This makes me think of a friend's dad back when we were younger. This guy was a walking guinus when it came to mechanical or fabrication knowledge and ability.
Problem was that he absolutely refused to spend money to fix anything.
He got me a job as a welders helper for the company he was dozer operating for. Anyway he had a 2000 dodge 5.9 Cummins, starter goes out so what does he do? Nothing roll starts it down the steep driveway every morning, and let's it sit alone side of the pipeline right-of-way idling for 10hrs a day. Did that for 3 weeks before he finally got it rebuilt.
He was also the type that always wanted to rigg things to save some money, almost every time it ended up taking 4 time as long and cost twice as much to actually get it to work.
I think this may be the reason I absolutely don't screw around with fixing stuff correctly even if I really can't afford it at that time.
James
Ha..!! You just reminded me about something that happened to me around '90 something.....
So.. I had this '79 Mustang that was a 2.8 V-6 and a 4-speed setup I had gotten from a Mustang II...I had it on the lift and was doing something to it...can't remember what...but I started it on the lift and it coughed backward and blew the starter housing into a few pieces...
I am sitting in it about 6 an 1/2 feet off the ground and I hear some pieces fall and sprinkle on the floor...
It was late at night on a weekend and it was the only thing I had to get home.
Home was 65 miles away and someone was waiting for me to help with the horse barn.
I think..."oh, dear Lord..." or something to that effect...and ...'WTH was that..?"
So...I jump down and my tired head tries to grasp the situation.
I removed the starter and gathered up the pieces and put it all on the bench and stared in disbelief.
what to do..? I used JB Weld and aluminum foil and pieced it back together and let it sit a few hours and napped in the compressor room where I had a fold-down bench seat I had taken out of a one-ton dodge van.
The son-uvva-gun worked and held together until I could get another but I was in no hurry to change it out until I woulda have had to learn the hard way...again...