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Features Whats the dumbest thing you ever did to your vehicle while working on it?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by 56don, Sep 9, 2018.

  1. jockeyshift41
    Joined: Mar 23, 2020
    Posts: 91

    jockeyshift41
    Member
    from Florida

    Mid 80’s, teenager, drove OT Firebird up on ramps to adjust shift linkage, didn’t chock wheels. When it popped out of gear, I was laying perpendicular to side of car, legs sticking out, the left front tire rolled over my stomach and the lower valance scraped across my face. Years of martial arts must’ve helped (did sit-ups constantly). Sat up, saw car out in middle of the street, got in, drove back up the ramp, CHOCKED IT, got back under car, fixed linkage and went out racing that night.


    Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  2. b-body-bob
    Joined: Apr 23, 2011
    Posts: 555

    b-body-bob
    Member

    I was pulling the intake off a small block mopar, but it was stuck. I tried everything I could think of, eventually I grabbed the handy dandy cherry picker and hooked to it and it lifted the car up on its suspension but that intake manifold wasn't budging. Then I realized the edges of the valve covers laid over the edges of the intake manifold and were holding it in place.
     
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  3. oldpl8s
    Joined: Apr 11, 2007
    Posts: 1,487

    oldpl8s
    Member

    In high school I worked at a Chevron station. One day a lady came in with her Datsun pickup. She said changed her oil and now the transmission was making a terrible noise so I put it on the lift with her watching. I started to take out the fill plug on the trans to check the level and she said what are you doing, that's the motor. Turns out she drained the trans thinking it was the oil pan.
     
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  4. 302GMC
    Joined: Dec 15, 2005
    Posts: 7,856

    302GMC
    Member
    from Idaho

    Long weekend comes. Pull car or truck into shop for a 3 day blitz on some job we should easily finish - Tuesday morning, rig completely apart, not a chance in hell of putting it back together. Ends up in back yard with some of the parts hung on with 2 bolts, some parts on a different outfit, and a pissed off boss.
    Having finally learned not to do this again, I'm down to just 2 left I need to put back together.
     
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  5. das858
    Joined: Jul 28, 2010
    Posts: 1,014

    das858
    Member

    In 1985 we were building a dragster and I was driving across town in my '38 International pickup , hauling a bare block 383 Mopar to mock up in the dragster. I punched the throttle a little too hard leaving a light , heard a little noise and looked in the rearview mirror to see the block flying out of my no tailgate bed about windshield height toward a late model mustang. Luckily the guy in the mustang was on his toes and swerved and missed the block we pulled around the corner and ran over to pickup the block when the mustang guy says "I don't know who this belongs to , but i nearly hit it ! " I said " that would be mine " . He helped me load it in the truck .
     
  6. 38canopy
    Joined: Aug 17, 2020
    Posts: 3

    38canopy

    i was putting the tranny back onto my 38 canopy, i was doing it solo, used a floor jack to raise tranny but i raised it too high that i cracked the bell housing...a small crack but never seen one crack before
     
    RRanchero Rick likes this.
  7. Baumi
    Joined: Jan 28, 2003
    Posts: 3,043

    Baumi
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    A few years ago a friend wanted to replace the well running 283 in his 57 Chevy 4dr hadtop with something that had more oomph.I knew that another buddy was pulling his 500hp 383 sbc from his drag race Model A and building a Dart 427 sbc for it. Long story short, they struck a deal and I got the 283 for helping him swapping engines. He also wanted a Th350 instead of the 3speed/OD that he had. Long story short, on his first test drive with the new 383 he was goofing around and manually shifting 1st, 2nd, 3rd . After a while he grew a wild hair,his foot grew heavier and his shift points were later... until we heard a big BOOM out on the highway....we ran out and looked over the fence about where the noise came from and there was this beautiful 57 , the transcase dangling out from under the car , transcase pieces, a whole lot of shrapnel and ATF all over the road and my buddy with a blank stare and pale face looking at the carnage. All he said was: That must have been reverse!
    The bellhousing was ripped clean off the transcasing, transmount etc was broken. The transmission must have made at least one or two full revolutions under the car .The new 383 just needed a new distributor cap, because the engine fell back against the firewall , cracking it. I think a used transcase and a new flexplate were pretty much the only parts we ne neede to get him back on track... I ´m not sure if he ever made a up something for his manual steering column to keep him from shifting into reverse... I´ll ask him.
     
