Hot Rods The stupidest thing I did in the garage.

My stepfather, one of the most intelligent men I've ever known would say to me after I did something particularly dumb, " Education in the school of hard knocks is expensive." That translates to first you get the test and then you get the lesson.

 

Even though the vehicle involved was
O.T. V-8 luv pu that I just put a 475hp 350 w/4spd. , 9" 3:90 posi...
I just had a small 1 car garage and on the forward wall was a washer /dryer and one of them concrete double sinks.
The truck was just about finished, the bed wasn't on it yet and no exhaust, open headers...I was get excited to get out and drive.
The following week I was having the exhaust built for it tell then I would fire it off and back it up to the garage door and do some quick, short ....real short...it was about 2 1/2'
to 3' between the front of the truck and the washer/dryer ,
dry hop launching.....rev...dump clutch.....and get on the brakes.....no problem.
A friend stops by one night , pretty late, wants to see my progress on the truck...fire it up...ok..then what the hell ...hey check this out, still open headers..I do a few quick little hops ...no problem ..ok one more ..must of reved a bit higher and the tires grabbed.....shit....yep ..flattened that washer and dryer right out.
And of course the neighbor guy came over and wanted to know what the hell was wrong with me, I think that was because he was still pissed off about the previous week ends upset I had....it was pretty stupid also ...but it was out side of the garage.
I had just got home from work, it was late also, some friends stopped by , went on a beer run , came back and someone else had stopped in and was blocking my drive way...what the hell I just launched it up over the curb ,old nova 4dr beater, shit ....forgot I had moved my project 52 Buick super to a different spot ...right where I was now headed...shit..turned the wheel hard the other direction..shit...big schrub...to late launched right up and over that thing and layed that car right on its side...in the yard...
Ya...fun times.


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Without a doubt, one thing on top of my list. Later years in my Tool & Die shop I repaired, wired machines as needed, know just enough to be dangerous. I had a large surface grinder with coolant, the pump motor burned out, ordered new one and proceed to replace, turn off power at disconnect, forgetting pump motor plugs into a 110 /20 amp circuit, that plug/box was behind machine out of site. Kneeling in coolant I start to remove pump, I'm holding pump, go to disconnect power wires and got the shock of my life, as I screamed I felt the electricity arcing in my fillings in my teeth, took a few seconds to let go, grounded perfectly, metal tank pump, kneeling on wet concrete, It made my heart hurt for a few days, told my son who worked for me then, if I get goofier than usual or pass out tell EMT's what happened. I did not go to ER. I sat down for awhile, got up, unplugged pump and replaced motor. I was alright in a few days, never thought you get a shock like that from 110/20 amp, had/have shocked myself doing house wiring , but never like this time. I had/have a tester and checked power as most machines were 220/240 up to 30 amp breaker, from that day on I check wires for power on everything before I touch anything, no exceptions.

 

About 55 years ago a co-worker and I were replacing the clutch in my 1961 Ford ex-Connecticut state Police car. We were doing it in his driveway that had a mild uphill slope. We blocked the rear wheels so the car didn't roll backwards. I was under the car, kicked out the transmission crossmember. and the car rolled forward, uphill. I was very lucky, although I was trapped by the frame laying on my chest, but the kick-up for the front suspension was right where my head was. I yelled for my co-worker for help, and when he jumped into the trunk to get the jack, the car rose just enough for me to wiggle out. I had the bruises from the frame on my chest for quite a while. I was lucky.

 

That is Funny!

 

Nick, God was with you that day!

 

Put this in my garage

 

I had an old kitchen stove in the shop. I used it to cook pizzas for a while. I started using it to speed up drying paint on small parts. I discovered I could warm the paint cans when plug up and they would spray again. One day I decided to have a pizza and set the oven to 400 degrees to preheat and never looked inside. It took about 4 minutes for the paint can to blow the door half way across the shop! I'm sure there was alcohol involved.

