Why did he do that?

[Melody Ranch]

The more I get into the work of making my Caravels usable along the lines I want, I come across mods that previous owners did...maybe for the same reasons I am working at. Maybe just to make something functional.

Some of these mods are just plain dumb! Quick and dirty fixes. Some doomed to failure as they were being done. Why...I ask? I hope someone does not say the same about my work.

What are the worst pieces of workmanship you have come across? I have some doosies (is that a word?) A plumbing leak fixed with duct tape. Two different sizes of wheel hubs and brakes. Riveting of all sorts....some thru one piece of siding only. Carpentry of various skills for dubious purposes. Removal of the Gaucho and replacement with lawn chairs...really.

Whats yours?

[flyfshr]

My PO's can't top any of those with possibly the exception of painting over the mahogany four different times with four different colors. I think each PO was guilty of that one.

Brad
FF

[lewster]

I could post a littany of objectionable things I have found IMHO, but could you really call the factory at Jackson Center a PO?

[Stefrobrts]

Oh, ouch, Lew!

I was lucky, my PO was actually a very competent guy. No 'Bubba Fixes' to my knowledge. Hopefully no one will look at my fixes someday and wonder what the heck I was thinking

[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by Melody Ranch

The more I get into the work of making my Caravels usable along the lines I want, I come across mods that previous owners did...maybe for the same reasons I am working at. Maybe just to make something functional.

Some of these mods are just plain dumb! Quick and dirty fixes. Some doomed to failure as they were being done. Why...I ask? I hope someone does not say the same about my work.

What are the worst pieces of workmanship you have come across? I have some doosies (is that a word?) A plumbing leak fixed with duct tape. Two different sizes of wheel hubs and brakes. Riveting of all sorts....some thru one piece of siding only. Carpentry of various skills for dubious purposes. Removal of the Gaucho and replacement with lawn chairs...really.

Whats yours?

Doosey - slang for a Deusenberg - a very high end custom car, (the body was custom coachwork made to the buyer's specs.) made famous by Hollywood movie stars of the golden age. Jay Leno has one and says it will easily do 100 MPH. It was rumored that Gary Cooper saw Clark Gable's Deusenberg and ordered one himself. He always simply stated that HIS was an inch longer than Gables... Take that any way you want to.

Paula

[lewster]

Originally Posted by Stefrobrts

Oh, ouch, Lew!

I was lucky, my PO was actually a very competent guy. No 'Bubba Fixes' to my knowledge. Hopefully no one will look at my fixes someday and wonder what the heck I was thinking

Hey Steff,

I hope the next owner of my CCD has some nice things to say about me too!

[Streamin 65]

As far as PO's go.....there is nothing more permanent than a temporary fix!!! --dave

[rivetd]

Ton's of duct tape. Every opening. The stuff doesn't come off!

[safari57]

I think the "custom" work that was done on the silver streak we had just prior to our Airstream pushes the quality envelope pretty far. The water fill pipe was smaller than the tank inlet by 1/2", but of course nothing winding black tape around the smaller pipe enough times didn't fix - for a little while anyways. We found several instances where 120V switch boxes had proper wire running into the wall but when we took the walls off they were crimped to 12v type 16g wire back to just inside the wall beside the breaker box, then back to the correct wire but at that end they weren't crimped, they were twisted together and black taped - this guy must have gotten a case of black tape. The grey waste tank had the same adaptor (black tape) as the water tank. We were told the 12v water pump and roof vent fan did not work for some reason - they were both brand new. Turned out they'd wired them to 120V - talk about toasty lil fellers. There's more but that should give you an idea of how bad some workmanship can be. Fortunately we never used it or tried the electrical, we tore into it as soon as we got it home.

Barry