Well I didn't do this one but my buddy did. It was back in 1971 and we were both working at a Standard service station in town. Randy had only worked there a couple of months when one day he was out pumping gas and popped the hood on a car to check the oil. All of a sudden he started yelling for help and came running into the garage all wild eyed and grabbed a tire iron and told me to get another one and come help him. The look on his face was the kind where you don't ask questions you just respond. I grabbed a long tire iron and went towards the car and as I get there Randy has his tire iron wedged between the frame and the engine block and he is pulling for all he is worth and yelling for me to help him quick. I asked "what are you doing" and he said this ladies engine fell over on it's side and we have to push it back up into position. I said, Randy that is a slant six engine and that is how they are supposed to look. Randy gets a stupid look on his face but won't let go of the tire iron. I said, Randy let go it's OK. Slowly he let go and was relieved that the engine didn't fall out. True story.
Today, as a matter of fact, I got off of work early, and decided to do a little bodywork on the Buick. Mine came with a vinyl top, and I"m welding up all of the trim holes. I pulled out the passenger side sail panel interior to get to the back of the holes I was planning on filling in. Well, I started spot welding up the holes, checking to make sure nothing is on fire or smoldering. So far, so good. I put a few more tack welds in, and then went into the garage to get the flap disc grinder, to smooth out my work. I come out of the garage, and the Buick is billowing smoke!!!! I'm freaking out, and I see the top of the back seat is on fire. I run into the garage to get a spray bottle, and fill it with water, because I didn't want to saturate the whole interior. I get the flames out, but it keeps smoking and smoking. So I pull the top off and douse the whole back seat, and the smoke goes away. Wanna know the OTHER stupid part?? There's a small fire extinguisher AT MY FEET on the driver's side rear floor board, and another on the welding cart!!! Below is a picture of the top of the back seat that caught fire.ou: ou: ou: -Josh
One from this last weekend. Don't use non-reversable gear wrenches to remove the bolts behind the power steering pump's pulley ou:
Well, I was planning on doing 4 bucket seats anyways. But you're right. It could have gotten out of hand quick!! -Josh
My oil pump went bad so I'm replacing it. The driver gear decided it didn't want to come out, and I had been working it back and forth forever on my back looking up. I decided to yank the distributor and hammer the damn thing our with a screwdriver. In my anger, and zeal to get it out, I neglected to mark the rotor and distributor. Timing city here I comeou:
Or take your brand spankin new hot rod Rodac 3/8" drive air ratchet for it's maiden voyage tightening some bolts under the car on the lift. Bolts that you can only reach by standing on your tip toes. With the go lever against your palm, facing away from you. :idea2: Things like squashed fingers and can't reach the air hose coupler tend to happen. And a big fat loud NO, it isn't funny to the guy in the next bay over who is laughing so hard he can't walk far enough to unplug the other end!! Definitely a Kodak :kodak: moment! :laugh:
I almost posted one like this. Was taking off a externally mounted shock from a circle track car, it loosened up about 75% of the way- right up against the rollbar. We had to cut the shock mount off to get the wrech and shock off and then weld a new mount on.
Along the lines of what GS464 just posted, I worked on Aerial platforms for a while. On some models, you can honk the horn from the platform, even if the machine was turned off. I saw a co-worker pull the machine in, and then exit the platform and head toward the ground controls. I new he'd be walking right by where the horn is mounted, and I was going to startle him with it. We'll I reached through the backside of the controll box to hit the horn button, and then I got snatched up by my wedding ring!!! When I reached up to the platform controls, my co-worker switched it over to ground controls, and began to raise the platform to allow more workspace in the shop. My ring got caught just right between the safety railing and a sheetmetal panel that I'd stuck my hand through to hit the horn. I got about 4 feet off the ground, screaming "DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN!!!!!!" He realized what had happened, and set me back down. I'm lucky to still have a ring finger left. Now, I use my right hand for practical jokes. -Josh
Same job, helping a friend rebuild a main lift cylinder. My friend got the cylinder all ready to be pulled apart to replace the seals, but couldn't get the rod out of the cylinder. I helped pull one side away from the other, but it wouldn't budge. I put a prybar in the eyelet of the rod side to get a better grip. My friend put a blowgun into the "push" side of the cylinder, and just burped the nozzle. It moved a little bit. I wiggled it some and it moved a little bit. He burped it, I wiggled it, all the way to the edge of the cylinder. It was being stubborn, so he burped a little bit more and more air into the cylinder(you see where this is going, don't you?). I'm standing at the business end of a bad deal. As soon as the thought of the rod shooting out of the cylinder crossed my mind, it happened. There was a loud "BOOM!!". I took the eyelet of the rod straight to the pelvis, just below the belt, but not "quite that far down". I flew through the air, like a storm trooper in Star Wars, for 10 feet, landing on a stack of used tired. Somehow, I caught the rod in mid-air and held it up, even as I landed, being careful not to damage it. I set it down gently, crawled far enough away from the huge puddle of hydraulic fluid we'd just made, and collapsed, laughing my ass off. I couldn't believe that it'd actually happened, and that I was alive to tell about it. It broke my belt in 3 places and left a bruise bigger than a cowboy belt buckle just below my belly button. What's even more remarkable is that the rod I'd been shot with and caught in mid-air, the next day, I couldn't so much as lift it by myself. We weighed it, and it was almost 300 lbs. -Josh
Demo derbied a 66 225 electra when I was in my 20's. But I did sell the engine, windsheild, and air cond. to a guy who needed it. That car looked wicked painted flat black and went like hell with all the glass and interior stripped out of it. Should have kept it. Even the speed "buzzer" thing still worked.
