How I spent my Sunday Night and part of Monday Morning.

[Zack]

So, Sunday afternoon I get a call from Marie's Uncle Matt.  He is a retail theme designer for Six Flags Theme Parks, and needed some help...right then.  I told him I was spending the afternoon with my mom, but would gladly help him that evening once Liam was in bed.  We agreed to 6:00 PM which worked out fine for me.

So, I show up at the park and as soon as I get to the back gate I start to smell steamy antifreeze and then I notice the steam billowing from under my hood.  I throw it in reverse and get to the employee lot, to find the hose disconnect had sheared off at the hose.  I cool the car down and then proceed to enter the park, where I can work on it with more lights.  I had to rig up a splice out of: An old Dasani water bottle, some packing tape, and teflon tape.  I thought I was good....I was wrong.

After I rigged up my contraption to get me home, my shop rag gets sucked into my drive belt...taking the belt off the pullys.  The only tools I have on me are a Spirit S, a Scientist, Sebenza, and Becker Necker.  So, I get Matt over to take a look at it, and we are thinking there is no way we are getting the belt on.  However, after much grunting, prying, cursing, some weeping, and a little blood, we get the belt back on.  By this time it is 10:00 PM, and we are just starting the project, which has its own problems...we don't even come close to finishing. 

So now the plan is getting my home.  I am still leaking coolant, but not as much as I was, so we proceed out of the park.  We make it 10 miles...maybe, and I see my temp gauge climb very quickly, so I shut the engine down and coast to the side of the road, hoping to save the engine block (its fine).  My splice is working, but the duct tape isn't holding like it should, due to it being wet.  So we head to the nearest truck stop, hoping to find something, to at least get it to a well lit parking lot for the night.  I find on the shelf a product called "Rescue Tape".  Seemed gimmicky, but at this point I had no other options.  We get back to the car, which is on the side of one of busiest sections of highway in GA, and proceed to wrap this tape around my splice and the length of the hose.  I never expected it to work for very long, but lo and behold it did.  I drove nearly 50 miles at 60MPH and the engine never even came close to overheating.

It was a very long night, but kinda fun in a way.  I got to use some tools in new ways, and felt like McGuyver for a few hours with my home made hose splice.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Now if you'd been a regular tool-less idiot you'd of been buggered

Nice to hear about someone relying on themselves for a change

[Grant Lamontagne]

Sounds like you had a bit of a rough trip, and frustrating that you didn't get your project done, but think about it this way- better it happened to you alone, in a place you know rather than happening to the wife, or with the kid with you in an unfamiliar place.

Times like this, in my opinion, are what multitools and SAKs are made for.  And, I also feel that using a SAK or multitool to try and accomplish whatever needs to be done causes you to "think outside the box" and get more done.  I wrote an article a while back on SOSAKOnline talking about improvisation and how a good SAK will teach you to do what works, and in a way, help you even when you don't have it because your mind is a bit more open.  Sounds like it's working, at least for you!

Def

[Zack]

Yeah I am glad both were home when it happened...it would not have been pretty.  Of course in the process I think I have lost my Spirit S.  I just don't think I am meant to keep these fantastic tools, that is the second one I have lost.  And in fixing the car the proper way last night I found the other adapter was dry rotted as well and fixed it.

[jzmtl]

Time for a small toolbox in the car. 

[DaveK]

It was a very long night, but kinda fun in a way. 

These things always seem like fun, after the event, if you make it home

Sounds as though you did great though mate - kudos 

[Chako]

That reminds me of the time my father and I got stuck in the middle of nowhere. The Lada Niva that he had at the time ate the belt. We managed to get home thanks to a bag of plastic zip ties. The make shift belt would only last to the next hill, necessitating another application of good old zip ties, but we got home after 4 hours of fun under the sun. We even had one more application left in the bag. 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Lada Niva?  I love those things!

Almost impossible to find intact out here though, as they rusted out like no one's business. 

Def

[hawkchucker]

I actually applaud you for being able to handle this on your own. ya know how many phone calls you get when people know your oldest boy is a mechanic? Also the tape you described sounds very cool. Do you by  chance remember the name of it?

[jzmtl]

I actually applaud you for being able to handle this on your own. ya know how many phone calls you get when people know your oldest boy is a mechanic? Also the tape you described sounds very cool. Do you by  chance remember the name of it?

Rescue tape

When I was into offroading this was part of tool kit some people swear by.

[zepla]

Looks like vulcanization tape we use a lot on boats to tape of sharp edges to protect the sails. Great stuff but a pain in the butt to remove it after once its vulcanised 

[Chako]

It was either they rusted out in no time flat...or the electrical went out on them. Ours had to be retired due to electrical issues.

[ducktapehero]

Time for a small toolbox in the car. 

I do have a small tool box in the car. It's called a Swisstool.

[andre0407]

The Rescue Tape is a tad pricey, ain't it.