Have you ever did anything stupid/dumb while working on your car?

**FSANE** · 05-17-2006, 11:08 PM

When I was doing my H/C I didn't tight up the ground wire in the back of the drivers side head. So the car keeped on shutting off on me on the way to Vette Doc's in Long Island to get tuned.

Eventually, half-way there the car just shut down and would not start. Had to get a Flatbed Tow for 45 miles ($260) and rent a car for 3 days ($230) on top of that it was ($300) for Vette Doc's to figure out whats wrong with the car and ($100) for a dyno tune.

3 days later on the way back after tunning, my car started to overhead and started to leak cooler in the back of the passenger side head. apperently one of the back bolts on the head was not tight enough and the head gasket blew. ($30) for a head gasket and ($40) for brand new head bolts.

Talk about no luck when doing major engine work on my car for the first time.

**1fastcamarosss11** · 05-17-2006, 11:21 PM

caught myself on fire with my car, coffee can of gas, and my 84 monte, put gas in carb tried to start then repeated but a little spark poof i went the carb on fire my fender and me, my dad was working on a car next to me he jumped up, got the ext, put me then the car out and walked away not one word, after i got done working on the car. approx. 2 hours he looked at me and said " you learn you lesson", and "i bet you won't do that again" it's a joke now but i am lucky i didn't get more gas on me.

**FasstChevys** · 05-18-2006, 04:38 AM

I tightened down my valve cover, and didn't notice the damn engine grounding strap was between the gasket and the head. Pretty damn big mess!

**TMF** · 05-18-2006, 04:48 AM

When I was 16, working on my first car, I changed the oil without putting the drain plug back in...........well 5 qts went on the garage floor. I never did that again

**Zboner** · 05-18-2006, 04:50 AM

i cant remember all the stupid shit i have done

**third_shift|studios** · 05-18-2006, 05:01 AM

i'm just staying out of this....

**whitelightnin99** · 05-18-2006, 05:12 AM

i was helping my buddy put a set of Pacesetter longtubes on his Silverado and i was underneath helping guide them in. i slid a jackstand closeby on the frame to keep the truck from crushing me just to be safe. what i didnt realize was it was under the oil pan and as soon as i slid out from under the truck my buddy slammed the truck back to the ground but i forgot to move the jackstand so i put a quarter sized hole in the pan.

couldve been worse i guess

**BIG D's SS** · 05-18-2006, 05:18 AM

Doing my cam swap and we had the lifters locked with magnets on them. Then my buddy said let me get over here and hold my magnets and about that time I was on the last cam bearing of having my cam in and I heard a lifter fall. So I had to finish putting it in and round up LS1 parts on a Saturday since this was my daily driver. Spent all day Sat rounding up Head bolts, head gasket, oil pump, and timing chain. Well what went from a $500 cam swap went to a $1000 cam swap and about 24 more hours into it. Well I learned a lot and spent a lot.

**5LtrBtr** · 05-18-2006, 09:01 AM

I could write a novel with all the stupid shit I pulled. The one that sticks out in my mind the most though.... When I was 16 I put a new set of airshocks on my 76 t/a. Took it out for a test drive all jacked up in the rear with some big ass racing slicks. Drove by this girls house that I really like at the time, she lived about 10 miles from my house. As soon as I got right in front of her house the whole car started vibrating then just dropped on the drivers side rear. I slammed on the brakes thinking SHIT the airshock busted. Look out the window and there goes my rear tire down the road. To this day I still overtighten all my lugnuts in fear of losing another wheel.

**Bigrus** · 05-18-2006, 09:28 AM

Kept putting off fixing my hood latch because it was becoming hard to close the hood it would not latch on.

Driving down the road at 40mph WAM!!! hood is on the windshield im like fucking chris farley looking out the side window trying to get off the damn road.

**1fastcamarosss11** · 05-18-2006, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by Bigrus

Kept putting off fixing my hood latch because it was becoming hard to close the hood it would not latch on.

Driving down the road at 40mph WAM!!! hood is on the windshield im like fucking chris farley looking out the side window trying to get off the damn road.

good stuff.

**third_shift|studios** · 05-18-2006, 09:57 AM

God That Would Suck !!!!!

**Bigrus** · 05-18-2006, 10:00 AM

Originally Posted by dipherentdesign

God That Would Suck !!!!!

