Rick68

While working on your car.After reading NHvette's storey it got me thinking of some of the dumb things i've done.The most painful was the time I decided
to squeeze myself under a firebird I had yrs ago to change the oil(did not use ramps)
so I wiggle under the car and get the wrench on the oil pan drain plug and start pulling but its on real tight so I really reaf on it. :smash: The wrench then slips off the nut and hits me in the nose breaking it :mad So from the shock I lift my head just to smack it on the car. :eek: By this time the blood is gushing out of my nose and running into my eyes and I can't see a thing.Well it must have taken me about 10 min. to slowly inch by inch wiggle my way out from under the car( felt like an hour) I still have a slightly crooked nose as a reminder.I went and bought some ramps the next week so I could finnish the job.Oh ya I had a nice goose egg on my forehead too
:bb

mrvette

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :jester :jester :jester :jester :jester :jester :jester :jester :jester :jester

Not said in ridecule, but in empathy.....still.... :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D


GENE

Chris69

I can recall one terrible morning, I was so entrenched in repairs, I suddenly realized... oh no... I let my coffee get cold!

:lolg:

Cali,68,L-79

Worked on a 75 LTD stationwagon with the right rear wheel off and a sizzor jack holding it up. Was under the car checking the shocks when the car fell off the jack. The car landed on the rotor which bruised my ribs but could have been much much worse.

:withstupid:

SanDiegoPaul

Worst thing I ever did? Hmm.... I married a stripper once! Now, while she had a couple of really nice attributes it cost me a lot to get rid of her. :nonod: <<fun while it lasted though!!>>

As far as wheels go, hmmm can't think of too many really stooooopid things but I do remember a guy who worked for me once about fifteen years ago. We had a guy with a Javelin AMX come into the shop needing a motor. I told Derek that I'd coach him on building it for the customer since it was his first complete overhaul.

Well, he was a great brake and front-end guy. Not a bad wrench at all but he really wasn't an engine guy. He did take instruction though, and and he did build the engine. When we were ready to break in the cam, he even put the hood on it and washed the car. The customer came down to watch. He primed the oil pump. Filled the carb with gas. I reached over and turned in the idle screw a few half-turns so that it would idle 2500 rpm or so.

He reached in and turned the key :nono: :nonod: :nono: :cuss

CLANK, CLUNK and CLATTER!!! He turns the key back off and of course the motor runs on because it was idling high. While he and I are talking about the noise, and the customer is listening, I see that not all the carburetor bolts are matching. "Hey, where is the OEM carb bolt for that corner?"

"I couldnt' find all four"

"NOT GOOD!! :nonod: "

"What do I do now?"

I told him to pull the heads. :nono:

Number one cylinder is where we found the matching bolt. Embedded into the piston and leaving a nice impression on the head.

Yeppers :D That was the last engine Derek built. :hat :conehead :p: :rant:

turtlevette

Be careful if you have to push your car. C3's never break down right. NOT

Years ago i was pushing mine by the windshield post and my right foot got under the rear tire. OUCH! Got a pretty bad road rash.

jim

bigvette1

Having a frozen battery. Pushed the car into a garage and took off the caps (old time type - no maintenace free). There must have been a lot of gas pressure built up and the caps had the vent holes frozen shut. A spark came from somewhere and the battery exploded in my face. Luckly I got to the laundry room and put my face under the facuet for 10 minutes to wash the acid out of my eyes and face. A trip to the hospital and forced washings saved the eyes, but must wear glasses to this day.

Moral - Don't mess with batteries in sub zero cold where a spark could ignited the gas.

Never Finished

Thirty-nine years ago my buddy was working on an AFB on a 327 in his '55 Chevy. He dropped one of screws from the top into the carb. We deliberated about how to get it out and came up with the bright idea of starting it, revving it up, and blowing the screw out the exhaust. Well he started it while I watched. When he revved it up the motor went clunk and stopped. After replacing an intake valve and doing a valve job the engine was fine again.

Oh yeah, the reason he had the 327 in the first place was because we figured if stop leak would stop water leaks in the radiator, it would surely stop an oil leak in his 265. We were right. It stopped the oil leak like a charm. We drove it about 3 blocks before the engine seized up. Then we walked back to his house wondering why it didn't work. We were really analytical young men.

His dad suggested we run our ideas by him before we did anything else.

Jvette73

I was doing rear brakes on a 75 AMC Concord. I was using hook nosed needle nose pliers to try and pull the springs off. I was clamping and pulling towards myself. The pliers sliped off the spring and I stabed myself in the eye. I fell back and covered my eye. When I removed my hand from over my eye I noticed i could barely see from that eye. With my good eye I checked my hand again and saw no blood. I went into the house and looked in the mirror. I could see a small dot in the corner of my eye where the pliers had hit. I also noted that my pupil for the injured eye was a tiny dot almost all the way closed. Over a few minutes of time the pupil slowly opened to normal size and my vision was restored. I got lucky I guess. I was scared for a few mins though.

