What's the stupidest thing you have done working on a car?
12-24-2006, 07:38 AM
#21
TECH Apprentice
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Hampton, VA
Posts: 381
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by Sneaky
Been lucky enough to not cause any damage to my cars with mistakes, but i can't say the same for my home appliances. 
Had just finished the install of headers on my LT1 Camaro about 4-5 years ago. I made sure all bolts were tight, all tools were put up and no wires were sitting on the headers. Cranked the car, no leaks and sounds awesome.
So.... I go inside, wash up and grab a jacket for a quick cruise. I throw my jacket in the back seat and run around to the front of the car to shut the hood. BOOM.... hood doesn't shut all the way. No prob. right? Try again.... BOOM, BOOM, hmmmmm... hood still won't shut. So by now i'm thinking WTF..... I checked this thing over three times for tools, wtf is happening here?
About that time i noticed a small black plastic item next to my fuse box, "MY PHONE".
After removing the phone from the affected area, hood shuts no problem. Luckily enough, the phone still worked except for looking like it went 10 rounds with a blender. 
I guess i didn't learn my lesson though, because about 4 months later the same phone got to go on a 10 mile round trip on the back bumper of my truck. It made it home safely, "i have no idea how" and was later retired due to it's old age and, "whooped exterior".
Had just finished the install of headers on my LT1 Camaro about 4-5 years ago. I made sure all bolts were tight, all tools were put up and no wires were sitting on the headers. Cranked the car, no leaks and sounds awesome.
So.... I go inside, wash up and grab a jacket for a quick cruise. I throw my jacket in the back seat and run around to the front of the car to shut the hood. BOOM.... hood doesn't shut all the way. No prob. right? Try again.... BOOM, BOOM, hmmmmm... hood still won't shut. So by now i'm thinking WTF..... I checked this thing over three times for tools, wtf is happening here?
About that time i noticed a small black plastic item next to my fuse box, "MY PHONE".
After removing the phone from the affected area, hood shuts no problem. Luckily enough, the phone still worked except for looking like it went 10 rounds with a blender. I guess i didn't learn my lesson though, because about 4 months later the same phone got to go on a 10 mile round trip on the back bumper of my truck. It made it home safely, "i have no idea how" and was later retired due to it's old age and, "whooped exterior".
i almost cried when i read that! sorry man...just...kinda funny. all meant in good fun tho
12-24-2006, 07:40 AM
#22
11 Second Club
iTrader: (37)
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 377
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I like to break bolts......
1 head bolt in the block.
1 header flange bolt.
1 intake bolt
and a water pump bolt.
not all in that same day. Man they were a pain to get out.
1 head bolt in the block.
1 header flange bolt.
1 intake bolt
and a water pump bolt.
not all in that same day. Man they were a pain to get out.
12-24-2006, 09:55 AM
#23
Launching!
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Lexington, South Carolina
Posts: 234
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I took the throttle body off when the motor was still hot, and when i disconnected the the coolant hose got burnt with hot radiator fluid. Also one time in auto tech these guys were putting a truck on the lift and i guess they didnt have the back supports on the frame very well; they got it about it 4 feet high and the back of it fell. No major damage luckily.
12-24-2006, 10:13 AM
#24
Teching In
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Richland Hills, TX
Posts: 28
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Well, Ive done lots of stupid things, broke lots of parts, and even hurt myself a few times over the years. I'm probably older than most of you, so I've had more time to screw up!
My two favorites involved minor injuries.
Swapping a 4spd out for a TH350 in a 74 Z28, I got impatient when the bell housing was caught in the wiring harness. I yanked on the tailshaft housing and pulled the trans off the jack and smashed my hand between it and the floor. Knocked 3 fingernails off on that one.
The other one was just a few years ago when I was trying to push my ElCamino (sold that demon POS) in the dirveway and slipped. Slammed my neck down on the top of the tailgate. Should have killed me , but I'm too dumb to die
My two favorites involved minor injuries.
Swapping a 4spd out for a TH350 in a 74 Z28, I got impatient when the bell housing was caught in the wiring harness. I yanked on the tailshaft housing and pulled the trans off the jack and smashed my hand between it and the floor. Knocked 3 fingernails off on that one.
