What's your biggest, best, funniest most bone-headed move related to your car?

[ProjectBazza]

I still have the scar from doing the exact same thing with the tail light on my '79 Lebanon! Stupid me, I tried to keep the car from rolling by holding the jack. Like I'm stopping a nearly 2 ton car from moving! My hand and the jack went through the tail light, leaving a 2" gash in my hand. The door to the house was locked besides. Lots of blood all over everything and a trip to the ER. I almost learned safety that day!

My BIL did something similar, but his injury involved a loaded-up trailer and the rear window of a Caravan (the trailer got away from him as he was hooking it up and his hand was on the very end of the trailer tongue).

I thought I had posted that story before, but I just did a search and couldn’t find it.

 

[ProjectBazza]

Maybe I should have started a different thread. As I think about it, the memories are pouring in.

Agreed. The more I read, the more I remember……

 

[LO23M8B]

I'd have to make a list. A very long list.

 

[crackedback]

Street race, doing my burnout and people start scattering... you know what that means.
Shut car down, tap on the window from a mag light. A sports coach I was playing for was standing there. It was about 1AM and we had a game at 8am that morning. He got out me out of there (no ticket, etc), ran at practice for what seemed like years.

 

[340six]

A guy I knew gave me his car that needed a new trans. Later says joined the navy keep it. He was driving it till Trans went out so I put a trans in. Then saw it has milkshake oil. So then pulled motor and Trans to put new motor. I was young and dumb. All and all was a great car for many years

 

[tinman2]

Back in the mid 1970s, I hung around the garage of my main do-it-all car guy. I learned a lot from him. He was rebuilding a small block cheby for a customer. All the machine work and checking was done so he let me put it together while he was out of the garage. I had the crank installed and main caps torqued. Then I put in all the pistons and rods. A friend came in and distracted me. I was a little annoyed. Then I finished the assembly. We installed it in a Camaro, filled it with oil, and he got in to crank it, and I said "Wait!" I did not remember torqueing the rod bolts. He got out and we pulled the pan and sure enough, I had not torqued them. The customer was there watching all this and he said "Dayum. Instant recall."
It ended up with everyone just laughing about it but I was just seconds away from a disaster.

 

[Bodyperson]

I'll bite. Drinking beer, primed the carb with a beer bottle. Came back from test drive. YUP

 

[ProjectBazza]

I'll bite. Drinking beer, primed the carb with a beer bottle. Came back from test drive. YUP

Just remembered a “two-fer”….

One: College roommate went fishing with his brother, and while launching the boat he learned the parking brake in his new (to him) S-10 didn’t work. Thankfully they were able to open the door and get his brother’s dog out of the cab in time….

Towing company pulled the truck and trailer out of the lake about 30-45 minutes later, and brought it back to the house we were renting.

Two: I offered to dry the truck out and get it running, for my share of the rent, and I actually made pretty good progress. Except I couldn’t get the damn thing to run on more than three or four cylinders (2.8 V6 engine). Pulled the plugs, checked for compression, and changed the cap, rotor, coil, and ignition module multiple times- but no joy.

Finally had to throw-in the towel, and we dragged the truck to the nearest service garage…..

$300 later (my dime): You know what the firing order is on a 2.8 Chevy V6? I do now, and I’ll never, EVER forget it!

Best part of this is that he drove that truck for another 10 years or so.

 

[Bodyperson]

Just remembered a “two-fer”….

One: College roommate went fishing with his brother, and while launching the boat he learned the parking brake in his new (to him) S-10 didn’t work. Thankfully they were able to open the door and get his brother’s dog out of the cab in time….

Towing company pulled the truck and trailer out of the lake about 30-45 minutes later, and brought it back to the house we were renting.

Two: I offered to dry the truck out and get it running, for my share of the rent, and I actually made pretty good progress. Except I couldn’t get the damn thing to run on more than three or four cylinders (2.8 V6 engine). Pulled the plugs, checked for compression, and changed the cap, rotor, coil, and ignition module multiple times- but no joy.

Finally had to throw-in the towel, and we dragged the truck to the nearest service garage…..

$300 later (my dime): You know what the firing order is on a 2.8 Chevy V6? I do now, and I’ll never, EVER forget it!

Best part of this is that he drove that truck for another 10 years or so.

Been there but amazing how well they can run on computer controlled engines.

 

[PA Dodger]

Lots of blood all over everything and a trip to the ER. I almost learned safety that day!

Unfortunately many of us learn safety just before it happens or as it's happening. Fortunately, most of us remember what we learned.
A while back I was making a bracket out of aluminum. As I was holding the bracket in my hand drilling a hole in it I thought " You know, when this drill breaks thru I might get hurt....". Dumb ***. I'm a slow learner. The electrical tape and blue rags wouldn't stop the bleeding.