Back just after high school I had a 1985 Regal T Type that took some engine damage after the timing gear sheared and blocked the oil intake to the turbo, and being low on funds, I put the extra 69 Olds 350 Rocket I had in the car until I had the money to fix the 3.8. I just got off work at the local Goodyear with a couple trade in tires on the back of the car and was turning onto my road when a couple hot girls crossed the road. Being the showoff I have been know to be, as soon as they get clear I nail it coming out of the turning lane and make the turn, spinning the car around so fast I lose control and hit the curb with the passenger rear wheel, which managed to disassemble itself from the axle and procede to launch into the air (way in the air) and upon landing spin all the way past my house and into the woods as I am 3 wheeling the car to a stop about 20 feet to its final resting place till a wrecker came by to charge me $80 to pull my car about 1/8 mile to my house, effectively making me look much like the fast and furious idiots of today. I have many other similar stories, but that one hurt the most to both my pride and my pocket.
This thread is great! It's good to know I am not alone! Here is one of my many stories of stupid... While roller skating with my daughters years ago and clowning some, I broke my tibia bone in my right leg at the ankle and right leg fibia bone just below the knee (Stupid #1). We opted to make the trip to the hospital on our own in a Chevy Astro Van and not ride on in in an ambulance (Stupid #2). I lie down in the shorter center rear seat with calf and foot (toes pointing upward) extended over the edge of the seat and where every bump, bounce and turn not only caused severe pain, but allowed the top-heavy weight of the toes on my size 12 foot to twist everything in a clockwise direction at the fracture points. Made it to the hospital. My foot now had toes pointing more toward the floor. Checked into the hospital where they partially "set" the breaks and outfitted me with a full leg cast and told me to make myself comfortable for about nine months... No pins or screws due to the fractures being too close to the ankle and the knee, so a longer healing time. I decide 9 months was a very long time, so my cast and I went shopping for a project. I bought a 1970 Chevy 1/2 ton truck with a three-on-the-tree, transmission issues and air cleaner on the the passenger side floor. The engine sounded very good and the body was in good shape. I managed to drive it home with my full length cast (Stupid #3) and parked it in front for the night. Next day I drove it around back to the alley and up to the garage. During the drive there arose such a clatter and knocking I stopped to see what had happened. The problem was with what I did not see. Previously there was a wing-nut on the stud for the air cleaner and it was now missing. I had not removed it for the drive (Stupid #4). I don't remember really finding the wing nut, but there was crunched steel in one of the cylinders. Maybe a wing nut, maybe a washer. I don't know. I worked for months wearing my cast removing and doing a total rebuild of the 307 engine as well as having the transmission rebuilt. The day comes to drop the engine back into the truck and in my excitement wearing my full length cast with exposed toes (You hear it coming?) I smacked my toes into the engine block while scurrying around it to adjust the chains on my lift doing some serious damage to toes! (Stupid #5). I promptly fixed said toes with bandaids and masking tape. No hospital this time, I had an engine to install! My leg finally healed and I continued restoring and driving the '70 Chev for many years. Finally, a friend asked to borrow the truck for an extended period of about a year or so. For practical purposes, I do not loan vehicles, so we agreed I would "loan" the truck to him, but would transfer the title into his name and that he would return the truck into my name when he was finished with his projects. (Stupid #6) I received an old Bayliner boat on a rust eaten trailer for loaning the truck. It's been over eight years and my "friend" has aged, still has the truck and has grown very attached to it. His memory is not so good anymore. Good bye truck and nearly $4000 invested. What can you say? I am no longer angered every time I walk past my old Chevy truck, but do regret my lack of forethought and not writing up an agreement of some sort. I still believe trust and a handshake is a good thing, but so is a paper and pencil. Sorry for the length!
I was trying to fix a broken antenna, I thought the base was chrome plated steel. I was going to trade the base from one antenna to another. I tried pressing it off, it wouldn't budge. I thought I warm it up with the torch. Do you what happens to pot metal when it's warmed with a torch, it turns to butter, then falls off ou: Bruce
OK my turn....anybody do the simple 5 minute oil change on your car and forget to put the oil cap back on? ou:
Or forget to put the drain plug back in and wonder why the hell there is oil all over the floor. Fortunately for my customer, wallet and sanity I realized the boo boo BEFORE I started the stupid thing! :laugh:
Well I was walking around the house naked as I often do because the Irish curse didn't fall my way and I thought "Hell, lets cook some bacon"! Well needless to say I now wear boxers when cooking bacon. I know nothing to do with cars as I don't have one yet but during this build I'm sure to have a few.
Changing a good running 300 with a 2 barrel over to a 4 barrel. The idle and dieing problems are driving me nuts.
