Post your worst electrical Hack discoveries

[kiwigtx]

Car related....I have seen several instances in cars I have bought or worked on for friends & family...where the power and speaker connections for the radio/stereo are barely twisted together and some tape on top....no terminals....just a bit of tape. On one car that was masking tape.

 

[Carcinogen]

Instead of replacing the turn signal switch in the column, they hacked into the wiring with toggle switches left dangling under the dash.

 

[451Mopar]

I have seen and done a bunch if hacks. Some were temporary or on cars going to the scrap yard anyway.
When I bought a 1973 Power Wagon 4x4 in 1982, it was in pretty bad shape, and I had it over my friends house to show him what I bought.
Jumped in for a drive and truck made it a few feet and died. Checking it out, the ignition coil wire the distributor broke! Shoved some solid 12 awg wire from some romex into each side of the broken wire and wrapped with electrical tape. Worked to get me home.
Also had a 1973 Mercury Station Wagon that burned the alternator wire. All I could find at the time was some baling wire to wrap around the alternator output and connect past where the terminal end of the wire burned up. That car was a pile, held together with duct tape and baling wire, and scraps of wood.
Back in high school before I knew better, I used a bunch of the quick-splice connectors to wire accessories and radios. usually they worked fine, but they were not reliable over a longer period.

 

[volaredon]

What about the idiots that run 4 ga wire for a stereo thru the gap between the door, hood and fender on the way to connecting to the battery to power an amp?

 

[threewood]

I was trying to help a co-worker get his 74 318 Duster to run. Wiring was a nightmare. Not a single original wire left from the dash to the engine compartment. It was a nightmare. Ignition wasn't hooked up, just hanging from the column. The best part was a circuit breaker (GE type) mounted on the driver wheel well to protect.....something. Never found out. Too much fuckery for me.

 

[Nate S]

Was going through a ‘67 Chrysler 300 I had bought (around 1984) Had a 22 magnum cartridge stuffed in one of the fuse spots. I guess I would have known if it went over current.

 

[MoparGuy68]

My Bee had a FORD voltage regulator when I bought it. The engine harness was hacked to accommodate this foreign regulator. Part of the hack was a U shaped red wire jammed into the stock regulator harness plug. This red wire fell out shortly before I replaced the entire harness.

A “mechanic” installed the Ford regulator as part of his attempt to get the non operational charging system working.. A fried bulkhead connection was the problem, not the regulator.. A proper Chrysler regulator is now installed.

 

[moparsaver]

Too much fuckery for me.

I learned a new word today and I Thank You Sir.
The description is Fantastic... That which has been fucked with.