Yankee Transplant
He started out with nothing, he still has most of
Thats the best idea so far . I have to keep remembering and thats not working so good no more .. This will help our on part replacing later on .. for sure ..
Rookie Mistakes?
- Thread starter flaglenn
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Help Support Rat Rods Rule:
Thats the best idea so far . I have to keep remembering and thats not working so good no more .. This will help our on part replacing later on .. for sure ..
This is a fun thread!
Working my very first automotive job in a very cold shop I was the new lube and oil kid. First drain plug I pulled, a half a quart of hot oil ran down the arm of my coat.
Working my very first automotive job in a very cold shop I was the new lube and oil kid. First drain plug I pulled, a half a quart of hot oil ran down the arm of my coat.
PA41
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I don't know if these are 'rookie' mistakes, but there are lots of hazards in this. I knew one guy that did this on a credit card--it ruined him-- lost his family-everything.. Towing is major dangerous--over the years I've known 2 guys that died towing. Done some tow truck stunt driving a few times myself. I've know 4 people that died in their shop-one husband/wife--fire and electricity. I've been to the ER 4 times -- 2 finger injuries, 1 cut hand tendon, and one with a piece of a chisel sticking out of my eye. (grind the mushroomed end) My wife took the youngest son (38) to the eye doctor today with some iron in his eye from a grinder. This might just be me, but I don't think so. Everyone learns better when it hurts.
PA41; good points, safety should always come first but a lot of times gets overlooked. Electricution hazards, carbon monoxide poisoning,chemical poisoning, cars falling on you, tripping hazards,fires, The list goes on and on. Be carfull out there.
taking a control arm off I shorted the wrench to the starter, made a mental note to disconnect the battery first next time then did it again 2 minutes later.
welding without gloves, made a tack and watched a spark of slag fly up slowly then down and hit me right on the wedding ring. gold is an excellent conductor of heat, I had a ring blister for a couple days.
working on a bag setup, cleared out the spare tire and gas tank and trans crossmembers and my buddy reached to take the clamp off the 2x2 clamped across the rear framerails. I said "hold on!!" and he didnt, WHANG! the left frame rail jumped 3 feet up.
welding without gloves, made a tack and watched a spark of slag fly up slowly then down and hit me right on the wedding ring. gold is an excellent conductor of heat, I had a ring blister for a couple days.
working on a bag setup, cleared out the spare tire and gas tank and trans crossmembers and my buddy reached to take the clamp off the 2x2 clamped across the rear framerails. I said "hold on!!" and he didnt, WHANG! the left frame rail jumped 3 feet up.
soltz
The Rat Captain
I was hoping this thread would go away, but as offroad says,"it's fun".
The first head gasket change on a 56 olds 371, you would think i would have know better, i was an 18 yr old air craft mechanic working for the U.S.A.F.
any way, tightened the head bolts with a 3/8" ratchet, it lasted around the block.
The first head gasket change on a 56 olds 371, you would think i would have know better, i was an 18 yr old air craft mechanic working for the U.S.A.F.
any way, tightened the head bolts with a 3/8" ratchet, it lasted around the block.
PA41
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Wasn't me, but I was there. Working in a shop in school, a mechanic was hot charging a cars battery and dropped a wrench and crossed the batt posts. Big explosion, blew acid everywhere. I sprayed him down till the ambulance got him. Side story on that, That guy killed his wife a few weeks later. He saw an episode of Columbo where a guy gassed his wife with starting fluid and hit her on the back of the head and drowned her in the bath tub to make it look like an accident. Cops came to the shop to get him and he confessed right there. I was stunned. He only did 7 years! Rookie mistake--the cops watched the same Columbo show. You don't have to be real smart to work on cars.
Always have a real good plan before you start moving stuff around. That goes for cutting and bending metal or moving a motor, all the way down to running wire.
If your gonna chop up something, sit on a bucket, stare at it till your head hurts, and think about how it's all gonna go back together. Do it again tomorrow. (A beer helps sometimes)
If you deviate from the plan, it's probably gonna cost ya. A small change in one place can mean a major pain somewhere else - that goes for about anything.
Glass doesn't bend.
Keep your head out of the rotational plane of anything that spins fast. And your body if possible. Especially wire wheels - your wife will be po'd when little wires show up stuck in all the laundry.
