What's the most excruciating/laboreous thing you've had to do over on your ride for whatever reason and/or the dumbest mistake you've made? Like putting the OLD brake fluid back in instead of new or forgetting to put a gasket in somewhere!
painting my `28 tudor outside in the driveway before checking the weather forecast......it started to sprinkle before i could push it inside. let it dry , sanded it down and started over. it actually turned great and has been fine for 16 years
the rear spring on my model a....to get the ride height right i have had to add or remove leaves 5 or 6 times than finally go to a different spring..what a pain in the ass....having to pull the rearend each time....
Doing a brake job on my OT Ford pickup, I "saved" a few bucks by reusing the old brake shoe hardware. It wasn't long until a spring broke, ruining the new brake shoes, wheel cylinder, and the drum.
Had a '73 Fury that I replaced the whole top end gasket set trying to find a pinhole water leak. Did the Thermostat housing twice trying to find that little spray of water. Finally found it to be in the top radiator hose. Whata loggerhead!
Working for about an hour trying to get the horn to blow, only to realize that the battery was disconnected ! Arrgh.
How many of you guys made a perfect bend in a brake / fuel line Only to forget or have the fitting on the wrong side of the bend ?!!!"@&$$
Just yesterday... painted my son's charger hood (for the second time). Got it real nice, cleaned up everything, and then proceeded to disconnect the air hose blowing a bunch of dust onto the wet hood. Third times a charm.
Or to flare the line and then find you forgot to put on the fitting, or worse yet stuck it on backwards.
Winter season, cold garage floor, minimal light, late night romp putting a transmission in a '36 Ford 2dr sedan and near completion, only to notice a important component (throw out bearing) not installed. Large moth the size of a 747 landing in the center of a just sprayed, top coated hood and in its death thoes, leaving a dusty tracked trail in its efforts to free himself.
I aint tellin'...lol. Actually, guys...your stories made me laugh this morning, and it was sorely needed. Good to know I'm not the only dull chisel in the drawer...lol. Ok, I'll fess up. Years ago, when I was even stupider than I am now. Bought a '64 Comet Caliente 289 automatic. The trans was bad. Bought another trans and replaced it. The trans worked great, but I think I was a little confused as to where to hook up the trans fluid/vacuum lines. I'm not positive, but thinking back, I believe I hooked one of the trans fluid lines to the intake manifold. You've never seen such a huge thick cloud of white smoke! No kiddin'...it would've covered a small town! Luckily, I was out in the country. I ended up selling the car for...get this...$85. There's always the possibility that the vacuum modulator simply had a rupture...but still.
setting up my 55' chevy truck engine and having the radiator sitting in place with a broomstick with duct tape to secure it then starting up engine to work out the bugs and after a few minutes of running thinking i could run into the house, take a piss and return before disaster happened! halfway into a much needed piss break the broomstick support fail and BAMM!, brand new radiator was $6 pile of scrap,alternator was shorted out and belts were smoked! DAMM should have used vice-grips instead of duct tape!
Not paying attention when pulling off street into garage , swiped a cedar tree and crunched the passenger door of my '68 Camaro . DOH!
I bought my 57 Ford when I was 17 in'81. Thinking back I was so stupid it's scary. I noticed one morning that gas was coming out of the fuel pump. I figured that a plug must have fell out and jammed a machine screw in the hole and no more leak. 3 miles down the road I noticed the oil pressure dropped to zero. I stopped at a gas station and kept putting oil in it and checking the pressure. I finally gave up and had it towed home. I don't remember how I figured out the fuel pump ruptured and caused the leak. I changed the fuel pump and the oil and all fixed. Thought I knew everything from building model cars and reading Hot Rod.
The first time I wired an American vehicle, I spent days pouring over the brake lights and turn signals. Something just didn't make sense to me. Turns out I was still in European mode and forgot that American cars sometimes don't actually have separate amber signals.
