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Dumbest thing you ever did ?? (mechanically)

J

JDemaris

Well-known Member
Anybody got some good "stoopid" stories they want to admit to?

I assume we all spend a fair amount of energy trying to look intelligent. How about the converse?

I got thinking today, while using my 1960 Deere 1010 crawler - #1 how good it runs, and #2 what a dumb mistake I made on it early on.

I bought it about ten years ago, after the it burnt up in a fire. The guy that had it really liked it and wanted it fixed. But, the local Deere dealer gave him a $10,000 estimate, and that was that.

So, I ended up replacing all hoses, plastic parts, rewiring it, rebuilding the engine, etc. The distributor had melted, i.e. nothing left of it. I called the local tractor scrap yard (MadFaddens) and asked for a 1010 distributor. He had one. So, picked it up for $50. It was a Delco, with no cap and rotor on it. I put in new points, condensor, lubed the advance, and put on a new cap and rotor.

OK. Like I said, I rebuilt the engine. Started and ran good, but kind of underpowered. But, the 1010 four cylinder is basically the same size as a two-cylinder 420, so I wasn't too upset. This four is 115 c.i. and a two-banger 420 is 113 c.i. Funny thing though - I had to time it by ear. If I timed it with the flywheel timing marks, it ran lousy.

OK, used it a lot for over 5 years. It always ran hot in the summer and was always underpowered. But, it ran smooth and started fine. Then one day after moving dirt for 8 hours non-stop, it crapped out. It was an ignition problem. Huge carbon-tracks inside the distributor cap. So, I went down to NAPA and got another new cap. Next day, it ran for a few hours and burnt up another cap. Also, half burnt up the rotor also. Now, I was getting perplexed.

To shorten the story a bit, I spent hours fooling around with this thing, trying to detect this weird problem.

Guess what? That distributor I bought 5 years earlier from Macfaddens was a 6 cylinder distributor from a gas-version Deere 4020. NOT from a four-cylinder 1010. They both use the same Delco basic distributor - except the 4020 version has a six-lobe breaker-point cam. I still can't believe I didn't notice this early on. But, guess it wasn't something I had any reason to look for. They both take the same points and rotor also.

So, for five years, I ran a 6 cylinder distributor on a four cylinder engine, with a four cylinder cap and rotor. Seems that's why I could not time it to factory specs. And, it's also why the caps were burning up. There were probably lightning bolts going on inside, and when "fire" took place, the rotor was not pointing anywhere near a plug-wire pole.

So, I went out to my personal junkyard and took a distributor off a Case VAC tractor (junked machine). It also has the same basic distribtor as the Deere 1010 and 4020. I took the four-lobed cam out of it, and stuck it in the 4020 distributor - and my 1010 ran like a totally different machine. Still does.

I rank this as one of the stupiest things I've ever done turning wrenches - when I should of known better. I'm not going to count all my youthful screwups taking apart 40s-50s cars that never ran again.
 
Hello jdemaris,
8v71 in chassis complete overhaul. Heads bearings, blower injectors liner kits, pumps. Ran in to warm it up, hot tune up out the door!
Hook up to the trailer and let it go out.
Next morning was wating for me with the hood up?
Well...all the wrist pin bolts were hand tight.
Lost 2 liners and a gasket set. Had some umble pie for awhile. In my defence though, i had another DD 6V92 on the stand, replacing the block. Also took care of miner repairs to other tractors when alone in the shop and answer the phone, and chased away salesman. I know no excuse, but thats my story)-:

Guido.
 
I can't remember just any certain thing at this moment, but I do remember of several times saying "what was I thinking" when I worked on something I had worked on before sometimes years before.
 