The other one was just a few years ago when I was trying to push my ElCamino (sold that demon POS) in the dirveway and slipped. Slammed my neck down on the top of the tailgate. Should have killed me , but I'm too dumb to die
12-24-2006, 10:35 AM
#25
TECH Veteran
iTrader: (2)
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: WestTexas
Posts: 4,274
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
After installing UMIs relocation brackets I was hearing a clunking noise coming from the rearend. I could not figure out where it was coming from. So I jacked up the car and noticed I had never tightened the shock bolt. The shock was moving free and making all the noise.
12-24-2006, 10:46 AM
#26
TECH Enthusiast
iTrader: (2)
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: St. Louis
Posts: 546
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Nice thread.
Dumbest move I've made yet? Grounding the positive on the block
yea, I melted the jumper cables and burned the hell out of my finger, luckily everything else was ok. I really wanted to jump off a bridge after that one! lol
Dumbest move I've made yet? Grounding the positive on the block
yea, I melted the jumper cables and burned the hell out of my finger, luckily everything else was ok. I really wanted to jump off a bridge after that one! lol
12-24-2006, 10:47 AM
#27
12 Second Club
iTrader: (11)
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Ohio
Posts: 836
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I think the most stupid thing I did while working on my own car was one time I was changing Spark plugs on my old 99 Silverado. Simple job, completed in about an hour taking plenty of budweiser breaks. Anywho, I was just finishing up and going to take a roadtest and I couldnt find my keys. I looked everywhere for them. About an hour later after looking I realized that I may have left them in my engine bay. I peeked in the hook cracks and there they were, lying on my battery!! I fished them out after a couple minutes. I also locked my keys in my truck twice during a flowmaster catback install!! In a 5 hour period!! What a Dumbass!!
12-24-2006, 10:48 AM
#28
Tech Resident
iTrader: (5)
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: CT
Posts: 1,403
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Ohh my, where do I start...
Junior year of highschool I bought my first car (93 Geo metro 3cyl), it had a blown engine so it was donated to the highschool auto shop, my group was tasked with swaping the engine out. I had decided to buy it once it was finished because I needed a cheap car.
We got the car done on the last day of class, I took the car, drove about 20miles and about 1/2 mile from my house the car starts bucking and shuttering and making awful noises.
I limped it home at 10mph, long story short: In the rush to get the car done we never put any fluid in the transmission lol. I'm surprised it got as far as it did...
Junior year of highschool I bought my first car (93 Geo metro 3cyl), it had a blown engine so it was donated to the highschool auto shop, my group was tasked with swaping the engine out. I had decided to buy it once it was finished because I needed a cheap car.
We got the car done on the last day of class, I took the car, drove about 20miles and about 1/2 mile from my house the car starts bucking and shuttering and making awful noises.
I limped it home at 10mph, long story short: In the rush to get the car done we never put any fluid in the transmission lol. I'm surprised it got as far as it did...
12-24-2006, 10:51 AM
#29
Teching In
iTrader: (2)
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: STL
Posts: 39
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
the phone story is still killing me!!!
dumbst thing i have done so far is...
After a motor swap on a frineds 2000 mustang we saw that the tracton control light would not say "off" when you hit the button. so with the book, a scan tool, and a digital multimeter i went to work to trace down the problem. i checked the switch, the wires, all the connections in the dash all the way to the pcm. well 2 1/2 hours later i checked for contunity across the little light bulb in the switch that lights the little off sign and guess what. the bulb was burnt out. good times.
my bolt breaking score is:
8 taking out or off
3 tightning back on or in
dumbst thing i have done so far is...
After a motor swap on a frineds 2000 mustang we saw that the tracton control light would not say "off" when you hit the button. so with the book, a scan tool, and a digital multimeter i went to work to trace down the problem. i checked the switch, the wires, all the connections in the dash all the way to the pcm. well 2 1/2 hours later i checked for contunity across the little light bulb in the switch that lights the little off sign and guess what. the bulb was burnt out. good times.
my bolt breaking score is:
8 taking out or off
3 tightning back on or in
12-24-2006, 12:49 PM
#30
TECH Fanatic
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Lincoln, Nebraska
Posts: 1,801
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Well hum I took my opti out, plugs, wires,WP, and etc but then i forgot that WAIT I didn't have money to buy all the new parts so i waited for 2 1/2 months for a guy to come down frome friend,Ne and he helped me put it all back together in one day hahhah and only charged 200 dollars to put it all back together and it was done all perfectly the dyno shop said! hahahahah good times!