 

[1WildRT]

I was putzing around on my freshly restored Charger. New paint, new engine, new everything. It's not in my garage where everything is handy, but in a separate storage area. I know the engine runs fine but this particular day it didn't want to start. I'm pumping the gas and crankin her over, pumpin and crankin, not getting anywhere. Must not be getting a hot spark. I didn't want to wash down the cylinders and load the oil up with gas so I pulled the plugs to clear the gas. I crank it over, dangling spark plug wire meets header, gas meets the amazing spark, now my new zero mile car is on fire. I'm running in circles shitttin twinkies with no fire extinguisher handy. Luckily there wasn't that much gas so nothing was damaged other than fenderwell paint getting darkened a little.
I would love to say that was when I was young and dumb but...

Flashback moment....

Many years ago, probably 1983 or 84, working in a shop, got a Chevy Luv truck in my stall, supposed to be leaking coolant... pressure test didn't show anything, the boss suggested warm it up & see if anything shows.... Idling kinda rough but it's running & slowly getting warm, I walked away for something, when I returned the truck had stalled... No biggie, I hit the key to re-start it... Clunk!! Locked up solid... Took a second but I realized the electric fuel pump was still running & when the engine died due the a float that wasn't sealing the fuel so the pump just filled the engine with fuel.... So, I pulled the plugs & was getting ready to spin the engine over when the boss walks up smoking his cigar.... I tell him I'm concerned about his cigar lighting the fuel.... "Oh hell, my cigar won't ignite the fuel, you need a spark for that" clearly my brain should have connected the dots but noooo... I hit the starter, blew gasoline out of the cylinders for a fraction of a second & as I released the key a spark lit the fuel vapor & I had a huge fireball, a burning Chevy Luv plus the two cars sitting off to the passenger side....

I grabbed an extinguisher & had everything put out quickly, I spent the next couple hours washing & waxing cars, amazingly there was zero damage to any of the cars once I'd removed all the gasoline residue & soot... Just remember, it takes a spark....

 

[Mtrhead]

When I was about 19 I installed a new headliner in a 71 demon and the SAG on each side wasn't too bad but it was noticeable so I chose to use a heat gun to shrink it a little bit and tighten it up once I did great I got to talking to somebody and put it too close on the other side and it scorched it you could see it changed the color of black from satin to gloss ...almost melted

 

[PA Dodger]

Flashback moment....

Many years ago, probably 1983 or 84, working in a shop, got a Chevy Luv truck in my stall, supposed to be leaking coolant... pressure test didn't show anything, the boss suggested warm it up & see if anything shows.... Idling kinda rough but it's running & slowly getting warm, I walked away for something, when I returned the truck had stalled... No biggie, I hit the key to re-start it... Clunk!! Locked up solid... Took a second but I realized the electric fuel pump was still running & when the engine died due the a float that wasn't sealing the fuel so the pump just filled the engine with fuel.... So, I pulled the plugs & was getting ready to spin the engine over when the boss walks up smoking his cigar.... I tell him I'm concerned about his cigar lighting the fuel.... "Oh hell, my cigar won't ignite the fuel, you need a spark for that" clearly my brain should have connected the dots but noooo... I hit the starter, blew gasoline out of the cylinders for a fraction of a second & as I released the key a spark lit the fuel vapor & I had a huge fireball, a burning Chevy Luv plus the two cars sitting off to the passenger side....

I grabbed an extinguisher & had everything put out quickly, I spent the next couple hours washing & waxing cars, amazingly there was zero damage to any of the cars once I'd removed all the gasoline residue & soot... Just remember, it takes a spark....

So glad I wasn't the only one to perform this awesome spectacle.

 

[1WildRT]

So glad I wasn't the only one to perform this awesome spectacle.

Yeah, but I took it to a whole other level... Then again, you had a restored Charger burning... All I was roasting was a few turds...

 

[Professor Fate]

Not mechanical, but here goes:
Many moons ago, still young myself with a young family; I was meeting my (then) wife after work at my parent's house for dinner. I arrived first in my '68 GTS, and she arrives shortly afterwards in her '71 Duster and pulls up behind me. I'm getting some food for the barbecue out of the Dart's trunk, I close the lid and turn around just in time to hear her yell "NOOOO!"
She had left the car running, and my son (who was a little escape artist at the time) had finagled his way out of his car seat and climbed into the front, grinning ear-to-ear, and dropped the Duster into gear to pretend that he was driving!! There I am between the two cars with an armload of brats and burgers, trying desperately to get a leg up to push back against the front of the Duster to keep it from ramming the rear of the Dart... It never occurred to me that my legs could get crushed, I only wanted to save the Dart!
Luckily for me I was able to hold back the Duster long enough to yell at the wife to "get that damn car out of gear!" and she was able to reach in the window and grab the column shifter- but didn't quite get it into Park, she only made it to Reverse; and now she's being dragged backwards with her arm caught in the steering wheel. I throw the groceries on the trunk of the Dart and start running (hobbling?) after the Duster, throw the passenger door open, and finally get the thing in Park.
Luckily, no major injuries; just scrapes and bruises. And one grinning kid who couldn't figure out why everyone was yelling so much.
New rule we learned the hard way that day: Keys go in your pocket or purse when there's kids in the car. Even if they're buckled in.

