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OK, fess up.

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My first car was a Toyota Corona and not only did I also grow up in NY but NOBODY in my family was much for working on cars so I knew absolutely nothing (less than that if it's possible). The alternator started to make a horrible noise so I pulled it out and took it to a junk yard that said they had one. When I plunked it on the table the guy smiled and said "son, that's an air pump for your pollution control system". Lucky for me he had one of those too. No wires on it, big air hoses, what? How's a fella to know.....
 
Jon's Toyota made me think of pulling the engine out of my 1972 Toyota during the late 1970s. I pulled it into an old carriage house. Remember those, built for horse and carriage? Small. I put a 4X4 post up under the cross beam just for a little peace of mind. Worked great until I set the engine back in and took the weight off the beam. I watched from the opposite side of the car while the 4x4 fell slowly and gracefully where it came to rest on the edge of the windshield just so. It cracked. A friend showed me how to change out windshields the next day. Another lesson. That was back in the day. I had purchased an entire wrecked Toyota for parts for $50.
 
My first attempt at tuning up a car at the age of 16 after learning how to do it (I thought) from my brother: My friend and I took his mother's car to our garage and proceeded to change plugs, cap, rotor, points, condenser, and set the timing. We started the car and it ran, but very poorly. Waited until my brother came home, worried that I had messed up my friend's car. My brother immediately checked the condenser wiring and saw that I had shorted it -- put it on the wrong side of the insulator. A few years later I was able to replace the points of my TR3 under the Philadelphia subway at midnight with the light of a street lamp and be on my way in 15 minutes. Never forgot that lesson.
 
We were preparing for our annual trip from Massachusetts to the Formula One races at Watkins Glen. Our buddy decided this was the best time to install new shocks in the family Chevy station wagon for the trip. Like a well-oiled F1 pit crew we attacked the car, saving seconds by using only the hydraulic jack without messing with those pesky jack stands. Sure enough, we watched the front end slowly descend on our friend underneath the car while we yanked his feet out from underneath. No one was injured and we all got to see Jackie Stewart on track. Lesson learned.
 
blueskies said:
....
-Dry wood can conduct electricity, at least when it is 14,000 volts. Thanks to good rubber boots, I lived to tell the tale.

....
Click to expand...
Now you tell me! Last week I was using a paint stirring stick to hold an ignition wire with 50,000 volts on it.
 
I've always tried to rotate the tires on my cars, and several years ago did that on my MGC. Finished up and drove down the street. felt the front end drop and watched my tire rolling down the street.
Got all the knockoffs tight except for one. Certainly don't know where my mind was that day.
 
I'm starting to think that, myself included, maybe we should have avatars that are more akin to the Wyle E. Coyote look of the electrocuted guy with lightning bolts in the air, soot covered face, very wide eyes and smoke curling upwards. Those guys always seem to recover in an instant. Us, not so much. I'll be more careful if you all will. Number 6, did you coin the phrase "everything was fine until the wheels came off"? I used to live in West Nottingham, NH.
 
I purchased that cool looking rubber garage floor covering that looks like steel plate that Costco sells. I found out the hard way that you cannot use a rolling floor jack on it. The wheels sink into the rubber and the jack doesn't move as you raise the car. Car slides off the jack and goes "boom!". Costco allowed me to return it. I now have an epoxy floor.
 
I couldn't think of much to add to this list so I asked my wife. She remembers it all! :rolleyes2: Bless her heart.
 
OH ! :
I probably did some of those reported things too,but i just remembered being onah side of the road with a puncture.
I had just raised the boot lid and set the support rod going after the jack.
A semi truck blasted by and the wind blast unhooked the support rod and the boot lid fell on my head.
Never again when on the side of the road did i leave the Boot Lid or the bonent up while attending to the car.
 
That reminds me of a story that happened not that long ago. Hit a rock on the interstate with my daily driver, tire popped, I pull way over to the side of the median to be safe. The flat is on the passenger side, it is actually off the median and in the grass. I jack the car up and remove the flat. Go to get the spare, car is too low to get it on. I try to jack it up more, see that Jack is sinking into the ground, not wet on top, but still wet from a lot of rain over the week.

Try moving the jack, same result, can't move the car because the wheel is off.

It is about 100 degrees out, much swearing and head scratching follows. My wife suggests using a large book style soft cover road atlas under the jack, I don't think it will work, but out of ideas and materials we try it. It works.
 
You have to be very careful about not listening to your better half because you think you know when something she suggested has no chance of working. I once made a run to the store to get some emergency ice cream in my old Dodge/Mitsubishi mini truck and was in such a rush to go home and eat it that I jammed the key from my wife's car into the ignition and got it halfway turned before I realized. It would not come out no matter what I did and I was afraid of breaking it. Called the wife and had her bring some tools. As I swore and sweated (105 degrees out) in the parking lot she suggested I try some WD 40 on it. I explained that it was locked hard into position and no lubricant would do a thing and please stand back and let me work. I might have been a bit rude about it I can only go by what she told me later. After another 15 min of fussing I finally took the can she was holding and squirted a bit into the key slot and presto it practically fell out. That was years ago and to this day I find it is often in my best interest to listen to her even when I KNOW she is wrong......
 
While working near a battery, I shorted out the battery post to ground with the metal band on my wrist watch! Still have a scar that looks like a watch band. Heard stories of rings doing the same thing, ouch
 
Most if not all professional mechanics I know take rings and watches off before working on a car. I don't wear a watch, haven't for years, but I do leave my gold wedding band on, probably not too bright, but no problems so far.
 
Just got to say this is a wonderful thread. It's always reassuring to know that others have gained knowledge the hard way.
 
Two from me. The day I fuelled a race boat which went on to win......Well nearly, it ran out of fuel ....With 500m to go to the line.....I forgot to allow a margin for start line staging. Another when I fitted a barometer to a lovely classic boat with a one piece mahogany bulkhead. I muddled the datum point inside and outside the cockpit and cut a 3 inch hole in the wrong place.....Very upset owner and a very difficult correction job.....Moral measure twice (thrice) cut once .
Oh and a third....A 911engine rebuild that knocked.....The engineering shop didn't hone the cases but line bored them .....wrong size main bearings fitted, very time consuming to track down as it made pretty good oil pressure too...
 
Replacing a gas tank for a 1982 Honda 900CB got one someone had pryed off the gas cap and bent the filler hole.
Straightened it out fairly easily. Figured I check out if it would leak. Installed the gas cap . Hooked up the air hose to it.
Gave it some air. Quickly came to the realization that maybe 110PSI was a little to much. No straightening that tank out again.
Blew it out like a balloon. Back to trying to find another tank.
 
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How's about testing the plugs for a spark.

Took one out and turned the engine over using the solenoid button, of course the other 5 plugs were in and of course the engine fired up whilst I was holding the sixth against the block, I found that I could not let go and just about managed to switch the ignition off before any major damaged occurred - OUCH And the daft thing is I did a similar thing on our lawnmower some 55 years ago when I pulled the string to turn the engine over - some people never learn.

:cheers:

Bob
 
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