Admit your Garage Mistakes

[Hillbilly F Truck]

Yep..it's called 'Homer Simpson syndrome'. And you're right, it is comforting to know there are others out there. The whole safety in numbers thing.

[badefghia]

When i had my xe esp i was trying to put it up on ramps in the shed it was a friday night and i was a littel hammared.I must have jumped on the gas a bit to much and the *** droped out and the rear quarter hit the shed but i was lucky i have a mate who owned a panel shop so $800 later i had it fixed the rear quarter and had the front and rear bars painted wish i still had the car now cos it was a 351 manual there going for a load....

[futura888]

One night a mate and myself (we would have been 18 at the time) were doing a head gasket on his rusty old gemini rally basher...

Long story short,we undid all the head bolts and tied up the timing chain,but we still couldn't get the head to budge,then out of no where my said "bugger it,let's just rip the b@stard off",that we did with a big snap...We forgot all about the two timing cover bolts....This resulted in a massive chunk out of the head,and me laughing my head off for hour's.

[Dezza]

I was helping a certain AFF member do a head gasket change on his EF. There were a few of us doing it, and after spending ages getting the intake manifold off (The EF BBM is certainly awkward to undo) and undoing what we thought was everything, it was time to remove the head. It didn't want to seperate though, so we decided it just needed a light tap to break the seal. So this member got the hammer out and hit the side a few times. He wasn't worrying about the head because he was putting a port and polished head on it anyway. It didn't seem to want to budge. He then missed, hit the timing chain, which moved across and snapped one of the plastic guides. We then noticed the power steering bracket was still attached which is why it wouldn't seperate. We then had to drop the sump, and remove the whole front off the motor to replace the guide. That was certainly a fun job!

[LOWBA6]

Had a few myself.... Though most i dont remember many so heres what i do...

Dad picked up his new car, 02 hilux so first thing i did when he got it home was install a cd player for him. I had a wiring harness to suit so all i had to do was solder up a couple of wires. I usualy put the soldering iron in the vice so i can solder the wires easier and that day was no exception... done what i needed to do and went and put the unit in the car. Job done! putting some pliers back up on the shelf in the shed i lent over the bench near the vice and felt this bloody burning pain in my side... lesson learned? Turn off the soldering iron... still got a raised scar area from it a year or so on.

Second one hurt me mate and not me lol :P Holding onto a spanner while my mate is using the wrench to undo a bolt on his leaf springs. Me being fair hung over the spanner slipped off the bolt as he was putting full force on the wrench. Hit his finger and sat there whinging about much it hurt while i was rolling around on the ground haha!

Putting the extractors on my Ef i managed to burn myself plenty of times.. worst bit got them on and was cutting up the pipes to the cat so i could get dad to weld on the flanges. Got the first one on no worries, measure it up and told dad just weld on the second one square to the cut. So he did that then went off to bed as it was like 10:30 at night. Got it all together and i was all excited ready to go for a fang... started it up and it sounded like a dragster... problem... flange was not at the right angle so the top had a gap and bottom was tight. Had to drive it the next day dumping straight out the cat. Was so gutless :(

[needaXYGT]

started my EA in a mad rush to get it out of some hail that was pasing over. Reversed down the driveway so i could get around and go forward to some cover, smashed it into first, bagged up the back wheels. i then let it sit for bit to let things settle down after red lining it, not realising that i had just been draining the oil for the last half hour.

[73XBGT]

Wanted to do a gearbox changeover from the auto on my 2.6L mitsubishi scorpion, to a manual, so bought another car (scorpion) same engine 2.6L but a manual instead, put both cars in carport side by side and bought all the parts for the conversion..ie: new clutch kit, thrust bearing, manual gear oil, manual pedal box, clutch cable etc...

Spent an entire weekend on it, unbolted the box from the manual scorp, and unbolted the auto from my car...fitted the bellhousing, clutch kit, removed torque convertor etc..went to bolt-up the manual gearbox to my car, and to find out it doesnt fit the block at all...complete different design box for a skinnier 2.6L block...A waste of time and alot of money in the end had to put everything back the way it was..

****ing stupid mitsubishi design!!! :

[seduced_xr]

y didnt u just sell the auto and drive the manual

[sk8xr8]

My workshop foreman set his own car on fire at trade school, so, if you have a VL turbo with a bottom end knock, dont try and eliminate it by pulling leads off with leaking injectors, sparks and fuel belong on the inside of the engine!!!

[LOCO XP]

Think I got distracted or something one afternoon while changing a rear wheel on my EH Wagon. Must have left a couple of nuts loose, so after a day of driving, had a nasty shudder and then a clunk and an abrupt lift of the left hand rear end as the wheel decided to go freerange. End result: Broken spring hanger, torn out shock mount, and a yet-to-be resolved creased quarter panel. After 4 years, the shock mount is patched (last night), the spring hanger is about to be replaced (tomorrow) and the quarter to be repaired as cash permits. The wheel arch was flattened out completely, but now looks a little more respectable, but needs finishing

[LOCO XP]

Originally Posted by azaxr8

Oh mate, did i ever. Was great for a laugh and i do really miss that show and forgot what its called.