12-24-2006, 12:51 PM
#31
TECH Fanatic
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Lincoln, Nebraska
Posts: 1,801
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I have another one i was torqueing down my wheels and boomm the 4 way socket wrench flew throught the air and i smashed my hand on the back wheel real bad!!!!
12-24-2006, 01:26 PM
#32
I could fill a whole page with all the dumb things I did while working on cars. The dumbest thing was when I was changing brake shoes on my '70 LeMans. I used the bumper jack alone to lift and hold the car up. When I finished and began to let the car down, the jack collapsed. My leg or hand could have been pinned under there!
On a different car, I was changing the rear brakes. I got the wheel off easy enough, but the drum wouldn't budge. I was prying and hammering and pulling and kicking for an hour till my friend asked if the E brake was off. I said no it's on, but I will go release it now.
Back to the '70 LeMans. I installed headers, and did not relocate the wiring for the starter. The battery cable and the wire going to the start switch were touching the header and melted together while I was driving. The starter engaged and gave that awful grinding noise when you stupidly try to start a running motor. Well, I shut the car off, but the starter kept going till I seperated the wires.
'70 LeMans again- I put a Holly 650 on it. I thought I'd change the Vacuum Secondaries to a mechanical setup for better throttle control. Well, dummy forgot to tighten a bolt and it loosened during a WOT run down some neighborhood streets. The seconaries stuck in the WOT position. This made stopping interesting, especially concidering my professional brake installs!
Oh Yea, I did break the display in a cell phone while closing my hood too. The phone still worked, but the battery life and part of the phone numbers were missing.
On a different car, I was changing the rear brakes. I got the wheel off easy enough, but the drum wouldn't budge. I was prying and hammering and pulling and kicking for an hour till my friend asked if the E brake was off. I said no it's on, but I will go release it now.
Back to the '70 LeMans. I installed headers, and did not relocate the wiring for the starter. The battery cable and the wire going to the start switch were touching the header and melted together while I was driving. The starter engaged and gave that awful grinding noise when you stupidly try to start a running motor. Well, I shut the car off, but the starter kept going till I seperated the wires.
'70 LeMans again- I put a Holly 650 on it. I thought I'd change the Vacuum Secondaries to a mechanical setup for better throttle control. Well, dummy forgot to tighten a bolt and it loosened during a WOT run down some neighborhood streets. The seconaries stuck in the WOT position. This made stopping interesting, especially concidering my professional brake installs!
Oh Yea, I did break the display in a cell phone while closing my hood too. The phone still worked, but the battery life and part of the phone numbers were missing.
12-24-2006, 01:53 PM
#33
TECH Addict
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Top of 4th Gear; Plano, TX
Posts: 2,245
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My mistakes are from carelessness for the most part. I have a laundry list of idiot things I've done but for the sake of the thread heres the worst from memory.
When I was changing the springs on my old z28 I was inside the wheel well and there was one nut that wouldnt budge for the life of me. You all know the ones I'm talking about, that you put all your strength into and can almost feel god it hurts so much lol...well I was doing that trying to get it off and the wrench slipped and BAM! smashed my finger on a bolt that was sticking out somewhere. Excrusiating pain., my finger nail turned black and blue and ended up coming off lol.
A number of years ago I was swapping a new car battery in and wasnt thinking and hit the negative terminal with the wrench while I was tightening the positive. There was like an explosion and the wrench was a little burnt lol luckily I didnt get any of it!
When I was changing the springs on my old z28 I was inside the wheel well and there was one nut that wouldnt budge for the life of me. You all know the ones I'm talking about, that you put all your strength into and can almost feel god it hurts so much lol...well I was doing that trying to get it off and the wrench slipped and BAM! smashed my finger on a bolt that was sticking out somewhere. Excrusiating pain., my finger nail turned black and blue and ended up coming off lol.
