What have you done that's STUPID?

mom nearly beat my arse.... STUPID

At 16 yrs of age I was really rough on 69 chevy c10 with a 400 small block and a posi rear. So before she could find out I destroyed the rear doing reverse slams me and a neighbor boy used the high tension power line tower in the front yard to change the rearend real quick. We used a come-along to lift the truck by the reese hitch when Postal man pulled up and raised all kinda hell. By then the rear was out....truck was hanging.

I did a fun one last week.

I tried to make a flat washer out of a thick 1" lock washer. I V'd the ends at the split, put the washer in a vise, clamped it flat, and then tacked the end.

I then decided to lay it on the work bench and finish welding it up.

As soon as the arc started, my tack came loose and washer took off across the maitenance departmen at work like it had been shot out of a gun.

That would have left a mark if it would have come my direction.

I forgot to take a rag out of an intake manifold before I put the carb back on. Had to pull the head off to get it unstuck from the intake valve!!

dmw56 said:

I forgot to take a rag out of an intake manifold before I put the carb back on. Had to pull the head off to get it unstuck from the intake valve!!

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Hahahahaha... that reminds me... when I went to fire up my motor on my 46 for the first time I still had rags in the end of my mufflers from painting them(at the end where the collector is). It sounded kinda weird at first then thunk thunk, out shoot the rags I had in each muffler. The rags were a little scorched and I just gave my buddy the "did I do that" look. Luckily no harm done on that one.

This one kind of scared me... I was doing some welding on my cab and had a rag stuffed in the intake manifold. I start smelling something burning and the rag was about ready to fall down into the block on fire. I grabbed the rag out and there was a little whoosh of a flame that shot out. I thought she was gonna blow. Always use a welding blanket or wet towels now.

Rat'l Trap said:

I have the kind of garage door that has two coiled springs, one on each side, which serve to lift the door when you push the button on the opener, or lift the door handle. A cable is used to actually pull the door up when the spring is activated. My cables were getting frayed and hanging up on some pulleys. I went to replace the cables by removing the cables so I could take them to the store and be sure to get the correct length and diameter cable. Finally got them all undone and coiled up to go to the store. Then I went to open the garage door so I could get my car out...Do you have any idea how heavy a 16 foot wide steel garage door is?? I dont know the weight, but that biotch is one heavy MF. I had to restring the cables to get the door open to get my car out, and then did it all over again. Practice makes perfect...

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160lbs. Spent 10 years as a garage door repair man

When I was around 20 years old, I had a '55 Chev that wouldn't start. So I decided to pull it up the street with my '29 Model A Coupe (a stocker) on the end of a rope where I intended to turn it around, coast down the hill and bump start it. As I reached the top of the hill (not very steep) the rope came loose and the Chevy slowly started rolling backward down the street. I stopped the Model A as fast as I could (mechanical brakes). Hopped out and ran after the Chevy. It picked up speed. I ran faster. It started through the front yard of a neighbor. Just as I reached the door handle, I looked up in time to see the neighbor's sailboat a few feet in front of me. The Chevy hit the boat trailer tongue and I did a face plant on the hull of the boat. It fell off the trailer. The Chevy continued on to the next yard and lodged itself partially in the living room of a very nice house.
I had created a car, boat, house collision and wasn't very popular with my parents or their neighbors.
Please don't tell anyone about this incident because it is rather embarassing.

That'd be worth $100K on America's Funniest Videos !

This thread kinda worries me--It keeps me thinking about all the stupid stuff I've done--theres a BUNCH!!

I rolled a Reault Dauphine once. In my defence thay had a crappy DeDion swing arm rear suspension much like the early corvairs, and the rear axle would fold up under the car in a corner and pole vault thye thing over--

I was doing the speed limit in the town park, and was going down a steep hill, and wondered what would happen if I whipped the steering wheel hard right.. So I did.. That POS got sideways, the axle folded and I flopped it right over..

Also-- I was 16--that was a lot of it..

PA41

well, this past weekend a friend came over to weld up the rearend in my truck, cooked some steaks on the grill....yada, yada....
Yesterday I took the day off work because it has been really INTENSE getting ready for the big inspection @ work.(we are done now...THANK GOD) I knew one of the valves on the left bank was out of adjustment, as I remove the valve cover to check them all, I notice that no matter what I do I can't find the right size allen head to fit the jam nut.(Roller tip rockers) So I turn the motor by hand to get pressure off that valve and see just how loose it really is. Wound up removing it with my thumb and index finger. (that ain't right) cleaned it up to find that there is no jam nut in there @ all..(AWE $#!t) That aint good....I go looking for the jam nut and LOW AND BEHOLD there it sits on top of the head.

IDUNNO how long it was there
IDUNNO how many times that motor has been fired up....but there it was....[cl

SOO there is the only story you will get from me...

I bought a new truck in 1989. I know there are more but I will have to think about it.
Tim

How about working on my buddies '39 Ford - laying on my back on a creeper under the engine trying to find the coolant leak with engine running - had a sbf w/ auto [ one of those trans that would pop out of park into reverse - didn't know it at the time] Front end was on drive-up ramps and blocked on all four wheels - Well, it popped into reverse - car started rolling backwards - I tried to get out from underneath - bolt from header flange snagged up my belt - if his other car haden't been in the driveway and stopped the '39 , it would have been rolling down the driveway with me under it right out into the street.

Welding!

