My Dad had a little auto fix-it shop while I was growing up. Nothing major, Oil changes, tire changes, etc., ya know? So anyway, for some reason I can't remember, the front brake calipers had to be removed before getting the piston out to replace the seal. We could NOT get that bloody thing out! :af::afad knew he'd seen another way to do it somewhere, so he started hitting the books.:sleep: I went and got a couple of sodas and apple pies. I get back and "Eureka!" He's found it. Air Pressure.:eek2::eek2: So Dad's holding the blow nozzle into a clean rag, blowing through the bleeder hole. I notice the 3 inch piston, which earlier WOULD NOT MOVE, is now coming out at a fairly decent clip. Deciding dispersion is sometimes the better part of valor; I lean off to my right. JUST as I do that, the piston POPS out; hits 12 feet up the roll-up door 15 feet behind me!:eek2::eek2: The ol' man drops everything; slaps a hand to each side of my head and starts yelling "Are you OK? Are you OK?" I tell him I'm fine, that I'm stepping out for a cigarette, and I am not helping him with brakes anymore. (I was shaking like I had hypothermia!) He came out a few minutes later and says he put a C-clamp on so the piston won't do that again. So I tell him he doesn't need me to hold anything now, so he can do it all on his own!:rant::blast:
Most recent of mine: Backing into the garage section of the barn with the truck; driver door open; and consequently crunching the window frame on a 8x8 post.ou: Luckily the window was rolled down. Also, put a new tranny in my 'Lark. All new fluid and filter too. Went for a test drive for a mile or so. On the way back, the trans started slipping. Got into the driveway and found that I forgot to tighten down the hose clamp on the return line from my external cooler.ou::spank: I don't think any damage was done. I filled it back up with fluid and ran it slowly through the gears; checked the level and topped it off again. That was two weeks ago and there's no slipping.:beer
I wanted to take my Skylark for a test drive one day, without a front end. The battery was bungied to the frame, the rad hoses were looped together with pool hose and I put a hose between the tranny lines. Started it up and cruised down the street with the 4 blade fan spinning away. I go to turn around and I see a cop a couple streets down hit his brakes. With a flash of profanity and a goose of the go pedal I whipped the car around and booked it in the driveway. I hear a clanking sound thinking it was my 'shortened' driveshaft. My friend gets out telling me to quickly shut off the car. The battery went into the fan cutting a small breather hole into it. Nothing was bent though. The battery worked fine for a while but today it is nice and rainy and even with the car in the garage the battery is dead I think some moisture mixed with the acid. And to make a stupid thing stupider I am trying to get my car on the road for graduation where I will proceed to drive to school with no rear window, no inner fenders, and a custom rad support mount since there is a nice size hole where the bushing should go. Ah what people do with lots of free time and no cash.
So true, and so sad...I've read of a few people who have never been the same even with brief exposure. Brake cleaner and combustion must never mix. Devon
just paid 175 for a front grill, turns out its a different make.. :blast::Comp: needless to say im slightly pissed
I had the car jacked up for some reason...inspecting brake lines or something. since I was laying under the car, I asked my wife to get in and put it into gear so I could check something. Just as she put it in gear, I realized that I only had the front of the car jacked up....the drive wheels were on the ground. Luckily, I was able to scream loud enough that she never took her foot off the brake. That was a close call.....
Was changing the oil on my 67 Impala w/327 engine. I was using a friend's driveway as I didn't have a place of my own. Got the old oil drained, and changed the filter element (canister type oil filter). Refilled, fired everything back up and all was fine .... until the oil light came on. Stopped the engine, got out, and saw a HUGE pool of oil under the car. I'd somehow managed to NOT get the canister seated correctly against the gasket in the block, and as a consequence most of the oil dumped on their driveway. Not cool. I did manage to clean up the mess, though it took a couple hours.
When I was 18 I learned you do not cut steel with a torch on a concrete floor , the hard way , Spent a painful evening in the ER getting exploded concrete chips removed from my face , eye , and arms . One of many hard learned lessons !! :beers2: Chuck
Mentioning the torch reminded me of a time I had to make a temporary exhaust down pipe for the Riv. I had it in a vise welding away using an Oxy Acetylene torch when I took a phone call. After I hung up, I loosened the vise to reposition it while at the same time grabbing the still screaming hot pipe with my bare hand. :shock: .
I got married. :laugh: But really... when I was 18 I pulled the stock shifter from my 66 GS 4-speed and replaced it with a Hurst shifter... CUT the floor to make it fit better, then tossed the original shifter in the trash. That was 1979. I remember it like it was yesterday. Cleaned the trash out from under the seat the same week, at this point I'm also pretty sure I tossed a build sheet. Clearly at 18 your brain has yet to develop fully. mine at least...
I am a framing contractor and for many years we did work for a real frugal builder. He did houses in remote areas that required a generator for power. He was too cheap to buy a good portable one so we used his real old motor home which had a great generator and bathroom facilities. The big block gm motor was in horrible shape and was hard to start. During one move to a new job he couldn't get it started, so he undid the engine cover inside the motor home and started pouring gas from a drinking glass into the carburetor while cranking away on the starter. When the engine backfired, it caught the glass and his hand on fire and he threw it upward and it hit the ceiling and spread like a Molotov cocktail. Twenty seconds later that fine motor home was "fully engulfed". This was in 1985, so no cell phones. I drove him to the hospital, and my guys hung out and watched it burn to the frame. Quite a sight.
When I was young and dumb, I purchased a unregistered oil drum off the street. Almost got in A LOT of trouble, but this was before 9/11. Stupid I know, but I lived in the hood and needed protection... :idea2:
not done by me... but today, this passed me on a 2 lane road... You cannot see but the white Dakota is towing the Ford Super Duty, which is towing a car hauler with 3 cars on it.... all with just one of those nylon yellow tow straps...
As stupid and insane as that is, you have to admit that is a pretty impressive Dakota towing all that wieght.