That's a great story.
Early in my mechanical career I was going to work on a V4 Wisconsin. The boss warned me that if it had any stuck valves- don't try to turn it over- it would break the camshaft. Guess how long I remembered that advice?! Immediately after I gave a little tug on the flywheel, and I heard a distinct SNAP, it came back to me.
Much later I was working on a GM V-6 in a New Idea Uni System power unit. I never much liked the way they ran, but this one sounded rougher than usual,or so I thought. I don't recall exactly what I did, but I was fooling around with the carb., and thought something should be changed. After I did that experiment and found I was wrong, I tried to put things back the way they were. But between whatever part it was that was not available separately, and/or the carb. body, it was new carb. time. It ran just as good after as before!
The ignition story above reminds of another story- this one not a disaster for me.
Went out on a service call on Gleaner K combine. Chev. 250 cu. in. 6 gas. It started and ran fine, but had no power. This was a well cared for machine. I went through all the usual. Fuel supply right from the tank through the carb. Nothing. Same with ignition. Nothing. I had given up, which I hated to do. Just as I was about to leave,it popped into my mind to go back and check the firing order. EUREKA! The #2 and #5 wires were switched. I couldn't believe an engine could start, run, idle, no hint of mis-fire, just absolutely smooth, etc. Then it dawned on me, being familiar with insides of a straight 6 cyl. engine- someone really screwed up, or maybe they really knew what they were doing!
Later when I had a score to settle with someone who happened to own a straight six, guess what?!
 
I had a sad misadventure this summer when my Farmall H died in the middle of a mud puddle a mile from home. I had to rebuild the magneto on the spot since I didn't have a good way to get it out. It took me several trips back and forth with various tools and parts and finally I had replaced the coil, condenser, points and internal wires. I was trying to get it to start and I finally realized I had left the rotor in the tin can with the screwdrivers and wrenches. I put the rotor in and it started. It only went about 2/3 of the way home, running badly, and then I had to tow it the rest of the way. Janicholson was very kind and helped me through all of the stages of rebuilding and then with timing it once I got it home. This fall I was skidding logs with it and reached up with my hand from behind the tractor to release the brake so the tractor could roll forward a few inches. I left my finger in the spot between the left pedal and the deck and it got squashed a bit. I was not a very happy camper, but it got better after a while. On another note, once when I was siding a house I set a two level pipe scaffolding on three concrete blocks per leg so I could reach to the top of the wall. After a few hours it fell off the blocks with me on top, but it didn't tip over and I didn't fall off, so it was a lucky day. I decided not to do that again. I'm sure I'll think of more.
Zach
 
did the trans on my 1650. Didn't line up the oil hole on the bottom shaft with the gear bushing. got half way home and seezed it in 2nd gear.Had to start all over again.
 
Guess I can use the ignorance of youth as an excuse, but when I was 18 (1967), I had a '36 Chev pickup that would do 38 MPH before it floated the valves, so decided to put a 283 V8 in it. Had a Powerglide tranny. Got the engine in, got it started (would hardly turn over, finally decided it might help if I squirted some oil in the cylinders- it did!).

Hooking up the kick-down rod from the carb to the tranny had an interference problem- so I wisely decided to omit it. It only kicked the gear down, right? I could do that manually, right? So who needs it? Drove it about 3 weeks (that sucker could sure get sideways in a hurry!), and tranny quit. Told a mechanic about it, and he broke the news that the kick-down rod also adjusted the pressure in the tranny, and since I didn't have it, that's why the transmission went south.

Sold the whole outfit to my cousin for $250 in 1973, and as far as I know, its still sitting out behind his barn.
 
Bought an Allis D-12 series 3 at an auction, had a dead miss in one cyl, 2 or 3, I forget. Chalked it up to a burned or sticky valve, pulled the head, had it all done, new inserts, ground valves, new guides, cost me about $180, I think. Put it all back together, and the miss was still there. Pulled a wire off 3 and it and it ran better. Put it back, pulled wire off of 2, same thing happened. It was then I remembered something. AC firing order is 1-2-4-3. Someone had wired it to 1-4-2-3, if I am remembering the incident right. Went back to basics, and traced everything right, and it runs like a top. DUH!
 
Dad had a 700 Case tractor with a hillside starter. One day I needed to grind feed so I rolled it down the hill but it wouldn't start. I pulled it back to the top with my pickup and rolled it off again, it still wouldn't start. I did this 2 more times and looked down....I hadn't turned on the switch.
 
Well, geez, Cowman- we're all baring our souls.

You could at least tell us how that screwdriver in the wall outlet thing worked out for ya. . .
 
When 16, got an old Chevy for $325 with bare 15 in tires.. Stumbled onto some free good-tread 14 in tires. Spent couple of hours trying to stretch those 14 in tires onto my 15 in rims - with hand tire irons.
 
