I've seen bubblegum done (and work).  The best though was on an Australian show
called "Bush Tuckerman" about this guy who roams around the outback telling
stories of survival and how to get on in the woods, etc.  Anyways, one of the
jerry cans (not sure if it held water or petrol) on his Land Rover sprung a leak
and he plugged it with tree gum.  I saw a later show (2 years later) and he
showed the patch - still holding, baked from the Aussie sun.

Keith Adams
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
1986 Vanagon GL Westfalia

Sean Garrett wrote:

> Here a real funny story but very true. One night in a parking lot on campus
> (very young and stupid) we drove over some curbs to get out of the lot.
> Why?, we drove around in circles but could not find the way out but could
> see an exit across the way. The next morning my freind called me and told me
> he was out of gas. I fetched a can of gas and met him and we proceeded to
> fill the tank. Gas leaked out everywhere. We found the leak and I remembered
> seeing in a cartoon or 3 stooges show using bubblegum to clog it. We bought
> some super bubblegum and chewed it up good, cleaned the area around the
> holes with a dirty rag and stuck it into the holes. That patch held for over
> two months (till it was fixed). The person who fixed the tank told us that
> he had to scrape it off and was impressed with its tenacity. I know that it
> might not be approved or accepted for this type of use, BUT IT WORKED REALLY
> WELL!