 

[mopar head]

Not mechanical, but here goes:

 

[gunbunny]

Removed a bad engine in a Pontiac Grand Am front wheel drive car.
Pulled the transmission, and the torque converter came off. I just slipped it back up on the input shaft, and forgot about it.
Got busy with the engine and the hassle that became.
Finally put it all back together and bolted in the car.
Started and the junk yard engine sounded great. Put the car in reverse to back out of the garage and do a test drive and nothing. The engine revved, but the car didn't move.
Then it hit me like a ton of rocks, I didn't slip the torque converter back up on the input shaft.
Transmission came back out and sure enough, it was just what I thought.
I slipped it back on the input shaft and put everything back together, again.
That time it backed out and I sent the car down the street.
Now, you better believe I check torque converters whenever I see one.

The next story isn't as bad, but.......
Asked the ex wife to pull her car up to the shop so that I could check the fluids.
I told her to leave the car running so I could check transmission fluid.
She does and says she's going back into the house.
I thought she took both the kids with her. What actually happened is my daughter went back in with her mom and my 4 year old son decided he was going to stay out with me.
I walked into the shop, to get a rag, not knowing the boy was outside.
As I was bent over grabbing a rag out of the bucket, the car came crashing through the doors.
My son had climbed into the car and decided he wanted to drive like daddy.
That was 30 years ago, and my son still remembers that day.

 

[ProjectBazza]

I'll bite. Drinking beer, primed the carb with a beer bottle. Came back from test drive. YUP

I have a plastic Mountain Dew bottle for that, and even though I wrote GAS all over it with a Sharpie, when it’s hot out, or I’m thirsty, it HAS caught my eye…..

 

[CFD244]

You guys are losers.......I've never done anything stupid in my life.

 

[Pound]

Another "I thought of it just a little too late" incident: I was trying to figure out why the 383 in my '72 ram pickup had a bog. So I climb up under the hood, over the engine and look down the carb. I am revving it up and letting off. I just start thinking " this is dumb", sure enough, it back-fires right in my face. I was quite proud of the fact I did a complete horizontal ejection without hitting my head on the hood! Checked my eyebrows, yep-gone! I also found out that flames actually spiral out of the carb, just like in the cartoons I used to watch!

 

[Daves69]

What's your biggest, best, funniest most bone-headed move related to your car?​

Trading my '71 Challenger RT 340 4spd, to a friend (?) forever ago, for the '69 Formula S which needed a front clip (and more). A '66 Satellite roller stripped out for racing was also included which I threw a 440 automatic and drove for the summer then JY'd the body late fall.
The guy evidently packed up what he could in the Challenger and drove off a week or so later, never to be heard from again. Never even came back for this glovebox paperwork............

 

[cosgig]

Not me, but my buddy. He had a 71 R/T Challenger, it had some trans trouble, so he had it up on ramps by his garage. His house is on top of a hill with a pretty steep driveway. Down at the bottom of the hill in a little side spur was his camper, the kind you put in the bed of a truck. It’s up on poles so you can back his truck under it. He’s got the Challenger running, up on the ramps, and goes into the garage for some tools, the car rolls off the ramps, down the driveway, and crashes into the camper legs, and the camper drops on top of the car, with it still running. No way to get the door open to shut it off either, so he had to run up to the garage for more tools to pull the battery.

He fixed the roof, the hood, the front fenders, new glass, but never fixed the drivers side window in the door. The car was sold off not long after that, in its place came a 69/70 Sport Fury. That car was run hard and basically trashed in retaliation for the Challengers demise

 

[pauly]

Buying a project 1970 Duster that I thought would be a quick project. Two kids and 13 years later, I’m finally working on it again!!

 

[cosgig]

No one ever got sick from smoking the tires!!

Good for your daughter. She did good!

We still laugh about it to this day, if you can’t laugh at your mistakes, you’ll end up not laughing at all!

 

[Frodee]

Witch bone headed thing should I post??
Most recent was last summer I pressure washed my engine on my 73 Scamp, and being smart about it I put a plastic bag over the air filter to keep it dry. I got distracted by a phone call and decided I best get the car back in the garage out of the hot sun. SO! started it up and sucked that air cleaner and filter flat.
I did receive bone head of the year award and have that air cleaner lid mounted to my garage wall to remind me, I'm a bone head.