What's the stupidest thing you're ever done in your shop?

The crazy part is you would think i would learn from my mistake but i still dont use the guard, I dont ever remember where i put them!!

 

...I've never used a grinder with a guard...what's that like?

 

Dropped a "valuable item" (sorry, still can't stand to make a full confession) that was suspended from my engine hoist because I had not checked to make sure the hoist's ram was bolted to the hoist arm instead of just resting underneath it. Dumb, dumb, dumb! Lost only time and money for repairs and replacements .. was lucky to not have lost much more on that day.

 

I dont know if its been mentioned, but interaction between fuel and hygiene products was something I never expected.

I have a two post lift, and had my back-halfed 64 cutlass on it. Had a minor leak in the return line to the fuel cell. Had the car 6ft off the ground to check the line.

Had my buddy flip on the pump so I could find the leak. It started spraying, I ran my hand along the line to nail down the spot it was leaking from (arm up above my head, car's on a lift...)

A small stream of 110 octane ran down my arm, which wouldnt have usually been a problem, until it reached my armpit, reacted with my deodorant, and somehow began an INTENSE BURNING SENSATION! A AAAAAAAAA!!!!! OWWWWWWW!!!!!

I literally ran to the fridge while tearing off my shirt, and doused my armpit with beer.

House is 300ft away, all I had was beer. No water system at the time.

Wow. Armpit hurt for a week. Bright red, chemical burn-ish.

 

I used to work as a mechanic for a propane distributor. One day we were working on a leaking rotary joint on a truck hose reel. We blew down the delivery hose, and the system has a differential pressure valve that shuts off the flow of fuel if the hose gets ripped off the truck. Anyway, the idiot stoner driver takes the pilot line off the DP valve while I'm standing in front of the hose nozzle working on the hose reel. My pants were filled with liquid propane. The results were UGLY and took a long time to heal. Couldn't even stand a hummer for 2 months. I coulda killed that goof...

 

Ouch.

 

Gave myself a hernia trying to move an 80gal air compressor, by myself, on a rainy day.

I could tell the whole story, but after reading about dude getting his pants filled with liquid propane.....maybe not.

 

WOW, lots of good ones, or bad ones, here...

We were working on a buddy of mines car about 15 yrs ago and he took it out for a drive to check it out. While he was gone the rest of us and my wife (girlfriend at the time) went back to our house (next door) and were knocking off and drinking when someone pulled out a pair of pantyhose. A buddy put them over his head and we laughed till we cried, when I saw my buddy come back from the test drive and pull into his garage. I grabbed the hose and pulled them down over my face and ran in the dark over to the back of his car and crouched down. My plan was to wait for him to open the door and I was going to "carjack" him. Well he musta been playing with himself because after a couple minutes he still hadnt come out. So my new plan was to run full blast up to the car and bang on the glass and scare the shit out of him. I stood up and as hard as I could ran to the door when, you guessed it, he opened it up. I ran forehead first into the top corner of the door and with a thundering crash hit the deck. I clearly remember my buddy straddling me while I was on the ground mouthing the words "HOOOOLLYYY SHIT!!!" as blood soaked into the panty hose over my face. He was laughing hysterically and at the same time everyone else had been peeking around the corner of my house watching it all go down. I was laying in the driveway with five or six people dying laughing all around me with a huge gash on my forehead covered in blood and a extra wrinkly pantyhose leg sprawled out beside me. My wife wanted to take me to the emergency room for stitches but I refused and still have the scar to this day.

 

Ouch!!! Hit that one too! Don't ask how I know, but do not ever try that with old style dip type carb cleaner... It gets worse, trust me!

 

Ok, here's my stupid maneuver of the week.
Have a 2008 F350 6.4L used to pick up parts, cars, new projects, etc. I had had a small radiator leak for some time, just hadn't gotten around to dealing with it. I had a bottle of Bars Leak Stop on the shelf, so last week I was getting ready for a road trip and decided I'd throw that in. So I opened the hood, snatched the cap off the plastic bottle next to the radiator and dumped er in. I then realized that the overflow tank was next to the master cylinder and I just sealed any possible leaks that my power steering may have had. I tried draining the reservoir, but must not have gotten it all. I spent the next two days pulling half the truck apart to replace the power steering pump and putting it all back together. I still didn't fix the radiator.

 

Hilarious! Well, not for you so much...

 

When I first started turning wrenches for a living I did a lot of fluid flushes, trans, P/S coolant, ect.. Was in a rush doing a trans flush one day and went to dump the old fluid out of the machine.

Well these machines didn't have any drain, you open/close a couple valves, hook up the air line and the fluid is forced out one of the lines under pressure. One problem, I forgot to close the fill valve.

As soon as I hooked up the air 15 quarts of dirty, burnt, fowl smelling ATF came out the top of the machine at about 120 psi like a fuckin gyser! I was soaked head to toe, the white Lincoln in the stall next to me was now pink, and I had to deal with ATF dripping from the lights for the next 2 years!

 

i don't know.. maybe taking down the Ridgid Tool calendar?

 

I did the same thing with a trans flush machine at the chevy dealership i worked at!! old burnt tranny fluid is some nasty stuff to try and clean

 

In the 70's I had a 51Chevy--rod--headed to my dads Fiat Allis dealership to wash it in the steam room--opened the doors and saw backed up water which I had seen often---Jumped in the Chevy and drove the car into an open hole---they had pulled the grates off to unplug it--Man my old man was pissed

 

Damn. I got a really funny mental picture on that one! I love this thread.