Changing the oil; Remove plug Drain Remove filter Install new filter... Phone call, P break, get the dog back in the yard, 'nuther phone call, Fill engine with new $$$ synthetic oil, get kitty litter to soak up said $$$ oil, Install plug, buy more $$$$ oil Fill engine Start to check for leaks (insert cussing) Remove filter to remove extra gasket stuck to housing More kitty litter More $$$ oil (Insert beers)
1. Was 16 yr old,working on dirt with road signs to lay on, at night,sand spurs,mosquito's, with a buddy changing my 65 Buick from auto to 3 sp manual. Jacked up car with wheels on blocks,park brake set,struggled to get auto out,then resting along side when the car rolls off the blocks!!! Learned almost the hard way that the park brake won't work when you take out the crossmember with the cable attached!! 2.20 yrs later, topping off brake fluid ,then realizing I grabbed power steering fluid by mistake. Sucked out the fluid with a turkey baster (thanks Mom!!) and thought all was well. Three days later brakes caught fire when locked up!!! Still doing stupid shit,but fortunately,my memory is fading now!!!
Left the engine/trans plate off my 302 when putting it in my truck. Had the engine out over a year and put pan gasket etc on it cleaning it up. To get it off the stand I bolted it up to the trans and forgot about the plate. It set on the floor a month maybe then I picked it up and installed it in my F1. looked in the garage for the starter and there set the starter and engine plate.
after installing a new tranny in my 35. i had the shifter out and decided to pour the oil straight in the top. well the new tranny didnt come with a drain plug. (and it shouldnt) Cleaned up a whole quart on 600 weight.
I grew up in San Fransico in a house with driveway that goes downhill into the garage located under the house? first time I changed the oil in my prized $50 Studebaker I drained the oil, but it didn't seem like much came out. When I refilled it with oil it took a LOT more than 5 qts. With the dipstick finally reading "full" I started the car and backed up the short driveway and onto the street. The the word to note in the last sentance is "up". Then after a minute or two the blue smoke came billowing out of the tailpipe. The nosy old lady next door called the fire department. The nice fireman put his arm around this very nervous 16 yr olds shoulder and offered this sage advice: " change the oil on flat ground" not lazy and I can prove it. I do everything twice, maybe three times.
I don't know how many times I forgot the fitting before I flared the line, or try to start the engine and then finding the rotor still on the bench. One of the dumbest was a 6 hour clutch job. Phone rings just as I stuck the flywheel, then a buddy shows up to go to lunch. As soon as I started it and heard the knock, I went "f**k, I forgot to tighten the flywheel. Do over on a suckass front wheel drive clutch just makes your day.
I forgot to put the crush sleeve between the bearing on the pinion on a 9" Ford I was working on yesturday. Wasn't as bad a mistake as it could have been but it made me feel about a dumb as wood.
My worst "Please GOD! Tell me I didn't just do what I think I did!!" moment was back in NYC,in the garage preparing to move DASBOOT to Florida. Open all 4 doors to to put in stuff. Only close 3 and proceed out of garage. The sound of that door hitting the bricks and slamming shut was enough to make you sick!! Kind of like dropping your favorite sidearm and hearing it crash on the pavement! Luckily the damage was minimal but she has a 5 inch crease in the rear passenger door that wasn't there when she rolled off the line!
Stopped home after a trip to Pennsylvania to pick up kitchen cabinets in a 24 foot Ryder rental truck. Figured I'd load up my Snap-On 2Ton floor jack and star wrench, and remove the flat front tire on an XJS Jaguar that I was going to to flip for a huge profit on the way home. Debbie popped out of the front door and asked when I'd be back home, an hour and I was off! Got to the Ryder lot after the place closed, cleaned out the truck cab, and went to get my floor jack and star wrench. Door was UP, jack was GONE! Raced back up the road hoping to find the jack before someone got it. Then I got overwhelmed by the thought of it stuffed in the windsheild of a car with the driver pinned under a Snap-On floor jack. The good news....... I never found the jack. Bad news to took forever the sell the Jag, the profit didn't equal the value of the jack. Bob
Reverse rotation marine crank in standard rotation block. The oil slinger grooves on the crank acted like a little pump past the rear main seal. I hate it when that happens.
Years ago I re-installed a 289 in an early Mustang after a rebuild. Three days later it still would not start. Could not figure out why there was such a weak spark when breaking the points with a screwdriver. On the fourth day I sat down in the drivers seat and turned the key to on. When the temperature guage went to hot I knew the wire to the coil and the wire to the temperature guage were crossed. Switch them and the engine fired on the first crank.
The Jalopy Journal
