That distributor cap that quit in Cleveland traffic

I was 22, working on a beat-up 78 Chevy van in a parking lot off I-90. Cap cracked mid-summer, engine died right at the ramp. I used a butter knife and electrical tape to patch it, got one more week out of it. Has anyone else done a field fix that somehow held longer than the proper part?

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2 Comments

price.ben1mo ago

Cracked cap on my old Ford Ranger once, same deal, died right at a light in downtown Nashville. I did the same thing, but I used a plastic fork and some hose clamps from a lawnmower. It held for six weeks, which is way longer than the replacement I bought down the road. The real fix was that the rotor was loose, not just the cap, so the patch only worked because the fork kept it seated. That's the thing about field fixes, they sometimes mask a bigger issue like that. Proper spark timing was off the whole time, but damn if it didn't get me to work every day.

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val_bailey661mo ago

lmao fork beats a fix-it ticket every time.

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