 

OUCH!!! That must have hurt!

I did somewhat the same thing, however, unlike yours, mine was clanging my gourd off the frame of a 32 roadster I was working on at one time. I was underneath said car ..it being on a 2 to 3 foot high lift at the time and so here here I was working away at this car...wife calls that there was a phonecall..well, instead of going and sliding the creeper out from under the car first I get up....KEEERRRRCCCCLLUUUUUNNNGGGGG!!!!...right off the frame...boink..back down again...I got up and walked into the house and my wife let out a scream..I had blood trickling from an open cut on my forehead....

Reminder to self...pull creeper out from under car FIRST before sitting up...

 

I did almost the same thing once. Was changing a trans, had the car about 3' in the air. I'm on my back, working away, got a sudden leg cramp. Sat up fast, hit my forehead on the underside of the car, bounced off, and banged the back of my head on ground on the way back down. Finally stumbled out from under the car, and looked up to my GF looking out the window and laughing her ass off.

 

I remember about a year ago my socket wrench slipped off the fuel tank mounting bolt. I was under the car and was hit by it in the forehead. I thought about touching it with a cold hammer to avoid goose egg on the forehead But i felt something wet... On to the ER we go to get some stitches. After that i have bought set of sockets that the bolt can be passed through them (i don't know english name for it).
Back to today - removed tank bolts with that new sockets. Then, undoing rear axle bolts with regular socket wrench - bang, i hit myself in the cheek. Not injured, but hit hard.

Does lifting engine block thinking "i can handle that" counts?

 

welding in sleveless shirt for starters...
was welding a firewall and had a piece of tar insulation catch on fire... asked a shop hand to spray it on the inside of the truck with water... before i could stop her she sprayed wax and grease remover on it.... needless to say I had fun using a rag real quick on it...

 

Offer to help some one with there project only for them to never show back up and i have to finish it myself to get it out of the garage!

 

X2.... it's the first thing I toss when I buy a new grinder. I do however try and keep my face out of it... oh crap.. now that I said that..

 

Bleeding brakes with bleeders that looked like someone had hit em a few times w a hammer... well cracked the bleeder and the fluid shot right in my face... I was not right over it was outside and it was done just right to shoot me in the face... that brake fluid burns like hell... my gf at the time was laughing her ass off..

 

My old place in ATL had a drive-under garage at the back of the house. Regular garage door, kind of a low ceiling. You've all seen that kind of place.

Was working on something (still can't remember what) and heard the phone ring upstairs. So I go running out the (low) door and just catch the top of my head on the bottom edge of the door.

Swear I thought I was dying. Barely made it to the edge of the patio, laid down and closed my eyes. Might have been 3 or 4 in the afternoon, when I woke up it was dark out, probably about 9 or 9:30.

Never went to the ER but I'm guessing that was a pretty major concussion.

 

Working on customers aerostar van.hood open and inside doghouse off.Was flooded, pulled plugs and cranked over to clear out fuel.Found out why it was flooded.Fuel regulator was bad started pumping fuel through cyls and plug wires hanging down by plug holes made a nice blaze.Used fire extinguisher and got it out.Did i mention the inside doghouse cover was off? Spent 3 hours cleaning the inside of the van to get the powder out. Told the customer about it,all he did was laugh and say he was sorry he missed the excitment.

 

Working under a 56 Buick vert. replacing frt. u-joint on torque tube driveshaft. Had the rear pried back for clearance. The u-joint splines wouldn't line up with trans. splines, so I turned with my hand and the torque tube snapped forward trapping my fingers. I laid under that Buick 3 hours till my wife and her sister came into garage and pulled back on rear to release my numb , bruised fingers. Young and dumb at the time, chalked it up to experience!

 

Dropped a fuel pump drive rod in a power-stroke 7.3, heard it hit the bottom of the pan. Brother said "oops thats a JOB pulling that thing out". Drained the oil (needed changing anyway), took a 1.5" hole saw to the side of the oil pan and retrieved the rod with a magnet. Cleaned out the filings from inside the pan and tig welded a 2" patch on the side of the pan. Problem solved, like my old lady "she ain't pretty but she cooks good!"

 

Well, the one weakness I have is not thinking about where the drain is in the oil pan..and my face...

A couple of weeks ago decided to change the oil..and proceeded to drain the pan..and I was right underneath the drainhole...sigh

 

"Helping" a friend out, who needed front brakes on a fairly new Buick Rendevous....front end is in the air, rotors were in decent shape so I offered to clean them up and see if we could get away with it.....being as smart as I am, I started the car, slipped it in drive and took my air buffer to the rotors. "just to freshen them up"......the buffer must have driven the rotors just a bit, and I hear a "clunk" - the auto door locks lock the doors.....so there we are with the car running, in drive, and the doors are locked....spare set of keys? Are you kidding, they are 20 miles away. No problem, I'll just grab my slim jim and unlock the door....20 minutes later I finally manage to get a door open but my expertise with the slim jim disconnects the solenoid for the lock......another hour later and I finally get the door put back together and finish the brake job!

 

Biggest mistake? Believing my friends when they say "It'll only be in here a few days.....". Not. Stupid stuff I've done? Too many to list....