  8. Baumi
    Joined: Jan 28, 2003
    Posts: 3,043

    Baumi
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Any chance your 56 looked similar to this? When I bought it in 2002 I could clearly read "OIL" on the underside of the hump in the hood !A Perfect impression of an AC Oil fill breather, hahahaha

    XQMC6589.jpg
     
  9. 2OLD2FAST
    Joined: Feb 3, 2010
    Posts: 5,216

    2OLD2FAST
    Member
    from illinois

    In around 66-67 , setting the timing on a Buick , you had to hold the timing light under the alternator to see the mark , reached to turn the distributor and my fingers holding the light came up under the alternator fan , Doc"s comment was ," you didn't leave me much to work with , kid " , ring finger , right hand is kinda lumpy !
     
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  10. Baumi
    Joined: Jan 28, 2003
    Posts: 3,043

    Baumi
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    IMG_0852.JPG Early 2000s... I tried to adapt a I think VW bus steering box to my 34 Plymouth .. all went well so far, but when I steered right, the wheels turned left and vice versa.:eek::D:D
     
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  11. Cosmo50
    Joined: Sep 8, 2011
    Posts: 226

    Cosmo50
    Member
    from California

    I have 3 things I did when I was younger that are really stupid.
    Two things were on my first car, an OT 1971 Datsun 510. I had converted it from an auto to a manual. Well in the process I forgot to reinstall the speedo drive unit. I was so excited to get it driving I just forgot. I took it to my friends house a few miles away. When I got out of my car I looked under to make sure nothing fell off. That is when I saw the gear oil just dripping out. I had my friend drive me home so I could get the unit and reinstall it. Luckily there was still oil in the box so it didn't get damaged.
    The second thing I did was while changing out the rearend for a 280Z rear, I didn't put oil in the rear. I bought it off a guy and didn't even think about it. I assumed he pulled it from his car and that was that. I drove to my dad's house taking the freeway. Drove fine there. On my way home it got real sluggish. I limped it back to may dad's and realized I burned up the bearings. I was so annoyed at myself.
    The third thing I did wasn't as stupid just one of those forehead slap moments.
    I had bought a 41 Mercury and was in the process of fixing it up. I had lowered the front and was working on the rear. The car was on the side of my parents house in the dirt. So I couldn't use jack stands. What I did do was put some 4x4 blocks between the axle and the frame. This held it up enough for me to be under there. I took some leafs out of the spring and reinstalled it. I had jacked it up to install the wheels with new white walls. I dropped it back down forgetting about the 4x4s. It must have taken me a couple hours to realize I left them in there. I just couldn't figure it out. I felt real dumb when I looked under and saw the 4x4s just laying there laughing at me.
     
  12. KevKo
    Joined: Jun 25, 2009
    Posts: 926

    KevKo
    Member
    from Motown

    1974, Junior in High School, I bought a '63 Nova project. I had no money, no knowledge, no money, no tools, no money, etc. Anyway, I did what I could. I made a pretty nice trans cover. Drilling holes to screw it in, I smell gas. Yep, drilled through the floor right into the fuel line. Couldn't do that on purpose if I measured. Ended up parting out the car and junking it. Did I mention I had no money?
     
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  13. Baumi
    Joined: Jan 28, 2003
    Posts: 3,043

    Baumi
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Also early 2000s , I was driving the above mentioned 34 Plymouth for a little holiday to Italy. We were driving through the night to avoid the day´s heat and my girlfriend was sleeping leaning against the passenger door. Going 75 mph I woke her and told her to please not touch that inner door handle there accidently, because then the door would fly open and she probably would be heading out of the car... that said, I decided to crack open my driver´s side window a bit , using the door handle ... my door flew open , just a few seconds after I told her....:D:rolleyes: you can tell there´s is a triangle of bondo missing on the driver´s door
     

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  14. 49ratfink
    Joined: Feb 8, 2004
    Posts: 18,828

    49ratfink
    Member
    from California

    my friends dad did something similar but he drilled a hole through the trunk into the gas tank.
     