Is it still on air?

Bush Mechanics, thanks for the reminder, one of my favourite shows of all time. Almost forgot about it completely, but briliiant

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=H-tsKPlDn7U

[CAT600]

Worst ever?

As a 3rd year apprentice, I went out to an old 785(A) Caterpillar Dump truck (8GB serial number for you old Cat boys out there) to do an engine evaluation. She was laying on her guts with no rims/tyres. I started the big girl up and, without thinking, pulled her into gear to warm the engine in converter stall. The 3 x 1/2" UNC Bolts retaining the outer planetary housing never stood a chance (meant to be retained with over 40 x 1" UNC Bolts at 800 lbft torque each!)...........

The whole planetary group (some 1100kgs worth) came sliding out sideways with a fountain of 50W oil following it. :

That was not an easy phonecall back to the Guildford field service supervisor I can tell you. :

Daniel

[5.0 ED]

I had 66 xr and i hadn't wire up the new ignition system properly yet, so i just had a wire running from battery over to coil, anyway suddenly the car stops and smokes coming out of the bonnet, i jump, lift the bonnet and see the wire burning, i grabbed the glowing wire and yanked it off.

I was picking bits of melted insulation off the wire out of my hand for weeks.

[73XBGT]

Originally Posted by seduced_xr

y didnt u just sell the auto and drive the manual

Because the manual scorp was stuffed..and the engine was probably ceased..was only good for the box and a few other exterior bits...

[hannem]

Here is another one that happened to a mate, honestly it wasn't me this time.

He brought his water pump in to work to sandblast and paint it as he had just rebuilt his engine.

He jams a rag into the pipework to stop crap getting in blast and paints it and it looks a treat.

Can anyone guess where this is heading??

Fits the pump up and fires up the engine, before very long the engine is real hot..... took a while to figure it out but as you can guess he had left the rag inside. DOH!!

[FTE72]

Originally Posted by CSTM XB

Wanted to do a gearbox changeover from the auto on my 2.6L mitsubishi scorpion, to a manual, so bought another car (scorpion) same engine 2.6L but a manual instead, put both cars in carport side by side and bought all the parts for the conversion..ie: new clutch kit, thrust bearing, manual gear oil, manual pedal box, clutch cable etc...

Spent an entire weekend on it, unbolted the box from the manual scorp, and unbolted the auto from my car...fitted the bellhousing, clutch kit, removed torque convertor etc..went to bolt-up the manual gearbox to my car, and to find out it doesnt fit the block at all...complete different design box for a skinnier 2.6L block...A waste of time and alot of money in the end had to put everything back the way it was..

****ing stupid mitsubishi design!!! :

If you had bought the 5 speed from a 79 2 litre manual sedan/coupe.. you would have been right. It was because they went from a jap 5 speed to the borg warner 5spd in 81. Early manual blocks were the same as auto's.

All useless info now I know. but FYI!

[The Yeti]

this is my mistake for the week

was cleaning up a bracket on the chev with the angel grinder and flap disc when it picked up and kicked in to my hand



I probably should have taken the photo sooner than this morning as it looks almost healed now

[Jason[98.EL]]

Originally Posted by The Yeti

this is my mistake for the week

was cleaning up a bracket on the chev with the angel grinder and flap disc when it picked up and kicked in to my hand

[img]https://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd84/theyeti72/PB09110804.jpg

I probably should have taken the photo sooner than this morning as it looks almost healed now

must have bitten you good normally a flap disc just takes the top layers of skin off

when i get back to work ill post a few pics of the stuff that happens in my work place they will curdle a few here

Grimus

[XR6_661]

This one happened fairly recently.

I changed my spark plugs a few weeks ago…which was an effort in it’s self. I didn’t have the right extensions for a deep well, and the sockets I had were the wrong sizes. So I had to join about 3 extensions together, including a moveable one…as well as use cardboard inside the socket to make the right size…Anyway, that’s more garage ingenuity.

Did the job, no worries.

The next few days I notice a metallic ticking noise coming from then front of the car. Looked EVERYWHERE for something that could be wrong. Nothing at all.

Driving along the other night with the missus, all we hear is “ting ting ting BANG tingatingatinga TING” Then we hear a “TING” as something hits the road. I pull over straight away and about 50m back up the road I see a shiney metallic object. Upon closer inspection. It was a socket wrench haha. I musta left it in the engine bay, but god knows what moving part it was hitting.

Had a good look but didn’t appear to be any damage. I got in the car giggling and my missus just shook her head at me and called me Pit crew chief.