A number of years ago I was swapping a new car battery in and wasnt thinking and hit the negative terminal with the wrench while I was tightening the positive. There was like an explosion and the wrench was a little burnt lol luckily I didnt get any of it!
12-24-2006, 01:57 PM
#34
11 Second Club
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Peoria, AZ
Posts: 710
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I was tightening up my battery connections when the wrench slipped off and touched my metal watch and burned my wrist. I have scars. Happen so fast and hut like a ****.
12-24-2006, 02:35 PM
#35
Staging Lane
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 74
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by LS1Silverado05
In my senior year of highschool (1999) I was trying to swap a cam out of my 79Z28 and I was fighting with the cam for a couple hours, I could only get it to slide part way out and it would bind up. (I was thinking, wonderful, I've tweaked a cam bearing and now I'll never get it out. After another hour or so of anger and rage...my dad walks by..."Did you pull the fuel pump?".... Total combination of anger and relief rolled into one. Popped out the fuel pump, and out came the cam. Priceless. Always pays to take a break, and take a step back and look at the bigger picture. I cant even count how many times a "passer by" or a buddy will go..."Hey what about that?" . 
Total combination of anger and relief rolled into one. Popped out the fuel pump, and out came the cam. Priceless. Always pays to take a break, and take a step back and look at the bigger picture. I cant even count how many times a "passer by" or a buddy will go..."Hey what about that?" . LMFAO!
I did this exact thing. Fought with it for four or five hours, while goofing around with some friends. Some of us are slower then others, I guess.
12-24-2006, 03:07 PM
#36
About 3 years ago, I had a 1991 S-10 with the 2.8 V6 in it. Cranked it to go to work and it ran for about 30 seconds then died. Well I had a cam in it and it loped in the morning when it was cold. So I tried to crank it again and it would not crank at all. Spent all that night and the next morning replacing plugs, wires, distributor, etc. Well my buddy had come over to help out and was playing around and took the gas cap off. When I tried it again it cranked right up and ran perfect. Damn vapor lock cost me about $100. Felt like a complete dumbass since my friend didn't know **** about vehicles.
12-24-2006, 05:03 PM
#37
TECH Apprentice
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Hampton, VA
Posts: 381
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
forgot i had a minor "duh" moment - installing my speakers/head unit. i was so happy i got my alpine 9653 (i think thats the p/n), got mah JL Audio 6.5" XR speakers, along with mah JL Audio 6.5" XR components for the front. my driver's side front monsoon speaker was blown for a while, so every time the bass thumped, it peed me off... so i culdnt wait for this new system!
we got the head unit out, started wiring everything up, taping stuff together, etc., *finally* got the h/u back in after realizng the back of it was hittin the little black box with the way we were tryin to shove it in. after that, we started puttin the back speakers in, and i finally got my side installed, then looked over to realize my buddy was puttin up the component set on his side an asked where i wanted my tweeter at. i was like.. uh..dude - i need the coaxials back here.... tard. anyways, we got everything situated, in the cold, and we're ready to test it out. turned the car on - dead battery. after gettn her jumped, turned her on - no sound. i was so mad n frustrated, we took the h/u back off, re-verified all the connections, took the speakers back off, even hooked the old ones back on to see if they worked (which obviously they didnt).. then i got a wild idea to push one of the buttons on my h/u - apparently it was the power button. so yea...all that work, all that frustration, just to realize all i had to do was push "power". i feel so stupid now..
oh n i got a cell phone story, as well.. thats horrible guys. how are we gonna destroy our phones like this??? we gotta be more careful!
we got the head unit out, started wiring everything up, taping stuff together, etc., *finally* got the h/u back in after realizng the back of it was hittin the little black box with the way we were tryin to shove it in. after that, we started puttin the back speakers in, and i finally got my side installed, then looked over to realize my buddy was puttin up the component set on his side an asked where i wanted my tweeter at. i was like.. uh..dude - i need the coaxials back here.... tard. anyways, we got everything situated, in the cold, and we're ready to test it out. turned the car on - dead battery. after gettn her jumped, turned her on - no sound. i was so mad n frustrated, we took the h/u back off, re-verified all the connections, took the speakers back off, even hooked the old ones back on to see if they worked (which obviously they didnt).. then i got a wild idea to push one of the buttons on my h/u - apparently it was the power button. so yea...all that work, all that frustration, just to realize all i had to do was push "power". i feel so stupid now..
oh n i got a cell phone story, as well.. thats horrible guys. how are we gonna destroy our phones like this??? we gotta be more careful!
