Prepper engineering: card #3

[1krr]

Preparedness isn't always about buckets of rice and boxes of ammo. Sometimes it's more about making sure you've covered the basics. You figure this out when you find yourself stranded on an old dark 2 lane in the middle of unfamiliar territory. Unbeknownst to you, this highway is called "murder highway" by the locals because of the rash of missing people and bodies found along it over the last 20 or so years. You are on vacation driving through a non-2a type country so you've left your ccw at home as you deemed you didn't want to risk problems with the RCP.

Your car was broken down through an unforeseen but realitively easy to fix issue but in your haste to put everything back together, you've lost a small bolt into the bowls of the engine. This small but critical bolt holds a sensor in place that the engine will not run without. You can juuuuuuuuuust see it but no way of getting even the smallest hands of your youngest child down there to get it. While you have a basic assortment of hand tools, wrenches, a rachet set, a screw driver set, wire ties, etc, you don't really have the tools/gaskets, to get the parts off to get to the bolt and if you don't get to the bolt, you aren't leaving. You've looked around but can't find another bolt on a noncritical peice that would work. What do you do?

 

[caojyn]

Rip a speaker out, remove the magnet and tie it to a piece of cord. Put out the "gone fishin'' sign

 

[streak]

you beat me to it!

 

[becker_atc]

Nobody carry the cheapie magnet from the auto parts counter in their road box?

I would rob a bolt from something else. Many things on a car that can make due with a missing bolt temporarily....look at my s10 lol


Sent via message in a bottle

 

[FRISKY]

Bubblegum or tar on the end of a stick.

 

[maat]

Looks like I'm adding an extending magnet to my travel tool box.

 

[securitysix]

If the bolt is located in a place where it can be knocked through if it can be reached, I might do something as simple as trying to drop a wrench at it to knock it to the ground. Maybe tie a piece of string/paracord/shoe lace to the wrench to be able to retrieve it if it doesn't fall through, too.

Barring that, I might plug as many extensions together as I could (I have a ratchet set, therefore I have extensions, yes?) and see if it could be reached that way.

Or, you know, the magnet thing, cause that's way cooler.

Also, while trying to rig up a way to get the bolt out, I'd have someone friendly to me standing by with the vehicle's tire iron (properly pronounced "tar arn") prepared to get clobbery with it if necessary to fend off the local murderer/rapist/kidnapper/ghost that haunts the road.

 

[aviator41]

First thing i thought was to use the speaker magnet as well. just need a chunk of it to retrieve a bolt.

Really, a lot of it depends on where it's stuck and what the sensor is. if the sensor can be bypassed so the ECU is in limp home mode, you could do that.

 

[Blitzfike]

could always make a coil of wire around your extensions to make an electro magnet. Depending on the vehicle as to what your wire source would be, but for me, I carry a roll of wire in the truck to make field expedient antennas for my ham gear if needed.

 

[Droberts]

Rip a speaker out, remove the magnet and tie it to a piece of cord. Put out the "gone fishin'' sign

cord wont work the magnet will stick to the first metal it gets near. you'll need a stick. antenna, twig, w/e.