23 Blue-Collar Marvels of DIY Ingenuity

Daniel Bonfiglio Published 10/22/2023 in ftw

When you want something done well and for cheap, we know a guy. Here are 23 inventions and fix jobs done the old-fashioned way.

This collection of do it yourself handy handyman projects is an eclectic collection of computer fixes, tool creations, household appliance substitutes, and of course a whole lot of automotive engineering. Every blue-collar engineer loves their four-wheeled vehicle - be it a car, truck or something entirely new and plenty of them left their mark on their modes of transportation. One entry in this gallery features a fuse between a Fiat 500 and a Chevy Spark. While neither would be considered the ideal rugged car on their own, the alien-like bubble limousine fusion is, well... something.

On the opposite end of the size spectrum, a different engineer decided to blend a tractor-trailer truck cab with a massive RV, to create a truly gargantuan mobile house with some serious towing capacity. In the image provided it's already set up to haul some normal cars. I guess real truckers actually do live in their cabs.

Not all fixes here involve cars, and a few lucky wives have been forced to live with their husband's creations in the house. At least they work; all blue-collar engineering does.

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1.
2.
“Portable fire.”
3.
4.
“An old car turned into a gyrocopter that requires it to be towed to get lift.”
5.
6.
7.
“CPU was overheating with the dinky stock cooler so I stuck 2 heatsinks together. Dropped 10 degrees under load.”
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
“I asked my husband to make a cake.”
14.
“By their powers combined, they are a functional vacuum.”
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
“I really need to stop goofing around and buy a band saw.”
21.
“Dad saw the 10 foot Halloween skeletons you can buy from the store and said ‘heh, I could do better.’”

1.
2.
“Portable fire.”
3.
4.
“An old car turned into a gyrocopter that requires it to be towed to get lift.”
5.
6.
7.
“CPU was overheating with the dinky stock cooler so I stuck 2 heatsinks together. Dropped 10 degrees under load.”
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
“I asked my husband to make a cake.”
14.
“By their powers combined, they are a functional vacuum.”
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
“I really need to stop goofing around and buy a band saw.”
21.
“Dad saw the 10 foot Halloween skeletons you can buy from the store and said ‘heh, I could do better.’”