Grinder sparks will eventually catch stuff on fire, even your frayed jeans. (and melt the cell phone in your pocket)
Anything that spins can catch loose clothing. Sometimes even tighter clothing like a T-shirt that can rap up and start to choke you.
If you have air-ride, make sure everything is out from under the car before you lower it. Especially air hoses and electrical cords. Did I say air hoses?
If you plan to chop something, make sure you'll fit in it comfortably and you can see out the
windows.
Welding sunburn on the tops of your feet hurt worse than the ones on your arms.
A frame swap probably is harder than working with the one you have.
Give yourself a couple extra inches space for the motor.
Don't pull out all the drawers of your tool cabinet at the same time.
Roll your project outside as soon as you can so you can step way back and get a good look at it.
S10 frames are ugly.
32 Ford grille shells don't look right on everything.
Parallelogram steering linkage makes it impossible to have good proportions on a fenderless rat. (had to look up the real name - typical A arm steering linkage)
If you don't weld that well, hire someone that does for the critical stuff.
A transmission hump in a channeled cab takes up a lot of foot room.
Stitch welding - find another simple task to do so you don't rush it. I usually sort bolts, clean, etc. in between welding.
Try to spend most of your time standing in the middle of your shop trying to remember where you just put that last tool you had. Or maybe keep your shop cleaned up.
Post lots of pics on RRR.
Have a build thread and ask lots of questions.
The longer you don't work on it, the harder it is to get back to it, or the easier it is to ignore it.
If your gonna chop up something, sit on a bucket, stare at it till your head hurts, and think about how it's all gonna go back together. Do it again tomorrow. (A beer helps sometimes)
If you deviate from the plan, it's probably gonna cost ya. A small change in one place can mean a major pain somewhere else - that goes for about anything.
Glass doesn't bend.
Keep your head out of the rotational plane of anything that spins fast. And your body if possible. Especially wire wheels - your wife will be po'd when little wires show up stuck in all the laundry.
Grinder sparks will eventually catch stuff on fire, even your frayed jeans. (and melt the cell phone in your pocket)
Anything that spins can catch loose clothing. Sometimes even tighter clothing like a T-shirt that can rap up and start to choke you.
If you have air-ride, make sure everything is out from under the car before you lower it. Especially air hoses and electrical cords. Did I say air hoses?
If you plan to chop something, make sure you'll fit in it comfortably and you can see out the
windows.
Welding sunburn on the tops of your feet hurt worse than the ones on your arms.
A frame swap probably is harder than working with the one you have.
Give yourself a couple extra inches space for the motor.
Don't pull out all the drawers of your tool cabinet at the same time.
Roll your project outside as soon as you can so you can step way back and get a good look at it.
S10 frames are ugly.
32 Ford grille shells don't look right on everything.
Parallelogram steering linkage makes it impossible to have good proportions on a fenderless rat. (had to look up the real name - typical A arm steering linkage)
If you don't weld that well, hire someone that does for the critical stuff.
A transmission hump in a channeled cab takes up a lot of foot room.
Stitch welding - find another simple task to do so you don't rush it. I usually sort bolts, clean, etc. in between welding.
Try to spend most of your time standing in the middle of your shop trying to remember where you just put that last tool you had. Or maybe keep your shop cleaned up.
Post lots of pics on RRR.
Have a build thread and ask lots of questions.
The longer you don't work on it, the harder it is to get back to it, or the easier it is to ignore it.
Last edited:
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"Glass doesn't bend. "
bob w
Still crazy after all these years!
Rookie mistakes??? Don't worry about them. Someday you'll be old like me and you'll be making senior mistakes.
IronRat
Well-known member
If it's glowing red….Yes it is still HOT [ddd
Usually you only have to learn that once every ten years or so.
Usually you only have to learn that once every ten years or so.
"Glass doesn't bend. "
More than once I've tried to get a piece of glass to fit a little better by... just... pushing... it.... in a little .... right..SNAP! I know better, but sometimes it just happens. Like how I sometimes check a fresh weld by running my fingers over it. Instant regret.
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- Nov 5, 2015
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I hear ya Sam! That's where I came up with my tag line below.
An old friend of mine who's since passed used to say that to me every time I grabbed something I just welded. To this day I think of him every time I grab something I just welded.
An old friend of mine who's since passed used to say that to me every time I grabbed something I just welded. To this day I think of him every time I grab something I just welded.
