I had 2 cars to move that were missing the rear axles,and couldn't afford a tow dolly,so I cut two pieces of 2" thickwall pipe about 4-1/2 feet long,ran a piece of tow chain through both of 'em and wrapped the ends of the tow chain securely around the rear of the frame of the car a couple of times per side,then linked the ends together in the center between the rails. I used a chain tightener to pull the slack out. I took the chain at the other end of the pipe (a very small loop) and hooked it into my pintle hook and latched it,and removed the blocks from under the car. I tied the steering wheel securely and towed the car like a trailer. It worked great on those two cars,and later I used the same trick to haul a Mustang with no front suspension. Makes for pretty heavy tongue weight,but with a one ton,it's not that much of an issue.
I used basically the same set up as a rig to flat tow a car some years ago behind my half ton pick up,but just chained it to the front bumper,and at the hitch end I used a big ol' clevis around the chain loop right at the trailer ball to keep the pipes from working sideways. That worked okay,buut I drove real easy,and I didn't have a lot of faith in its being successful.
I've also made the usual assortment of gear puller adapters from Ford cam thrust plates and all thread,ground slots in big sockets to remove and install vacuum switches,I've made my drill press work as a milling machine and lathe,Made a shop air compressor from a truck air tank,an A/C compressor and a garbage disposal motor (not very successful,but it was free),used a gas powered arc welder to jump start Diesel trucks in the winter,and cut S shaped pipes to use as ratchet extensions to clear frame rails and axle housings and pushed the front bumper of my Pontiac back into (near) alignment when it's left side was run over by a bus by nosing it up to a power pole and nudging it repeatedly.
Part of the fun of what we do is being able to say "I got the job done,WITHOUT buying that $100.00 special tool they said I "have to use".I enjoy taking up the challenge of how to do something that,from a purists point of view,I'm not set up to do.
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