Years ago I put M transmission back together put top cover on plus all other goodies before remembering that pinion shaft bolts were only finger tight.Only person not make mistake was person who didn't do a thing.Scott
 
Dumbest thing I can remember, thankfully, I can share blame for with about 6 other guys.

The brake and signal lights on my '55 Chevy were acting intermittently screwy, don't remember what they were doing or not doing. Anyway me, Dad, two of my friends, two neighbors, and a cousin and uncle were all messing with it and batting around ideas as to what was wrong. As to qualifications dad and I are both mechanics by trade, one of my friends is an industrial electrician and all around electronics nut, one neighbor worked for a race team and the other had restored several older cars, my cousin was a shade tree that had restored several truck, and both my uncle and other friend were both semi mechanically inclined. Anyway it was a well rounded, well educated group trying to figure this problem out. We had gone so far as to remove and tear down the turn signal switch looking for the problem when someone asked a really 'stupid' question....."Did anyone check the bulb?" This was about 3 hours into the diagnosis and the response was that we all looked at each other and said 'he did it'.....Turns out one of the filiments in the left rear bulb had fallen against the other and was causing all of the problems because it tied two completely seperate circuits together. When the filiment got hot enough I guess it shrank or something and the problem disappeared only to come back when it cooled down and started touching the other one again.

In other words we wasted something like 18 man hours total looking for a problem that was finally fixed in about 30 seconds by just changing a light bulb.....all because we all thought 'he' checked it.....
 
Just rebuilt 351w in my stock car . Everything was going good . ran valves, set timing ,or so I thought . Heat race I babied it . ran great . Feature I leaned on it lil more. 3 laps and melted her down . Turns out I never checked total advance. Way too much,sure made a mess of it .
 
15yrs old first job, in repair shop...trying to pump grease into brake bleeding screws...looking for some place to check brake master cylinder reservoir on truck with air brakes....finally filled w/s washer reservoir, wipers lubed but paint removed from cowling
 
Trying to remove the crank pulley on a Chev 327, not noticing the little foot pad fell off the puller screw. Was really working hard wondering why the D## pulley wouldn't pop loose. Turns out I was spin welding the puller screw into the crank threads, ruining the crank. Junked both the car and the puller. Of course working after dark with a trubble light that only could shine in my face..my excuse!
 
Totally rewire of 48 Ford. Didn't have any proper terminals for connections. Lot of stuff had nuts and studs to hook up. Used copper washers and solder. Everything worked perfect. Never knew such a thing as rosin solder. Used the other one(ACID) Got a very bad reputation as auto electrician and never got paid. Always ask. Sometimes ask twice. Doin' better since. Dave
 
Fooling with a 318 Detroit(8V-71)had the screen off the top of the blower. Don't remember why I was looking over the top but do remember my Copenhagen can leaving my shirt pocket and TRYING to go trough the blower rotors. Split the blower case before it broke the blower drive shaft. They just don't like snuff.
 
When putting my tractor back together I lined up everything. I had the engine on the hoist, the tranny was well supported. After getting the entire affair aligned and pulled together (both stages of clutch) I noticed the clutch pedal was still laying flat on the floorboard. I had forgotten to install the throwout bearing. I darn near fell apart. Neighbor that was helping was unfazed. He simply said if we did it once, we can do it again. He was right. It took a lot less time the second time.

As they always say, you may not have time to do it right the first time, but there is always time to do it right the second go-around.

Aaron
 
I had an old Triumph Herald ya know the one with the suit case handle on the hood?
I replaced the points in it as the old ones were welded shut got the kit points, condenser , rotor, and cap figuring it should start--- it wouldn't so I into it again only to find the points had slipped --I readjusted them and tried to restart --- No luck ! Then my neighbor came over he suggested he would get his truck and drag me down the road so we did the closest place to turn was a mile away. I knew the thing should have started in 5' of travel as it was a stick shift. well it didn't so upon our return I opened hood again and proudly laying on the air cleaner was the rotor. neighbor was mad and he went home. LOL --I was 19 or so. did many dumb things since then,but now I have an excuse as a senior citizen
 
Back in the 60's I was putting a manuel tranny back in a car. I was flat on my back & picked up the tranny & in one smooth move put it in place all the way up to the bell housing. As I reached for a bolt, there laid the throw-out bearing. After putting the to bearing in I had one hell of a time to get the tranny to line up again.
 