1Bad69

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=283722

Vetterodder

Besides the time I drank a whole bottle of tequila in one evening, mine was probably letting a pressure plate slip during an install. Thought I had the bolt started but was wrong. Damn thing cut my arm to the bone when it came down! To make matters even worse, in an effort to get out of the way when I realized it was coming at me, I kicked a gallon jug of amonia over. In those days they were glass and it broke, drenching me in the stuff. Blood was spurting every where from my wound but my first concern was to get out from under the car and away from the fumes. Once I did get out of there and could breath again, I wrapped my arm in a rag and hid the damage from my mother because I knew she'd make me go to the emergency room. I had a hot date that night and was already running late. I picked as much of the crud out of the wound as I could, wrapped it up, put on a long sleeve shirt, and I was good to go. That was over thirty years ago and I still smile every time I look at that scar. Not because hurting myself was funny but because it reminds me of the date :)

PatsLs1vette

Well 2 things i can remember were i was pulling back on a 1 1/8 inch wrench try ing to loosen something and it slipped and broke my nose.The other was i was trying to put a spring back on for drum brakes with a pair of wire dikes(yeah i know stupid)and i slipped and jabbed myself in the forehead with them,just a few stitchs.Thats just working on cars,when i used to skateboard on half pipes& pools,forget about it(broken wrist,broken leg ,ankle,knocked out cold)racing go karts for a few years led to dislocated shoulder, torn lingaments,neck injurys.man i could go on and on and on :D

JRD77VET

I was putting a starter in my '72 Monte Carlo. I was laying on my back installing it. I thought I had the one bolt started and reached for the other. BAM !! The starter nailed me right in the head :crazy: Big knot and a small cut.

Another time I broke the ratcheting mechanism on a craftsman ratchet. Tore open the back of my hand. Borrowed a car to get another free one from Sear's. I put it on the counter with the non-injured hand. The salesgirl asked if it was defective. I held up my other hand and she got one right away. :thumbs:

Some other wrenching memories........

My roommate was helping me put another 4 speed tranny in my Vega. I couldn't quite get it lined up. He basically pushed me out of the way to " show me how it's done". He rested the tranny on his chest and crawled under the car. When he put the tranny up, he knocked the rag out of the tailshaft. This allowed most of the 90 weight gear oil to coat his crotch :lolg: :lolg: He had a hot date that night too. :lolg:

Same roommate went to open a metal topped oil can ( remember those?) with a philips screwdriver. Only problem was he went thru the web between the thumb and index finger. :eek:

:seeya JRD77VET

{edit} spelling :banghead:


[Modified by JRD77VET, 9:10 PM 3/22/2003]

isosceles

I've been blessed not to have been seriously hurt but I've got 2 stories from the dealerships that I used to work in:

One ASE certified Volvo technicain knocked himself out cold while pulling on a big breaker bar with the car on the lift. He hit himself right in the forehead when the bolt broke loose.

At the same dealership, the wanna-be-tech-general-manager's son started a manual car while it was in first gear while reaching in through the drivers window. The car dragged him accross the shop into a bench, barely missing his nice Snap-on tool chest. :crazy:

Schmucker

This happend a few weeks ago:
I was removing the driveshaft and after I had popped both u-joints out and I was trying to get it down some crap fell in my eyes. I thought that it was still resting fairly well up in the tunnel so I removed my hands and began working my way out as quickly as I could. The driveshaft did stay up there, for a couple of seconds, then it fell onto my cranium.

Bullyj

I was jacking the front end of the wife's car up with one of those jacks that's a cross between a bumper jack and a scissor jack. I pushed the jack handle down and looked to see if the tire was off of the ground. Seeing the tire was off the ground I let go of the tire tool. There was only one problem with this, I thought it had clicked and was locked into position but it hadn't. Needless to say when I let go of the tire tool it rebounded very quickly striking me in the temple. I remember sliding down the car next to it before I blacked out. When I came too about a half hour later I stumbled into the house and asked the wife why she didn't check on me she said "well I just thought you were resting" I guess I was. :withstupid:

Desertdawg

Removing the tranny and transfer case from my 79 CJ7, I told my wife to guide the gearshift down through the floor pan while I (stupidly) by hand, lowered both of them still bolted together. Well as soon as her dainty hand bumped the floor-pan, she let go, and the tranny and transfer case came straight down onto my chest. (like it was going to do without her help anyway).

There is was stuck underneath the Jeep with all this sitting on my chest. and the gearshift still sticking an inch of two through the floor-pan, so it wouldn't just roll off. And the wife says "I almost pinched my finger".
I said " UUUGGHHHH!"

It took me about 15 minutes to wiggle out from underneath the weight of them. The shortness of breath took a few more minutes to go away.

70shark

Well, I haven't done anything to myself on this car, yet, but on my truck ( 89' Chevrolet 1500, 305 with straight pipes ), I was rushing one time, to get under it and take the driveshaft loose in my driveway, and managed somehow to get my left knee stuck between the frame rail and the hot muffler, and burned my knee in a strip about six inches long, down to the bone. After I got my leg loose, I sat there and watched the skin sizzle off of the muffler. Decidedly not fun, I have a nice little scar from that one.

Another time, when I was still working at the local Chevy dealership, I watched a tech taking off a coil spring on a 3500 work truck, he compressed it too tightly, it shifted a little bit, and the coil spring compressor broke, sending the spring up between his arms, through the shop roof. He was scared so bad that he fell down on the floor and refused to get up for ten minutes. We later found the spring in the back lot.

Course, there've been numerous times where I've gotten hot tranny fluid or oil in an open wound, and that's not too cool, but we've all done that, right?