Car guys: Worst repair job you've ever seen?

[Moparracer89]

Not cars but I work on locomotives. I cant tell you how many stripped bolts I find held in by silicone or epoxy.

 

[Leo]

I saw a repaired full sized GM sedan where the frame was twisted so much the car could not be aligned, so the lower "A" arm was cut and rewelded. When I saw how bad the welds were I was sorry that I had test driven the car.

 

[RustyHornet]

I saw a repaired full sized GM sedan where the frame was twisted so much the car could not be aligned, so the lower "A" arm was cut and rewelded. When I saw how bad the welds were I was sorry that I had test driven the car.

This reminds me. 1953 Oldsmobile. Previously had the front suspension "replaced". Back then nothing was standard, so Olds parts were different than a Pontiac, Chevy, Buick... Well someone couldn't find repalcement parts for the Olds so they located a Pontiac of the same vintage, cut the spindle of both cars right below where it attached to the upper control arm and welded them together. We discovered something was wrong when we went to rebuild the brakes and couldn't get bearings and races to fit. It wasn't until later that we were rebuilding the suspension because the car had some serious steering issues that we noticed what they had done.... Correct parts located and replaced.

 

[thunderchicken]

Several years ago I worked at a service station right out of high school and one Saturday a guy rolled in with a flat on his homemade trailer. The wheels were completely wrong. The center hole that should center the wheel was larger than the stud bolt pattern and the guy used large washers under the lug nuts to keep the wheels on. Wish I hap pics (way before cameras on phones).

Seen too many DYIers and inexperienced employed people (sorry they are not technicians) leave lug nuts loose. Often people replace a tire and don't have a torque wrench so they just tighten it but it it's just not enough. Torque sticks are very handy and work well. When I buy tires at the local shop I watch to make sure the nuts are torqued and even ask what they are torqued to.

I had a car come in once overheating and the cooling system was plugged up...the knucklehead cracked a dozen eggs and dropped in to seal the leaky radiator. Said some old demolition derby friend said it works great.

I once saw an exhaust system repaired in multiple spots with sheet metal, high temp silicone and hose clamps. And the rotted muffler was wraped in sheet metal and glued in place with bondo.

 

[RustyHornet]

What I don't get is people spend so much time trying to cobble something together, when they could just fix it right and it would be done quicker....

I watched he's a guy not too long ago on YouTube "repair" rust with fiberglass. He said it was a good repair and the people in the comments ate it up..... Yeah, safety isn't a concern at all....

I understand roadside fixes to limp home, but...... Always enough time to doing something twice, never enough time to do it right the first time....

 

[thunderchicken]

Just the other night had a car towed in with an oil leak. 2012 charger v6, had cylinder heads replaced under warranty found one of the bolt hole ears was broken off the composite valve cover and they used black silicon to seal it up. And that was done at Dodge dealer in Greenwood.

One of the worst again when I worked at the service station. Had a guy come in with an old Ford Fairlaine and had used bailling wire wrapped through rust holes to attach a piece of black iron pipe to work as a frame rail. The very definition of death trap

 

[thunderchicken]

I could write a book about all the stuff I have seen come in the shop or have seen on home built racecars.

 

[woowoo2]

Kentucky State government, fleet service , duct tape used as body rust repair.
All the vehicles were white, so they used white duct tape.

7500 miles between oil changes was standard practice.

Used tires installed to replace bald tires.

 

[thunderchicken]

Not so much for rust repair but police cars here in Indy have problems with paint flaking off, so they use sheets of white vinyl wrap to cover the primer. Doesn't look bad in the dark from 50ft away.
It's becoming more common to have longer intervals for oil changes especially with synthetic and blended oils. Though I am not a fan CNG and Autogas engines the oil looks dang near new when it's drained after 4,000 miles.

 

[churchmouse]

Not so much for rust repair but police cars here in Indy have problems with paint flaking off, so they use sheets of white vinyl wrap to cover the primer. Doesn't look bad in the dark from 50ft away.
It's becoming more common to have longer intervals for oil changes especially with synthetic and blended oils. Though I am not a fan CNG and Autogas engines the oil looks dang near new when it's drained after 4,000 miles.

Also fleet service on rental cars is near non-existent. People buy those thinking they are getting a deal.......:lmfao

Nothing party's like a rental

 

[MadMan66]

My dad has taken his vehicle, as well as my sister's vehicle to a shop along Washington and Kitley on the east side. Every time, the vehicle goes back because they failed to fix/address something. My dad is a slow learner, but finally has written that place off. Here is his Jeep as he turned into his driveway just a mile down the road after they did some suspension work. He got lucky, in a way.

If you all like pictures of some of these types of repairs, or lack there of, there is a place on Reddit that has a ton called "Just Rolled Into The Shop" >> https://www.reddit.com/r/justrolledintotheshop

 

[Timjoebillybob]

Does having the frame held up by a coat hanger count? Early 80's cutlass, frame was solid but the trunk where it was bolted to rusted out so it sagged.

