idea and probably a good laugh also but considering that people don't seem to read the great articles and information already available on the site with info such as "What spares to carry" and continue to post the question regardless.

One must ask the question, Is it worth the effort??

Regarding tools & fixing things:

Mate of mine reckons that you only need:

a shifter (large)
hammer
cold chisel
screwdriver

He reckons if you can't fix that "thing" with these tools & a bit of wire, then you're a mug.

Cheers

If it moves and it shouldn't - Duct tape.
If it doesn't move and it should - WD40
with those and the 4 tools above you should get to help. ;-)

To mend a leaking petrol tank: grab a bar of soap (laundry soap is best) and with a (pocket) knife, finely scrape a quantity (maybe a teaspoon full) into your hand; collect an equal amount of 'bulldust' from your wheel rims and bind together with saliva (spit). Work to a stiff paste. Press and work this goo onto the leak and allow it to set, preferably to dry over night, before continuing on your journey.
Note: if modern fancy wheels do not allow bulldust to accumulate use talc powder.

As kids we had a few old bombs that we used to thrash around the back tracks and on the salt flats. Only being in our young teens we were keen to try any trick or remedy that we heard of to keep the cars running. The egg and pepper works excellent in the radiator. Surf or similar washing detergent was our brake fluid, mixed with water so it was thick, worked great. Lots of gaffer tape too came in handy, so did using alfoil as fuses. Cars were wired so that when you pushed the horn the car started. Was great, no one could work out how to steal them. Always carried a bottle of metho with us to clean the fuel.

One day while hooning around out bush we crossed a creek that was a little deep and put the fan through the radiator, not badly but enough for it leak rather heavily. Out came more pepper, (though we didnt have eggs) and we dug on the bank of the creek till we found clay and heated it up by a fire and then stuck it on the radiator around the hole. It stuck but slowly it fell off as the water become too hot, so we dug a heap up and put it in a plastic bag to keep replacing it as it fell. Then we cut the fan blades back as they were plastic, until they wouldnt hit on the radiator. Then we got the windscreen washer bottle and all the hose to the washer nozzles, plus some other spare fuel hose we had. Joined it all together with tape and put the washer bottle on the roof with one end of the hose joined to washer bottle and the other end in the radiator(cap off), but taped up and sealed with a milk bottle lid. Gravity would do its thing and keep the radiator topped up, as it was going in at about the same rate it was coming out.As we knew we would have to take it really slow, but we loved it. we were out and about doing what we loved and nothing would ever stop us. We always carried about 15 bottles off water so just filled them all up like always, had a swim and carried on our way to go fishing. we stopped every ten minutes at the next creek, put some more clay on, more pepper in and filled the water bottles up and were on our way again. Finally 20ks later we arrived, went fishing, caught nothing, had a ball, and drove home repeating what we did on the way. On the way home, we pulled into the tip, found an old car very similar, ripped out the radiator and carried on home, arriving just on dark.

The next morning was spent replacing radiator and putting washer bottle in and we were on our way again.

Car was a Datsun 120Y Coupe, totally unbreakable. It blew the cap off the radiator so many times from overheating and did some extraordinary burnouts but yet it never died. Eventually it was stolen by a so called friend and crashed and that was the end of her. Nobody in town could believe how it went on and on and on without dying, with many borrowed parts from other makes and missing all its panels it really was a work of art.

You may think this one a bit far fetched, but I actually saw it happen whilst driver training at Woodside, SA.

If you have to cross deep water, lay a large (waterproof) tarpaulin out on the bank, drive the vehicle (in this case it was a SWB series II Land Rover) on to the tarp and wrap it up. Bucket water to muddie up the bank and push vehicle into the water (in this case it was a dam). Two guys with shovels paddled the vehicle across the water. At the other side, open the front of the tarp, start engine and drive vehicle up the bank.

Malcolm

Invert the Hayman Reece tongue of your landcruiser, then drop the tow bar tongue of your 3 wheeled Jeep onto it.

Then get the pin out of a bloody big shackle to hold it all together.

Put the shackle body on upside down as a nut.

Tow the Jeep into town backwards.



Geoff

G,day mike ,


Once started a perkins 4.326 marine with low battery

power by putting dinner knife blades under each exhaust

valve anvil.When decompressed speed was fast enough had of

offsider pull them out,got a couple scratches on the knifes,

but an engine never sounded sweeter.


Cheers,

Tassie.

You can try the log and No. 8 fencing wire idea but experience tells me you'll only get a couple of k's at best out of even a good piece of hard wood!



Geoff

Mick O,

As to your question - yes I think it would make a very good and useful article and could also be great fun to read.

Good on you for taking the initiative. I look forward to seeing it. Unfortunately I can't offer any inclusions at the moment.

Thank you