[ Well today I had off from work so I thought I do a litte work in the garage finishing the clutch linkage for the F1. Got the last bracket mocked up - removed it for welding - clamped it to the bench - welded it up and then tried to pick it up after i took off the clamp! My left thumb print will be on that part for ever! So with a half baked thumb i finished it. The cool part is that even works!



52 fordman

Every picture tells a story

Had a piece of metal on the bench welding. Used a Craftsman 1/2 7/16th inch wrench to hold it up.

Can you read the craftsman label on the arm??[cl[[cl

Ohhh, if were swapping wound photos... how a bout this.... I swear I'm like Tim Taylor on Home Improvement.

I was using a garden rake to stir a burn pile for my mom. Apparently there was something still combustible in the pile and I punctured it with the rake. Instant fire ball flying straight at me. I'm still getting over the fear of anything that can explode. It didn't burn my wife beater just everything around it.

29desoto said:

Can you read the craftsman label on the arm??

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That is classic! Least it wasn't metric. I'm not into tats, but maybe a full 1/2 wrench burn would be cool.... seriously.

kelseydum said:

Instant fire ball flying straight at me. I'm still getting over the fear of anything that can explode. It didn't burn my wife beater just everything around it.

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Dude!!! That is scary. That's not stupid, that just plain sucks.

...least the wife beater made it through OK.

And since I posted, here's another:

I was having spark problems on my 300I6. Pulled a plug and checked for spark. Nothin. Pulled the distributor cap and checked out things there. Nothin. Check the coil. BINGO! Broke lead wire. Easy fix. Put it all back together. Get in, turn the key, fires right off. BIG FIREBALL shoots out in front of me!!! Another one before I get it shut off. Run and get extinguisher. Put fire out. Put #5 plug back in.

Back when three best of buddies ran together, late one evening two of the trio headed for a bootlegger house that lived about two miles past our other compadre's folks place.

As we passed our buddys place he was working on his 66 chevy impala which had air shocks raising the rear end about 6" higher (remember the look). He was waving as we passed so we waved back went to get our beer. As we pass by our buddys headed back to my mothers house, we see he is waving, so we stop to check out what he was doing.

As we pulled up behind his car we could hear him cussing then. He had crawed under the back since it was high enough and reached around the axle to take the u-joint out. Well he did get the u bolts out and stuck a wrench between the yoke and drive shaft to pop the shaft loose, because it was stuck (right just enough pressure). Since the car was parked in the drive way which had a very small incline it rolled backwards. Needless to say he tried to get out from under it when one of the "fifties" eased up on his ribs pining him to the ground. There was just enough pressure to hold him luckily not enough to really hurt him. He forgot about the fact the car would move even if it was in park once the drive shaft was removed. It scared us good but we were on the ground laughing at him a short time later due to the fact that he was waving for us to stop the first time we came by.

dodgewade said:

He forgot about the fact the car would move even if it was in park once the drive shaft was removed.

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I just saved my neighbors butt from that happening to him a week ago! Had his S10 loaded down, on ramps, but still on the ramp part, and no chocks or P-brake.

Had 66 Vette, front brakes needed to be replaced, problem was everywhere I went I could not find the correct pads. The pads on the car were twice the size of the pads at the parts store, dealer couldn't even explain it.

Finally I talked to a guy I ran into while at the dealers looking for the pads, found out he had retired from GM a few months before. He asked me what the master cylinder looked like, I described it and he says oh I see. What you have son ( I was 19 at the time) is one of 500 vettes built to qualify for SCCA sanctioned races.

I had been working on the brakes at the 76 station where I worked, the car was parked outside, I was in a hurry to get off work, jumped in the car fired it up revved it acouple of times and let out the clutch and hit the gas and into the bay. Well I guess I forgot about the brakes and into the work bench I went.

ink it

29desoto said:

Had a piece of metal on the bench welding. Used a Craftsman 1/2 7/16th inch wrench to hold it up.

Can you read the craftsman label on the arm??[cl[[cl

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fill it in with silver for the body of the wrench and black lettering.

make a ultra cool tatto

Later

Bob W's runaway Chevy gets my nod for top honors so far, but all of these stories are great (well, not Kelsey's... that's just frightening! Glad you're okay now though!).

I've ridden dirt bikes much of my life, so most of my best stories come from that arena. Back in the early '90s my two good buddies and I were riding at White Salmon, Washington and having a great time when we stopped in a big field for a quick break. I was riding an '82 YZ-490 and shut off the gas when we stopped. We chatted a bit, decided to head back to camp, and it was a race to fire up the bikes and be the first one back.

You guessed it, I forgot to turn my gas back on (don't know why I even turned it off for such a short duration). The 490 could already be a bear to start sometimes, so at first I thought I fouled a plug. I pulled out a new plug and installed it, but that didn't help at all. I was exhausted from kicking the big beast when I suddenly remembered the gas valve. Turned it on and two or three kicks later it fired right up. I snicked it in gear and took off like a bat outta you know where for camp.

About 1/2 mile from camp the open field disappears into piney woods and a rain-rutted trail with a slight incline. I'm haulin' arse when my buddy Don, concerned about my absence, meets me coming the opposite direction at top speed! I go right and he goes... left! D'oh! Cartwheels, dust clouds, screaming 2-strokes and screaming humans, oh my!

I ended up flying over both bikes and rolling several times but I was lucky. Don somehow landed on the madly-spinning 490 rear knobby. It shredded his blue jeans and left a nasty looking burn on his right thigh. Plus he hurt his left wrist as I recall. I wanted to laugh but I felt bad since he was only trying to come help. So we laughed after he healed up ;->


Fred B.