 

I'm going to sidetrack this humorous thread for just a minute. A family friend had his boat in his basement garage. He was under it laying on his back on the bare concrete working on something when he got a shock similar to what you got. He wasn't as lucky as you were. It killed him. Please let wicarnut's post and mine be a warning. It might just keep someone alive.

Now back to funny stories.

 

reminds me of an incident that happened about 50 years ago. Not in a shop but you might like it anyway.

This was back in college days. Four of my friends (fellas) shared an off campus apartment. One of them baked a birthday cake for another friend named Sherry (not my wife Sherry, another Sherry). He substituted sherry for the water in the recipe. It turned out really well so for the next birthday party he made a rum cake by substituting 151 rum for the water.

The result was similar to the above. The oven door got blown across the room and the cake was on fire.

 

Yes, he was, and I am forever thankful that God was with me.

 

Got another one. Back in the day I, like many of us had hair, rather long hair. Cleaning up parts with a grinder and wire wheel. Leaned over too close to the work and my hair caught in the wire wheel, The wheel finally stopped but not before batches of hair came out in bunches. Hurt like hell but made my father quite happy that I cut my hair shorter after that . Sometimes inexperience, carelessness and haste are the most pain full teachers.
Wish I had some of that hair back now..Lol

 

I have a grease pit in my garage and one afternoon I was adjusting the clutch or something on my coupe. The car was behind the pit and there were no boards covering the pit. I was half in the car and half out on my knees and I needed to bump the engine over a bit. I hit the starter and the car fired up and jumped 2 or 3 feet forward toward the open pit with me being dragged along wile hanging out of the drivers door. The engine stalled before the car drove into the open pit. It was a lucky day for me and I didn't have to figure out how to fish my car out of the grease pit.
Over the years I have been lucky that I have only fell into it once. I have gotten much better at putting the boards over it if I am not down in it working on a car.

 

Not me but my dad,he had a little work shop we built when I was a kid.2x4 and ply wood walls. In the corner a small potbelly stove. Above and 3ft away shelves .some had stored spray paint up there.
One cold day had a fire in stove,
And motor off his walkbehind tractor sitting on the floor ,just rebuilt .
Decided to fire it up,no muffler ..
Revving it up. Rurring good
Suddenly felt pressure all around.
Shut it off .12 feet away stove in corner is covered in flames . grab co2 put it out..
Look around plywood walls are pushed out ,nails barely in 2x4s roof above stove raised 3 in. With circle pattern of 3 rings.
Paint can with no bottom and slanted top ,same angle of roof.
Spent days nailing things back together and looking for can bottom. Found it in side stove ? Round plates on top of stove must of flipped over when can went off.
Lucky he didn't get hurt or burn his little shop down.

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Back in the 80's I had a pretty good sized shop (40x45) and had an old coal furnace with the outside sheeting removed, it was great as a wood burning stove and did a great job of heating up the shop even in zero degree weather. I had purchased a bunch of "take out" four foot fluorescent light fixtures for lighting and they all had light covers made out of some transparent/translucent plastic material. I had a good supply of wood (a local rafter plant brought out all of their cut offs --- for free) but a friend of mine was there and he said "those light covers should burn" so we stuffed a couple of them in the fire. The stove pipe started turning red and the damper was hammering back and forth as the stove draw was really picking up I blocked the damper to slow down the oxygen and slowly things cooled down. Darn lucky that night

 

110 will kill you especially on high amp circuit because you can’t get loose from it . 220 will knock you off. The guy who taught me that told me to always just use one hand. I too have learned that hard lesson!


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Always check live-dead-live even after breakers are off.

 

And if you use your hand, touch the wires with the back of your hand, not your fingers. That way you don't spasm the muscles and hold on tight. Same thing for electric fences or spark plug wires. Might zap you but you can pull your hand away.

