Bubba Files....C3, The best and worst

[69MyWay]

Hey guys, you all know who Bubba is......right? The guy that worked on the car before you that came up with the most unusual and creative ways to make repairs with bailing wire, duct tape, and parts from the wrong car. In some cases, Bubba is just an idiot. Bubba had no business in the world on the mechanic's end of a wrench, and it shows. In other cases, Bubba is a genius, and has created temporay solutions to problems that end up being permanent.

Well, on my most recent project.....I have found where Bubba has been and will post pics of some of his most fantastic accomplishments under the hood of this unsuspecting 71 convertible.

What kind of Bubba stories do you have? Have you ever been a Bubba?

I will post the pics and blunders later.

 

[SwaveDave]

My favorite all time Bubba mod i saw on a corvette (fortunately it wasnt mine)...was someone who put household circuit breakers right after the battery )))) . Ha ! A close second, was, someone who used broken off pencils to plug some of the vaccuum hoses on the engine .

Let me have another 12 pack of beer , and ill share some of my bubbas with you....maybe.

Dave

 

[MsSchroder]

I have a photo of Bubba.
Warning... this hurts the eyes :L

 

[CS72Roadster]

On my '72 the PCV hose had been removed and the fitting on the air breather had been plugged with a wine bottle cork and duct tape. Also, the exhaust pipe extensions had been replaced with flex-pipe. Talk about ugly! The temperature sending unit wire was connected to the sending unit with an aligator clip. Other than that that car is original...so far as I've found!

CS

 

[wichitacorvette]

end all be all was an Olds with cut garden hose for the heater hoses and rubberbands for the return spring..... it was a car i was forced to look @ for a car stereo problem.... and anyone that knows about wiring power wire from the battery to the trunk, u generally dont want to run the wire through the cowl of the hood and around the windshield pinching the weatherstripping through the drivers side window. no to mention the use of scotch tape as a wire insulator lmao :L :L :L

when i got my vette, the fan clutch was jb-welded together...... in efforts of a cheap flex fan i guess lol.... does that count? :L :L :L

 

[Bob Chadwick]

I have a photo of Bubba.
Warning... this hurts the eyes :L

Get some plaster for that crack

 

[Willis76]

I have a photo of Bubba.
Warning... this hurts the eyes :L

 

[69MyWay]

Now that we know what Bubba looks like.....

Check out this awesome air cleaner mod.

Bubba did not know you could get a 90 degree banjo fitting for the fuel inlet. So, he ran a straight 3/8" steel line to the carb on a compression fitting.

Notice however, it ran into the drop down base on the air cleaner. No worries for Bubba, he just sliced an access hole in it, dented the air filter....and away we go!!!!!!!

This is not a joke. I really found this on the car.

 

[69MyWay]

Now, Bubba could not get the stock vacuum/mechanical wiper washer pump to work, so he installed an electric pump.. Okay, so far so good. THEN, seeing a job well done, he decided to mount the pump with an old piece of wire.

Can you believe this?

 

[67HEAVEN]

RedNeckGasGrill

No thanks, Bubba........don't think I care for a burger right now.

 

[69MyWay]

Content in the success he had using electrical wire to hold the washer pump in place, Bubba proceeded to find some builders strap metal and an old bolt to tie his exhaust in place.

 

[69MyWay]

This one really kills me.

Bubba installed an electric antenna on the car....and a nice Sony stereo with the "power antenna" out put lead trigger. However, he must have missed that part in the instructions when he decided to put a toggle switch under the dash to operate the antenna....AND, he put it so far under, you can't reach it when you are driving!

Not only that, I have no idea what the little silver toggle is for.

 

[resto75]

Chris tell me that bolt doesn't really go right thru the exhaust pipe !!!!!

 

[69MyWay]

Chris tell me that bolt doesn't really go right thru the exhaust pipe !!!!!

Hey, these would not be Bubba files if it didn't!!!!!!!! (yep, you are correct).

 

[MaineShark]

So far, most of the Bubba stuff on my car seems to be related to the engine swap. Mostly just electrical stuff, like the loose (cut) wire that I found in the nose. I traced it back, past the radiator (it did a loop around the radiator support, over at the side, running up between the hood and the weatherstripping), and all the way back to the firewall, where... the other end was also cut. Why someone took the trouble to loop the wire around the radiator support, when it went from nowhere to nowhere, is beyond me.

I have an assortment of other disconnected connectors and loose wires. I'm going to have to go through them really carefully and figure out what it what, one of these days. Maybe I'll be able to figure out why my interval wipers don't work...

I also found an assortment of screws, a Torx driver bit, and a radio knob in the console when I took it apart to work on the shifter. Presumably they were dropped during the installation of the CD player. I guess retrieving a $1.25 Torx bit doesn't really justify the time it takes to open the console. But still...

And then there was the extensive use of form-a-gasket on the engine. So far, most of it is gone, but I'm going to have to scrape it off when I do the thermostat, since that has a pretty good bead that squeezed out... orange might be Chevy's engine color, but I don't think that they meant orange glue.

I think I've been lucky, judging by Chris's pictures.

Joe

 

[rpounds]

Bubba put wheel spacers on mine on the rear. The spacers were so thick that the only thing holding the wheels centered was the lug nuts.

Plus, he stripped all of the smog equipment off (this is Kalifornia, we can't do that), so I had to replace it all.

Anyone wanna buy some wheel spacers?

Ron

 

[wichitacorvette]

mine had extended lug bolts and spacers on the rear too, the spacer were cheap and cracked but the bolts were ARP's and very nice....... id actually like 3/4in would be nice.......... lol (cheaper than wide wheels) lol

 

[AKRAY4PLAY]

those are all funny Bubba stories!! thanks for starting this topic!!! my car had some serious Canadian Bubba, or should i say Mickenzie Brothers, influence when i bought it. one of the previous owners lived in Alberta. he had the motor rebuilt, but during the job instead of unhooking all the wires, fuel lines, etc. they used a saws-all to remove the accs. needless to say, it was a major pain to straighten that mess out. then when i was installing the VB suspension kit, i found that he had the brakes worked on. new rotors was nice, but he got some universal ones that had extra lugnut holes, still not bad. bad was the five 10mm bolts and nuts that were ran through the holes to hold the rotor to nothing!!! the rims had some casting recesses around the mounting face, so some of the extra bolts did not allow the wheel to sit flat, causing major tire shake. glad i found that before driving it far!! the capper is the "true dual 1.25" exhaust" complete with wire hanger **** poor gas welding. it was cobbled together from pieces that were no longer than 14 inches!
what are these "mechanics" doing in all these stories?? are they getting in touch with their more cro-magnon man side?? or are they auditioning for the next episode of Junkyard Wars??
Brian

 

[69MyWay]

what are these "mechanics" doing in all these stories?? are they getting in touch with their more cro-magnon man side?? or are they auditioning for the next episode of Junkyard Wars??
Brian

:L :L

 

[CS72Roadster]

I also have found a couple of toggle switches under the dash that I have no idea what they go to. I installed a new exhaust system last night and found the same strap type hangers, but no bolt throught the pipe. Now, that's funny!

CS