Desperate things you did to keep an engine running...

In college during the summerr I mowed lawns. I had an old,worn out push Mower that was cantankerous and hard to keep running. It really liked .oil. Consumption was so bad the I used JC Whitney's anti-fouling spark plug adapters/extensions. I tried some STP oil treatment (for those of that dont know about STP, it has the consistency of thick honey. It was called "Stay Together Please"
I would have to put it on my Duster manifold to heat it to the point of being able to pour it.) It cut the oil consumption down. As the summer progressed, i added more and more STP. By the the end of the summer I was running pure STP !! It still smoked but it ran !!