 

My dumb ass moment, well I've had alot of them over the years.
I was installing the clutch pedal return spring in my Corvair with the wrong tool.
I used some cheap brake spring pliers, and really struggling, started pulling toward me and the pliers snapped. Hit myself in the head so hard I saw stars.
DAMN NEAR KNOCKED MY SELF OUT.

 

Go out to the garage to begin with.

 

There is already a big thread on this topic.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...st-thing-youre-ever-done-in-your-shop.511587/

 

My first girlfriend..
Bent her over the tablesaw .. (which apparently was plugged in) ..
Going at it ..when...HOLY S##T ! ! ! ..
Saw powered up !! Blade spinning inches from her chest ! ...

Moral is .....

Always ALWAYS ! unplug your power tools ..

 

Thanx a lot rockable. Now I not only feel obligated to read all new responses to this thread but I've been rereading your thread. Even though I read all of the responses to your old thread when originally posted I still will reread them. With my poor memory it's all new to me again anyway.

 

I know the feeling. I will probably read them all again, too!

 

Well.....

I was maybe 12? My dad decided to get his old '61 Chrysler (now mine) running. I was his helper.

Having never started a car he provided instructions to me, and away we went.

For the next several hours, he poked and prodded under the hood, checking fuel, possible electrical issues, simply everything he could think of.

Finally he throws his hands up in frustration.

I say "What?"
"I can't figure out why it won't stay running-every time it gets going it just shuts right down"
"Oh that? I've been turning it off"
"..........Why?!"
"You told me to-you said when it starts to run, turn the key back, so I did"

".....okay this time when it starts, just let go of the key"

Vroom!

Poor guy. He was patient with me though.

 

Now thats funny!

 

Not me, but an old guy that worked for my gramps. We sold heating coal in the winter, so had an old vertical coal stove out in the shop (Southern Tier NY). This is early 60's, when nobody thought anything about washing parts in a bucket of gas. So he's cleaning up in the shop, and decides he's going to clean the stove with the gas brush... He was very lucky, as he had set the gas bucket down, and only got burned on his hand and wrist. He was always kind of a sad sack, nice guy but always boogered up and tripping over his own feet somehow. A few years later he was working as a welder in a machinery fab shop, went to the head and never came back- had a heart attack and died on the throne

 

Buddy and I were changing a headgasket on a daily driver 4 cylinder. I decided to take 5 and his son decides to jump in and help. Kid was probably 16. I watch him put a vice grips on a rusty exhaust stud and start pulling. I told him "BJ . . . don't punch yourself in the face" and about 3 seconds later the vice grips lets go and he . . . . punches himself in the face.

Few years back I was putting new exhaust on an off topic Satellite Sebring. Front of the car was up on ramps and the back was on jackstands so not a ton of room to work in. Well pulling off the old mufflers which weren't real rusty I found if you twisted them and pulled they'd slide off pretty nice at least one side did. (you already know where this is going) The other side hung up just a little bit so I twist and pull harder till it lets go and I bash myself in the head with a 10+ lb Flowmaster. Split my eyebrow open . . . slam a blue shop towel on it to stop the bleeding . . . finish my beer and call it a day.

 

I had a customer who built the worlds most expensive Jeep. He had just gotten the Ford 351 swapped into it and got the new custom swap radiator installed and filled with coolant when I showed up for my weekly visit. I asked him how it was going, so proudly he fired it up. It sounded great, nice rumbling exhaust......
Then he gave the throttle a nice whack! The flex fan grabbed all the air there was and then sucked his brand new radiator right into its blades! There was enough flexibility in the hoses, well you know the rest, and, so always take the time to make things safe for yourself and your money!

 

40 plus years ago helped my best friend replace the 3 speed in his full size Plymouth, he could not find the correct 3 speed but found a 4 speed from a Duster. Bolted up fine with some notching of a crossmember but the shift rods hit
the floor so we flipped them upside down. Worked fine as long as you remembered the shift pattern was reversed.