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  15. AndysComet
    Joined: May 25, 2017
    Posts: 50

    AndysComet
    Member
    from SOMD

    Had a cracked float in my carb, was puking fuel. Took the plugs out to crank to make sure the cylinders were empty. Learned quickly I forgot to pull the coil wire or fuse. Luckily it didn't burn the paint before I got it out. Moral of the story, vaporized fuel will absolutely provide a path the ground for an arcing plug wire.
     
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  16. 49ratfink
    Joined: Feb 8, 2004
    Posts: 18,828

    49ratfink
    Member
    from California

    ...I built a rotissierie for my 1949 Chevrolet and accidentally put a Mustang on it. $7500.00 later it is well on it's way to being a brand new car and I lost my job and sold it. would have been easier to just flush $4,000.00 down the toilet and avoid the whole mess.
     
  17. John p Cesca
    Joined: Aug 21, 2020
    Posts: 1

    John p Cesca

    Where do you want me to start?
     
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  18. Mike Colemire
    Joined: May 18, 2013
    Posts: 1,428

    Mike Colemire
    Member

    I would post some but I don't feel like typing that much.
     
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  19. My first screw up doing my first tune up on a newly acquired 455 Olds, had my Chiltons manual out, cap ,rotor, plugs, wires, car wouldn't start, finaly had a friend come over and as I'm going over what I had done, explaining I put the rotor and wires back where it said in the book. He chuckled and ask if I had brought the motor up on tdc, I said no, I just bumped it over till the rotor pointed where the photo shown....lol
     
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  20. RmK57
    Joined: Dec 31, 2008
    Posts: 2,659

    RmK57
    Member

    I had 429 SCJ I was setting the valve lash on and left the breaker bar and socket on the balancer bolt. When I started it and went for a test drive all was fine and when I returned I found the breaker bar, socket and the bolt laying on the ground. The breaker bar had hit the part of the frame and just unwound itself. Lucky me.
     
  21. Not too many years ago I had all new glass cut for my '32 pickup truck and had leaned it up against the wall on the far side of the shop, I had already painted the cab & bed and covered the painted pieces with moving blankets and sheets but it still needed to do some metal work on the firewall, I slide the saw horses over to the empty bay, grabbed the 4"grinder and proceeded to shower the shop with sparks, I was almost smoothing the welds and noticed the piece of cardboard that was in front of the glass was laying flat on the floor.

    I picked up one of the door glasses and it had tiny bits of slag stuck to it, fortunately only one piece of glass was damaged, The ironic thing is the cardboard was taped to the glass and I took it of to show Brenda the light green tint. HRP
     
  22. spanners
    Joined: Feb 24, 2009
    Posts: 2,073

    spanners
    Member

    Can't blame the missius for that one.
     
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  23. Nope, I own that one myself. HRP
     
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  24. blowby
    Joined: Dec 27, 2012
    Posts: 8,661

    blowby
    Member
    from Nicasio Ca

    Put my finger in the trailer tongue to see why it wouldn't pop onto the ball. It popped, with a car on the trailer. Massive pain! Had to crank the screw jack, which moves about 1/32" per turn, about a foot to lift it off the ball, and my finger.
     
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  25. sunbeam
    Joined: Oct 22, 2010
    Posts: 6,213

    sunbeam
    Member

    Laying my wedding on the radiator support while working on a car got done shut the hood and test drove. I still hear about it 40+ years later. My grandson found out you do not drill holes for a air horn in a bracket in front of the radiator. Bit goes through the condenser and radiator before you can stop it.
     
  26. Country Joe
    Joined: Jan 16, 2018
    Posts: 517

    Country Joe
    Member

    I was just minutes away from driving my car (32 chevy) Grabbed the wrong bolt to fasten the torque converter to the flywheel (350TH). It was 3/8 longer than the original bolt. I threaded it in and started tightening. It was just about feeling tight enough when I heard a "POP!" The bolt pierced the converter:( Now I had to take it all apart, buy a new converter and wait about another week to work on it. Those little life lessons stay with you...
     
