bucket of bolts

bucket of bolts

A piece of machinery, typically an automobile, that is extremely old and/or in total disrepair. I can't sell this old bucket of bolts!
See also: bolt, bucket, of
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

bucket of bolts

n. a machine, such as a car or a motorcycle, that is old, run-down, or worn-out. My old bucket of bolts wouldn’t start this morning.
See also: bolt, bucket, of
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • bolt bucket
  • make old bones
  • a piece of old tackie
  • be (as) old as the hills
  • any old
  • geezer
  • mossback
  • beater
  • of old
  • (as) old as Methuselah
References in periodicals archive
The Commemorative Air Force AirPower History Tour will include stories of World War II aviation, one of two B-29 bombers that still fly, the P-51 Mustang Gunfighter, C-45 Expeditor Bucket of Bolts, T-6 Texan and PT-13 Stearman.
Historic aircraft to visit museum
Aircraft include B-29 Superfortress Fifi, P-51 Mustang Man o' War, C-45 Expeditor Bucket of Bolts, and a T-6 Texan (Navy SNJ).
WWII events
But finally, after months of ignoring my entreaties to start the process of unloading the old bucket of bolts, he said yes.
Farewell, Old Gray
I was trailing a pickup truck straight off the set of "Sanford & Son." You know, the rusted bucket of bolts full of busted up kitchen appliances, copper pipe, and yard trash.
MSF training rules!
The wheezing bucket of bolts somehow managed to deliver the couple to the Trocadero nightclub, and their romance was off and running.
Clark Gable's "Hoosier Tornado"
Looking back it really was a bucket of bolts. But I had done some autocross before trying circuit racing and I thought I knew it all.
Saloon car racing: Clean pair of wheels; IAN,53, BACK ON TITLE TRACKAGAIN
The fact that a wealthy Hollywood star drives a16-year-old bucket of bolts named after a horse race or the fact that he admits carrying a a loaded 9mm Glock handgun and a .38 calibre Smith & Wesson revolver in his easy-to-nick old banger.
Driven: Sean Penn's Buick Grand National stolen
We were knocked about like a bucket of bolts as we passed through heavy turbulence.
Backed in a corner
Which is to say, Is there any real difference between a bucket of bolts and a schnauzer?
Pet sounds. (Hotlist)
It's sometimes difficult for purchasers of construction services, and the general public, to understand why bid shopping is "fool's gold." A building program is not a commodity, the same as buying a bucket of bolts. You don't get something for nothing.
Construction ethics
When Prime Minister Borden's dread-noughts were sunk in the Senate, Premier Richard McBride of British Columbia became very nervous about the defence of the west coast which was assigned to a hand-me-down bucket of bolts called Rainbow.
World War One: the sky below -- the sea above
It labors day and night processing everything it is given, only to be portrayed by its human counterparts as a "stubborn, incompetent bucket of bolts." The computer gets blamed for everything from mis-addressing checks to just not computing."
The check is under the seat of my car