[FORD EB 4.0]

tried closing the freshly painted bonnet on my xw gt replica with the rocker cover breather cap sitting on the air filter, left a slight kink in the bonnet.

did an oil change on the same car in the dark and didnt realise the old oil filter ring stuck to the block and as you can imagine the new filter didnt seal properly with oil spewing out on start up.

[73XBGT]

Originally Posted by FORD EB 4.0

tried closing the freshly painted bonnet on my xw gt replica with the rocker cover breather cap sitting on the air filter, left a slight kink in the bonnet.

did an oil change on the same car in the dark and didnt realise the old oil filter ring stuck to the block and as you can imagine the new filter didnt seal properly with oil spewing out on start up.

Yep i've learnt my lesson when to pack my things up in the garage when the sun goes down... _2:

[XRi guy]

I worked on a HR Holden. My big mistake. After working on Fords all my life I didn't realise how badly Holdens were put together. From working on my XW Falcon which had an oil filter I could get off by hand while sitting in the engine bay to this bloody HR I needed to puncture the filter every damn time to get off. After pulling the engine out and discovering the two speed powerglide was almost heavier than the engine so I needed a chain block to support the trans so the engine lifter stayed on the ground to the fact the torque converter bolts were attached with hair clips. Had that engine in and out three times, the bloody thing still leaked. Wasn't all that bad though, I learnt my lesson and stuck to owning Fords.

[XDV800]

Cool thread.

My most embarrasing stuff-up occured as a 1st year apprentice.
The boss was taking me through pulling an auto from an xf falcon. We'd gotten every thing undone including all the convertor bolts, and had positioned the stand under the box to assist removal. Then the phone rang and the boss wandered into the office to answer.
Me being the young go-getter thought i'd impress boss man by getting it out all on my own.
Well the box came away from the block ok, but the convertor spigot got stuck in the bush and the convertor stayed in place...
The entire contents then proceeded to splash all over me, the workshop floor, and my boss when he returned.
My attempt to impress somehow went out the window that day.
Was made all better years later when i witnessed some other young bloke make the same mistake.

[TURBOTAXI]

doing an oil change and forgetting to put the new filter on. Then starting the engine and spurting $30 worth of penrite onto the lawn. Let us never speak of it again.

[VioletGT]

I started my car with the oil pressure guage not conected but the braided line siting in the car..

Had my diff centre out.. left a rag in there and put the centre back in..

Convinced my self the ignition switch was faulty and went around australia to get 1... turned out the be the dizzy module..

Does not matter how big the mistake it always turns out good in the end.

[Spudz27]

I jacked up my car on the sump, left a nice dent in it. When my mechanic asked WTF, I said some other apprentice at tafe did it lol. Oh I also dropped out of my apprentice mechanic course.

When I was 18 I fixed the loose air filter/carby cover on my XE with blu tac. I then forgot about threaded bolt and high pressure washed my car. Took 20mins before I could start it and even then it took another 5 mins to sort itself out.

[homegrown]

While the coupe was at the in-laws garage, I used a scissor lift jack from my partners hyundai to jack up the Xb. The head of the jack just clean snapped off from the weight of the car, watching it the fall towards the garage wall, i was more scared of her dad running out with some sort of weopon, but luckily stopped within cms of the wall after the car landed on the tires I layed under it. So I snuck the car jack from the mother in laws car to get the car back up and snapped the head completely off that one as well. We than went to extremes and used the bob cat to carry railway sleepers that were lying out in the farm to finish the job.

[TruBlu351]

1. Refitted bellhousing and proceeded to trap and crush my dangling ignition wires. Turn keep to start car.....POOOOF! Up in smoke!

2. Was using dodgy battery hold down bracket. Luck ran out and it tipped over when taking a corner! Freakin + terminal landed on the car body and the fireworks began!

3. Changing brake pads with XD rear discs. Spent hours tying to use a piston compressor tool! Then found out they are a worm drive and screw back in :

4. Changed oil filter. Didn't see the old oil seal stick to the block when I removed it. New one goes on.....now with 2 oil seals! Start car and lose 3 litres of oil on the driveway :( ..........seems to be a top 10 mistake!

5. Left garage door open at night. Wake up in morning....tool box and golf clubs STOLEN!

[mrbaxr6t]

fathers car had a voltage drop so it wouldn't start sometimes so he did the old jump the starter motor with a screwdriver trick, only this day it was in DRIVE (why it wouldn't start) and it ran over his foot! Not me and wasn't funny @ the time freaking funny as all eff now!

[vanman_75]

too many to list but the most dangerous was when rebuilding a hot moke motor ,enter angle grinder and inlet /exhaust manifold ,in order to fit twin su carbs you separate the manifold ,so sitting on the floor manifold between feet grinding away it grabs and goes ripping up my leg and just misses me tackle ,every time i look down i think just how close i was to sitting down to pee .lol