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  27. I changed the brakes on my F-1 (Volare disc). On the the test drive it made a horrible sound and vibrated like crazy.
    Pulled it apart, somehow I had put one pad in backwards, steel on steel. I didn't think it was possible but I managed to do it.
     
    56don likes this.
  28. ken bogren
    Joined: Jul 6, 2010
    Posts: 1,056

    ken bogren
    Member

    About the dumbest thing I've done (repeatedly) while attempting to work on my car was thinking I knew what I was doing.

    But then there was the time I apparently didn't get my c6 in my 61 f100 fully into park while the engine was still running ... slipped into reverse just as I got out and shut the door, my frantic effort to stop it resulted in some damage to the passenger fender and my garage door track. Not a happy day :(
     
  29. jnaki
    Joined: Jan 1, 2015
    Posts: 9,291

    jnaki

    Hello,

    When I was given the job of painting my brother’s rims black from pale yellow, I took the tires off, masked off the tires using butcher paper and masking tape. Then after prepping the steel wheel, applied the black spray paint. When I was finished with the 4 wheels, then I stood back to admire my good work. The original Pale Yellow paint on the 51 Olds Sedan and black rims looked awesome.

    My brother commented that they looked perfect and that in its self was one of the finest statements for a 12 year old to hear from his older brother. So, he was busy and told me to put the Moon Discs on each wheel. He provided me with the necessary screws for installing the 4 discs on the wheels.
    upload_2020-10-14_4-29-3.png in the summer of 1957, painted a Lime Green to sell the car to a friend.

    I put the rear ones on first and they looked outstanding. Then as I was putting on the front discs, I ran out of screws. What??? I hunted high and low in the garage drawers for the similar depth screws. I found a couple that fit the Moon Disc holes and I was back in business. So, I put them on with the new screws. The Pale Yellow 1951 Oldsmobile sedan look so cool, I was already dreaming that this car was going to be my first car as a teenager in a few years.


    We drove it around the block and everything was going well. So, my brother dropped me off and took off to who knows where. After a few hours of hanging around, we get a phone call. We need to bring the second Oldsmobile spare tire down to Seal Beach. For what reason, that was unknown. My brother already had his own spare tire. I asked our neighbor for a ride to Seal Beach with the 2ND spare tire. When we got there, one front tire was jacked up and taken off, waiting for the 2nd spare. His normal spare was already on the other front passenger side.

    The second spare was needed since both front tires were flat. WHAT??? It seems like “someone” had put in sheet metal screws instead of flat tipped screws and the sharp point created a leak in both front tires. WHAT???

    Jnaki

    A lesson was learned on the spot about the differences in the types of screws and their uses. I had never been so embarrassed at that moment of the parking lot in Seal Beach. I was the guilty party. What a “SCREW UP!” (pun intended) My brother was a little mad at me, but I am sure he just told himself what can one expect from a 12 year old kid? He was extremely quiet all the way home. Hmmm.
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2020
  30. wicarnut
    Joined: Oct 29, 2009
    Posts: 9,052

    wicarnut
    Member

    Reading through here it makes me feel better that I'm not the only one that does stupid stuff. This adventure popped in this AM. When installing new crate 350 in my Merc, I used the TH350 trans that came with the car, it was OK, shift, no slip or leak. I pulled engine with trans, had drained trans, had trans on floor, bolt to new engine, reinstall, hooked up, dropped trans pan to install new filter, pan gasket. Here's where it got interesting/funny/stupid, The car had sat on my lift a few days, I take out the 4 bolts I had on trans pan, Not being careful, thinking not much oil would be there, Big mistake, guessing convertor drained when tipping engine to install and the oil got me big time, face, clothes, floor and in my haste to get out of the oil bath I fell backwards, on my ass, What a mess and ATF does not taste good. Pic of old engine [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2020
    56don likes this.

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