Back in the 80's, some guys I know of attempted to cross Africa on their own in a 4WD (could've been a Land Rover, I don't recall any longer). Anyway, well into the trip they crashed their vehicle in the middle of some African plains. Much of the damage was repairable but not the axle - it was twisted and broken.

Crap! No way in hell they were going to get a factory replacement. Not when you're literally a thousand miles from civilization. They didn't even try to fix the axle, would've been futile without a well equipped machine shop. However, there happened to be a settlement nearby, just a bunch of families living in huts. In a couple of days, the village smith made them a new, hand-forged, dead straight axle just for the hell of it! All he had were a few hammers and files, a coal forge and some scrap iron.

The new axle was actually ok and it worked so well they managed to finish their trip without any trouble. When they got to Europe they drove to a real mechanic. The folks in the shop were amazed because the hand-made axle was so good it didn't really need to be replaced. They simply could not believe the axle was made by a village smith with just the most basic hand tools.

Well, I guess a little skill and ingenuity goes a long way...