Gaffa Tape

[Bluebottle]

Gaffa, Tank, Duct (or Duck..) Tape.
As I was taping up the rear end of my Granada yesterday (See " Have You Ever Scratched or Dented Your Car...") and having seen some wonderful gaffa tape repairs at race meetings (the best one being the yellow Ferrari at Goodwood, there was enough gaffa on there to, er, stick a really big thing together..er..) I was wondering if any of you have been saved by this wonderful stuff? Have you been in a situation where you would not have got home without it? Whats the longest lasting gaffa tape repair you've ever made? Whats the shortest time between bying a car and applying the first piece of tape? (mine is about 3 mins!!)

Oh, and keep it clean please chaps!

[woodyracing]

ive not had to use any gaffa tape yet, but at the moment my fuel pipe is held on by a tie wrap dodgy i know!

[Bluebottle]

[Bluebottle]

I had a Mk3 Escort with a 1" hole in the top of the wing. When it needed an MOT, the tester just put a piece of tape over the hole!

[ghinzani]

About three rolls of tank tape went on to the car that won the 1994 Kent Formula Ford Festival at Brands.... I think it improved the aerodynamics by sealing the cracks!

[Bluebottle]

Originally posted by ghinzani
I think it improved the aerodynamics by sealing the cracks!

You're probably right!

I know someone who tried to repair his exhaust with tank tape...ewwww,smelly!

[DAVID PATERSON]

I know from experience that AvGas will eat the stickiness off gaffer tape immediately.

[Airhead]

I've used it to hold the front guard and bumper (clip) assembly together after hitting a kangaroo and still needing to drive 1200 klms home that day.

[mtpanorama]

It holds the nose cones of Mazda Rx3's on after hitting Vk commodores. It lasted the entire race meeting, even passing scrutineering

[bella]

one of mackmot's junior formula fords after a week's worth of testing on various circuits - one sidepod was held on by about 4 different coloured rolls of tape, it was a work of art. and comedy to look at too...
i've used gaffa tape instead of plasters when my flip flops took cunks out of my feet. hurt like hell taking it off but very effective. and it's also stopping the underside of my camera lens getting scratched any further.

[Bluebottle]

Originally posted by bella

i've used gaffa tape instead of plasters when my flip flops took cunks out of my feet.

Not quite the kind of body repair I was thinking of, although I have also used it in conjunction with a bit of tissue paper on a cut finger!!
I also recall seeing someone wrap his hands in the stuff. When asked why, he said "I havn't got any gloves..."

[KC]

I ahve fixed a split radiator hose with duct tape. Got me to the parts store to get a new hose.

[Bluebottle]

Here's my latest work of art.....

[paul c]

Both my last two cars have had copious amounts of the stuff by the time they went. Had a Granada with a leaky sunroof. Fixed that (but didn't have much of a sunroof after). Said Granada also had several of its rubber door seals held on with gaffer, and patches over crumbly bits around the wheel arches and along the sills. I've been told, unofficially, that MOT testers aren't allowed to look under gaffa tape because it's considered to be in the same category as plastic bodykit parts and they're not allowed to remove those to inspect underneath. Sounds a bit far-fetched to me, but it was an MOT tester that told me...

As to gaffa gloves, I've used the stuff on stage to protect my hands from getting too many blisters in a long set (I play drums). It's not as good as surgical tape, but it was all that was available on one occasion.