12-24-2006, 05:25 PM
#38
Teching In
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: chicago
Posts: 23
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We had just got done installing a New system in my friends GS-T. We go to White Castle, and we're feeling all cool,l b/c it HITS HARD. I go to the bathroom, installed a great system that day so im not really paying attention. answer a call, sneeze, drop the phone..**** all over my phone! Everyone in the bathroom laughs their *** off. That's the stupidest thing i've dont lately! Thats my phone story.
Car story. Installing headers on a friends honda. We couldn't get the damn thing to drop down, so we could get it out. So my buddy begins damn near jumping on the thing, it drops 1/2 inch from my face...that would have been bad. The sad thing is that nobody really thought it was that big of a deal!! Stupid times!!
Everyone in the bathroom laughs their *** off. That's the stupidest thing i've dont lately! Thats my phone story.Car story. Installing headers on a friends honda. We couldn't get the damn thing to drop down, so we could get it out. So my buddy begins damn near jumping on the thing, it drops 1/2 inch from my face...that would have been bad. The sad thing is that nobody really thought it was that big of a deal!! Stupid times!!
Last edited by ReLs1pect; 12-24-2006 at 05:29 PM. Reason: forgot something
12-24-2006, 05:37 PM
#39
i'mm only 20 years old but i have had enough time to accumulate more than one stupid mistake. not enough bandwidth on this site to host them all,lol.
heres a couple though.
i got a 99 wrangler with the straight 6that the exhause manifold broke off of. i bought a 500 dollar stainless header to replace it with. spent almost all day gettin the old off and gettin the new system in place. when i got done i fired it up and it immediately bounced off the rev limiter. me and the guy whos shop i was using looked over it for a few minutes and decided that i had gouged the gasket and had a killer leak. it was the end of the day though so we left. my jeep stayed there for about a week while i got the new gasket. went to install new gasket and realized that a few of the bolts werent real tight. i figured out that i had gotten my intake crossed up on the dowels and did not seat properly. loosened all the bolts, repositioned everything and retightened everyhting, fired right up and had no probs.
another was when i was goin to reassemble my motor. (98 ls1) i put the bare block on the engine stand and put it in front of my table with the bavk of the block facing my table. i laid out all the parts on the table just like how they would go into the motor. spent about 6 hours checking all my clearances and getting everything right. after getting the entire shortblock buttoned up i righted the motor only to realize that i had put every single piston/rod in on the wrong side of the motor. when i was putting them in i turned the motor over so that i was working on the right bank but i stuffed it with the left bank pistons. dumbass. spent the next saturday breaking it back down and puttin it back together.
heres a couple though.
i got a 99 wrangler with the straight 6that the exhause manifold broke off of. i bought a 500 dollar stainless header to replace it with. spent almost all day gettin the old off and gettin the new system in place. when i got done i fired it up and it immediately bounced off the rev limiter. me and the guy whos shop i was using looked over it for a few minutes and decided that i had gouged the gasket and had a killer leak. it was the end of the day though so we left. my jeep stayed there for about a week while i got the new gasket. went to install new gasket and realized that a few of the bolts werent real tight. i figured out that i had gotten my intake crossed up on the dowels and did not seat properly. loosened all the bolts, repositioned everything and retightened everyhting, fired right up and had no probs.
another was when i was goin to reassemble my motor. (98 ls1) i put the bare block on the engine stand and put it in front of my table with the bavk of the block facing my table. i laid out all the parts on the table just like how they would go into the motor. spent about 6 hours checking all my clearances and getting everything right. after getting the entire shortblock buttoned up i righted the motor only to realize that i had put every single piston/rod in on the wrong side of the motor. when i was putting them in i turned the motor over so that i was working on the right bank but i stuffed it with the left bank pistons. dumbass. spent the next saturday breaking it back down and puttin it back together.