Years later when I worked in an auto repair shop, it's still had me always paranoid about making sure all the Lugnuts are tight. I always started them by hand, spun them on with the impact and then went over them with a t bar. I always hated people that slammed them on with the impact and swore I wasn't going to be that guy.

I know about the slamming them on with a impact. My wife(fiancee at the time) had a couple of tires replaced on the front. They told her she needed brakes. She couldn't afford for them to do it so told them no, and asked me to do it. A week later I went to take them off... I bent 2 4-ways and had to use a 4 ft cheater bar to get them off. Needless to say I replaced all the studs and lugnuts. I have no idea how they didn't strip them or snap them off. Since then I always ask for them to hand torque and then check them myself.

I had a car come in once overheating and the cooling system was plugged up...the knucklehead cracked a dozen eggs and dropped in to seal the leaky radiator. Said some old demolition derby friend said it works great.

It will work in an emergency, but plan on replacing the radiator and most likely heater core. And possibly everything else. But for a demo car?

I watched he's a guy not too long ago on YouTube "repair" rust with fiberglass. He said it was a good repair and the people in the comments ate it up..... Yeah, safety isn't a concern at all....

I understand roadside fixes to limp home, but...... Always enough time to doing something twice, never enough time to do it right the first time....

If just body rust, what is the safety concern? If you are talking structural, different story.

Also fleet service on rental cars is near non-existent. People buy those thinking they are getting a deal.......:lmfao

Nothing party's like a rental

You can say that again. I'd love to find one of these though.
Profile: The 1966 Shelby GT350H Rent-A-Racer Mustang

 

[femurphy77]

I once saw a station wagon that had been painted lime green...with a brush.

Bah! Amateur! The birth mother painted my dads 56 chevy 1/2 ton with a roller!!!

 

[churchmouse]

Bah! Amateur! The birth mother painted my dads 56 chevy 1/2 ton with a roller!!!

My Dad brought home a 1950 GMC 1 ton with the farm bed on it. Must have been a 10ft pick up bed.
It had the interior from another truck in it and it was put in the cab pretty well.
The engine ran OK and the brakes were OK as well.

The body was painted with a roller and it was house paint. You could peel it off with you finger nails.

 

[padawan]

SOOOO do personal hack jobs count?

In college I fixed the flexible wire mesh exhaust line on my car with steel wool and JB Weld!

LOL I have probably just black balled myself from the Classifieds section, the gun smithing section, and the reloading section!

You were in college.- thats a pass. I used a long piece of flexible stainless pipe to go from an aftermarket header to a Monza exhaust on a Fiat I had in college. Couldn't afford a custom exhaust job. It actually held up very well. It was stainless steel- way back before people used stainless for exhausts.

 

[Timjoebillybob]

I once saw a station wagon that had been painted lime green...with a brush.

Bah! Amateur! The birth mother painted my dads 56 chevy 1/2 ton with a roller!!!

I saw this done by a professional bodyman, on a decent camaro. I will say after it was done, it did look nice. He wet sanded the entire car after each coat. He did it on a bet. he was bragging in a bar about his skills and said that he could paint a car with a brush and have it look good.

 

[jgressley2003]

A friend of mine bought a Chevelle that had a Pepsi can covering a hole in the exhaust. I bought an 86 Firebird that had a grille from a Ford vehicle to fill the hole in the drivers floor board.

 

[VUPDblue]

Not so much for rust repair but police cars here in Indy have problems with paint flaking off, so they use sheets of white vinyl wrap to cover the primer. Doesn't look bad in the dark from 50ft away.
It's becoming more common to have longer intervals for oil changes especially with synthetic and blended oils. Though I am not a fan CNG and Autogas engines the oil looks dang near new when it's drained after 4,000 miles.

Ford had an issue with the white paint on 2003-2006 ish model years where it didn't properly adhere. Instead of fixing the problem with new paint, the city just slaps some vinyl over the peeling paint and calls it a day. Some of what we put on the road, fleet wise, is an embarrassment to the entire city, the department, and the individual officer who has to drive those pieces of crap.

 

[1911ly]

Bah! Amateur! The birth mother painted my dads 56 chevy 1/2 ton with a roller!!!

A friend of mine's uncle had a late 60's Dodge Dart that he kept painted with house paint. The top was fire engine red and the body was Christmas tree green. It actually didn't look to bad when it was raining. He was still driving it as a daily driver in the mid 90's. He would run a paint roller over it over every 4-5 years. It had no rust! I often wondered what happened to that car. I bet the car under that paint wasn't to bad. lol

 

[RustyHornet]

If just body rust, what is the safety concern? If you are talking structural, different story.

The whole body is part of the structure. Every piece works together to properly crumple up and protect the occupants. The only way to fix rust is to cut it out and replace it with steel, not cover it up with fiberglass.....