navy_vette

I have brought this up in a few other forums for Corvettes, and got some pretty disturbing results. I am new here, so I figure I'll post here here too. I want to hear the disturbing stories. What are the many ways that you have worked on your car...while NOT using the tools that you should. For example, I once removed a cylinder head that was glued to the block due to....we'll call it overheating, using a 3 foot breaker bar. Also, I decided that using a sledge hammer to remove my headers was a grand idea. The bolts were stuck, for the same reason as above, and was getting new cylinder heads anyways.

Here's one you might like. I was working on my buddy's 5.0 mustang. He cracked an engine mount. I don't know how, but that's neither here nor there. Instead of doing the right thing by cutting and grinding it out to make a nice surface for the new mount, we hammered it off with the same sledge as my headers.

I know we are ashamed of it, but we have all done it. Especially with this era of Corvettes, or any car of this era for that matter. Let's hear them!

Tommy T-Bone

Ever consider a career in auto salvage and recycling?

Calderone

Installed the whole Super ram setup to find out my fuel rail had leaky orings !
i knew i had to check leaks first but i forgot and i had to take away everything !

aminnich

If the first attempt doesn't work just get a bigger hammer.

My best story is actually something one of my techs did a few years ago. He was working on a large turbocharged Cat engine. While he had the intake tubing off he covered the opening with a couple of shop rags to keep any debris from getting into the engine. I bet you can guess what happened next. Yep, he forgot to remove the rags and fired up the engine, sucked them clean in and wrapped around the valves. It wasn't one of his better days.

3D87C4

Rebuilt a Chevy in-line 6 cylinder when I was a kid. I didn't have a garage so I was working in a trailer in the back yard. While holding the head over the block for assembly I discovered I was straddling the center of ballance of the trailer and it tilted backwards about 45 degrees!!! Miraculously nothing bad happened---the engine didn't slide, I didn't drop the head or fall over---nothing. I started yelling and a friend eventually heard, grabbed the tongue of the trailer and leveled me back up, me still holding the head. I set the head on the engine and immediately braced the trailer so that wouldn't happen again.

cv67

Pulled a Muncie out of a 67 Camaro I had way back only used a jack to suport the front. Did it on my lunch break at the shop I worked at so it was a quickie. Was too cool for jackstands being young and all.

Pulled the trans out kicked it out from under the car then as I reached for my air gun to attack the clutch the car slowly started coming down. Started to maneuver out from under it but knew I wouldnt make it and would be crushed. The car was lowered substantially.


Turned kind of sideways last second and got pinned hard by the trans tunnel. Let out a breath of air to yell for help and couldnt breathe back in. Worst part is the car started slowly moving backwards, ouch!!!Thank God there were others in that shop, dont remember being dragged out from under the car.

Now its big jackstands at all 4 corners and a jack under the crossmember minimum every time for anything.

Railroadman

Back in the 80's I had a street stock race car, wanted to put a different motor in it. Got a car with a 350 for about free, all I wanted was the engine and tranny. I was working at a gas station (back when they did repair work) but we did not have a motor hoist.

Had to get the car out of there pronto to keep the boss happy so we got everything disconnected, raised the lift, and pushed the car under it. Lowered the lift down until it almost hit the car (hood was removed) and chained the motor to the lift. Raised the lift back up, bringing the motor and tranny out with appropriate wiggling, prying and cussing. Rolled the donor car away, backed my truck in, and lowered the lift to place the motor and tranny in the truck.

(Later, at a different place, used a fork truck to put it into the race car)

Strange, but it worked!

cv67

Forgot the stories about the cars that slid right off the lift. Oh boy

3D87C4

Car on stands, engine hanging from chain hoist, buddy under car guiding the engine in. He says 'up a bit'. I comply then lean on the fender looking down to see how things are progressing. The car swings about a foot or so, having been lifted off the stands by the hoist/engine and my buddy scoots out of there reeeel fast.

Frizlefrak

Perfect story. That made my day. I thought this sort of crap only happened to me.

mike100

Helped a friend change a cam and manifold on his 76 camaro. he was on a budget and had to use his timing chain again-problem was that two teeth were busted off (it was a double roller and the back row had all the teeth still). 2nd problem was that one of the teeth had the timing mark on it. 3rd problem was that we drank a 12pk while we did the job...

well, of course you know we picked the wrong timing mark and the car had no torque. just had to do it all again.

corvetteronw

Pulled the engine out of my 81 and rebuilt it into a 355 and installed aftermarket heads and intake. The Edelbrock literature said the intake and carb would fit under the hood of an 81 Corvette. NOT! I drove around a few weeks with a cut down air filter with the rear of the hood open an inch or so. That look was cool back on Woodward Ave back in the 60s. I decided to cut a hole in the hood so that an aftermarket air cleaner would poke through and planned to glass in a cowl hood scoop.
I take the hood off, measure THREE times to find the exact middle of the hood and use my trusty Black and Decker saw to cut a perfectly round hole.
Bolt the hood up and lower it only to discover that the damn engine on these C3s is not centered in the chassis but off to the right by about 3".
S#@&! I was able to bondo in part of the piece I had cut out and then cut the hole in the proper place. Glassed in a hood scoop and all ended well.
My wife still tells this story as I sit there red-faced.

Frizlefrak

I used to drink when I wrenched. I learned (the hard way) not to do that.

cv67

So Im not the only one who drunkenly cussed everyone out around him accusing them of losing/borrowing my tools after finishing work on the car....only to pull the intake off 6 mos later and find them all sitting in the lifter valley, rags and all where they were originally laid? Cannot tell you how many washers and small nuts I found in the oil pan, no damage ever lol

Good times

anciano

Replaced the timing belt on an old Suzuki Samurai, being very careful to get the timing marks all lined up and everything in pefect order. Then cranked it up to a terrible crashing sound from the engine bay. Seems I had forgotten to take the socket wrench off the crank pulley nut. Oddly, no damage except to my ego, although the timing belt had slipped a couple of notches.

Also had a motorcycle topple off a lift when I leaned on a shock mounting nut too hard with a breaker bar. I cleverly interposed my body between the falling bike and the cement garage floor, so damage was minimal. To the bike.