Sometimes I am surprised I am not dead

[JPSmit]

From the consequences of working on my own car.

or hypothetically, it should be possible to rebuild a Master Cylinder the first time, and not get it together and realize that there was still a spring lying on the workbench.

Hypothetically.

Just sayin`

 

[Rut]

Yep, I made it much longer than I thought I would from the same reason you stated as well as others. Wish mine was hypothetical...just sayin'
Rut

 

[JPSmit]

Wish mine was hypothetical...

so do I my friend, so do I. On the plus side I can honestly say I have rebuilt my car three times. (as in everything takes me three tries)

 

[SaxMan]

Thank you for sharing that you are human, too. As a newbie who sometimes gets quite ham-handed with the work on my Sprite, it is comforting to know that even the more experienced folks on this forum are subject to human error as well. Sometimes when I post something that has gone awry, I often wonder "I'll bet these folks are just going to be shaking their heads behind their computers". It hasn't happened, though, and for that I'm definitely grateful to everyone who has chimed in each time I've bumped into a problem, which happens often!

 

[nomad]

Experience is something you don't really get without making mistakes!

Kurt.

 

[AN5Sprite]

Experience is what separates the men/women from boys/girls. Experience is the only real knowledge.

Leftover springs are like un-paired socks though. Just toss that bad boy in the trash. What could possibly go wrong!? Hypothetically speaking, of course...

 

[longbridgehealey]

That's the greatest thing about this forum! In all the years that I've been asking for help, no one has ever given me a condescending answer. For lbc owners this has got to be "home" and we all know what Dorothy says...

 

[JPSmit]

Thank you for sharing that you are human, too. As a newbie who sometimes gets quite ham-handed with the work on my Sprite, it is comforting to know that even the more experienced folks on this forum are subject to human error as well. Sometimes when I post something that has gone awry, I often wonder "I'll bet these folks are just going to be shaking their heads behind their computers". It hasn't happened, though, and for that I'm definitely grateful to everyone who has chimed in each time I've bumped into a problem, which happens often!

And you are more than welcome here. I could not have restored Ms Triss without these boards. In terms of mistakes, some of them are so pervasive they are practically a condition for membership.

 

[paulsherman]

And many mistake reported are funny

 

[RickB]

...some of them are so pervasive they are practically a condition for membership.

I have no idea what you're talking about...

 

[JPSmit]

Done that too - no pics though (no evidence :grin: )

 

[SaxMan]

At least with these little cars, redemption is only one item on the to-do list away. This evening, I successfully finished the installation of two of Peter's lever shocks in the rear of the Sprite. I definitely had a bit of a time getting the right rear shock out, but everything went in fairly smoothly. Of course, until I fix the brakes, I can't get to feel how much of an improvement it will be. However, just based on bouncing the rear fenders, I can already see a big difference. Now, I'll have to turn my attention to the front!

 

[glemon]

My first car was a Sprite, I learned all sorts of "it's a wonder I ain't dead" lessons with that car. Didn't have proper jack stands, held it up with bricks, concrete blocks, large pieces of wood, remember the car rocking as I tried to loosen a stuck nut somewhere underneath, remember thinking "its not a very big car and I can move pretty fast if I need to", oh to be you and indestructible (at least in my own mind) again. Remember working on the back axle or brake line or something, for whatever reason I removed the nut holding the rear brake lines to the rear axle, thinking it probably wasn't that important, or maybe I lost it or was in a hurry to get the car back together to get somewhere. A few weeks later I learned about metal fatigue as the line gave way from bounced around just as I pulled slowly into the garage...That is just some of the stupid stuff as a mechanic, if you get into the stupid stuff as a driver the story would get much longer.

 

[Bayless]

I guess I was immortal at one time too. My first car was a '46 Chevy convert that had a habit of breaking axles. You had to remove a retainer inside the diff to extract the broken end. I changed one one night with the car on only its own bumper jack. Didn't seem like a problem at the time.

 

[JPSmit]

Coming back to the Master Cylinder - got it reinstalled. I use DOT5 which does tend to foam a bit. Likewise there is the ever present issue of the hose being higher than the MC. So, I bleed it by holding it higher than the hose, bleeding through the MC, Spread it over a few days and must say there were satisfying bubbles each time. It is now re-installed and, I don't think I have never had as hard a pedal.

 

[SaxMan]

Coming back to the Master Cylinder - got it reinstalled. I use DOT5 which does tend to foam a bit. Likewise there is the ever present issue of the hose being higher than the MC. So, I bleed it by holding it higher than the hose, bleeding through the MC, Spread it over a few days and must say there were satisfying bubbles each time. It is now re-installed and, I don't think I have never had as hard a pedal.

Like I said earlier in the thread: Redemption is never more than the next item on your to-do list away.