New hood: 500$

New windshield: 270$

Knowing you can scream like a girl while swerving over three lanes to get off the road......PRICELESS

john · 05-18-2006, 10:10 AM

I was adding some insulation sleeves to my fuel lines (they run to close to the headers). I figured I didn't need to disconnect the battery for this work. The sleeves were bunching up and I could see why from the top. Put the car up on jack stands got under it. Still couldn't see. The starter was in the way. Got my handy 3/8" ratchet wrench out, went to remove starter... BLAM! No permanent harm to me or anything else, but nearly crapped my pants.

Maybe not the dumbest thing I've done, but fresh on my mind as it was just this past week.

john

**TMF** · 05-18-2006, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by john

I was adding some insulation sleeves to my fuel lines (they run to close to the headers). I figured I didn't need to disconnect the battery for this work. The sleeves were bunching up and I could see why from the top. Put the car up on jack stands got under it. Still couldn't see. The starter was in the way. Got my handy 3/8" ratchet wrench out, went to remove starter... BLAM! No permanent harm to me or anything else, but nearly crapped my pants.

Maybe not the dumbest thing I've done, but fresh on my mind as it was just this past week.

john

John, you just reminded me of another thing : a couple of weeks ago, I changed those wonderful plugs, and as I was going for #6, I thought I had the socket on the plug and let go of it and dropped it on top of the starter. Boy was that fun to get out, I thought I was going to have to drop the starter!

**Aerialist** · 05-18-2006, 12:59 PM

The shorty plug wrench gets javel'n down the street along with all possible expletives at 140 decibals when trying to change the last 2 spark plugs.

**Spaz** · 05-18-2006, 01:02 PM

snapped a sparkplug while it was still in the engine... ARGH!!!

**oneBADDz** · 05-18-2006, 01:06 PM

lol, installed an amp power wire once and thought "eh, I can just put the fuse and grommets in later I just wanna hear it already". . .well later turned into never. firewall ate through the wire and lit up the underside of my hood. The wire ran across the fuel lines on the drivers side and melted all three. . .lit it up even more. popped the hood and allllmost opened it, then figured out air would be a bad thing to give it at the time, so I walked away and hoped it would just smother itself with the hood closed. Luckily it did. Had a 3/8 channel melted all the way around the side across the fan shroud and around the side of the battery. Between my new channel and the fuel lines I got out lucky, I was a jackass for leaving it that way and deserved worse I guess, but I learned my lesson

**oneBADDz** · 05-18-2006, 01:09 PM

oh, made contact with a moving radiator fan once too. Due to the way it spins though it won't cut you from the underhood side. . .wheeeeew, I was scured

**Motrv8d Steve** · 05-18-2006, 01:18 PM

1. replaced the exhaust valve guides on a 52 Plymouth Cranbrook

straight 6 upside down, not knowing the intakes go in one way an the exhausts go the opposite. But what was cool was it didn't matter performance-wise. Lots of torque on those old sixes but not much high end.

2. Got drunk rebuilding my brakes (shared a sixer of Carlsberg Elephant Malt liquor with a friend at his house so I could use his tools) on a...get this... a 1964 Datsun 410.

The result of this was while driving home from by buddy's, the brakes failed,

I went thru a red light and hit a couple of fags riding on a motorcycle. It was a good thing they were drunk b/c they survived the accident with no major injuries. I don't know how that happened, but the insurance adjuster who interviewed them gave me the whole story.

Seems they had just left a gay bar,

completely hammered, and the guy on the back was leaning way over, from side to side, trying to get their bike to fall over. They must have been wasted. Well, they didn't need to fall over, they just timed the green light as they approached the intersection and slammed into my right front fender as my little bright orange Datsun was sailing thru the red.

I then carromed off an oncoming vw bug that had actually stopped at the red I couldn't, and then coasted about a block down the street, stopping in front of a school by sliding up against the curb letting it do my braking. Left a big black skidmark on the curb for about 20-30 feet. When the cops asked me why I stopped so far away I said I couldn't find a parking place. I didn't say anything about my brakes, and they never found out. Those guys never did sue me for anything (I think they were afriad to, since while in the ER they prolly had their BA level tested), but the VW owner sued me for $650 in small claims court and won.

I'll never drink and work on brakes again...