This wasn't my goof, but I once tore down a 350 Chevy stock car engine that a buddy of mine had built up. It had run two or three hot laps and blew.

I had it upside down on an engine stand when I pulled the pan. Something didn't look right. Then it dawned on me, there was no pickup on the oil pump. G force in the turns on the hot laps piled the oil away from the pump.

Later on, when I had my own crew, when we built an engine we always worked two men together. One doing the work and the other double checking everything he did.
 
Worst one was a 1956 Dodge pickup, flathead straight six. I got it all rebuilt, re-installed, and got about half way around the block when it started to knock. I had installed the front main bearing upside down, the oil holes didn't line up, and the number one rod spun a bearing.

Another time we had a Farmall super C transmission all put back together, just bolted the deck down, and somebody said "where is that big snap ring supposed to go?" "It holds the bull rear on to the rear axle."

The third one, which I have warned a few people about on this forum, was putting a couple bolts in the bull pinion carrier on a Farmall C and trying to jack it out without removing the bull gear first. SNAP!!
 
had a 56 ford pickup 223 six.. carb had gotten some junk in it. would start missing.. I would stop, cross a couple of plug wires.. crank it over,, let it backfire.. and presto!! carb was blown clean and the crud was back into the bowl awaiting the next opportunity to clog up the main jets... one nite at a friends apt, the ole truck did the cough cough, so i pulled the air cleaner off, crossed it,, crank it over and as it popped back, it blew out flaming gas all over the side of the engine and fenders... I looked everywhere for a hose, and saw a bucket of water in front of a door, so grabbed it and ran back and threw the water on the fire... and someones frozen hamburger.. that was thawing out.. all over the engine..

oops..

crossed it back, started up and got the heck out of dodge... I could smell hamburger cooking for days after that. So next day off, pulled the carb down and clean the crud out of the bowl.
 
i can remember trying to find a short in my '68 Cougar XR7 that i bought new...this was back in '71 or so and alt lite came on and wouldnt go off...even with key off...long story short i traced every damm wire in that car and finally replaced whole loom...lite still on...gave up and took it to my old scoutmasters shop...they specialized in electric and rebuilding starters/generators...he laffed and handed me a rebuilt alt and told me to put it on...do i have to say lite was off after i installed it?...never ran into that problem since but info is tucked in whats left of my mind for next time.
 
As a young 16 yr old I learned why you should always unhook the battery ground cable. I was lying on the ground under a '38 Chevy with a 283 V8 that had been put in there. Had one of those old metal Twistoflex watch bands on my left wristwatch. I was doing something close to the starter solenoid and suddenly smelled something like burning meat. At that point I felt the burning on my wrist and realized I had contacted the hot post of the starter solenoid with the watchband while the band was grounded to the frame. That baby got red hot, and before I could get my arm extracted and rip off that watchband I got a real burn. The blisters were the exact pattern of that metal watchband.
 
Maybe not the dumbest thing I'd ever done but it's among 'em. My brother and I - we were know it all teenagers - decided to clean the glass sediment bowl on the older brother's prized 55 Chevy. Unfortunately we didn't get the little clamp installed correctly. Big brother gets in the car and starts driving. About 1/8 mile later the car started missing and backfiring, followed by a large explosion with flames bursting out from underneath.
Discretion became the better part of valor and we never did tell him the cause of the carbeque.
 
Overhauling a JD H many years ago, got interrupted about 15 times. I torqued the head bolts and started to put in the rocker arms when I saw the rods & pistons laying on my bench. Now you guys know I'm not perfect.
 
I tired to relight a natural gas water heater while the thermocouple was still hot and the main gas valve was open. A few days before the family photo session.
I was missing some facial and head hair. The rest of my hair had the blow dried back look.
 
well last summer i got a steal of a deal on a gas powered golf cart, running , but smokes for $600. one lift kit and a engine over haul later we're up and running,

fast forward to a few weeks ago i get or rather make time to put a reciver hitch on it so we can pull a trailer. while it was up on the lift i decided to change the oil, I pulled the plug and NOTHING came out, not a drop, i had been so busy with this house remodel i neglected to check the oil !! so i filled it up and now it smokes like a freight train. so this spring i'll be re-overhauling it
 
Hi NCWayne: Could have been worse. Similar to your group not checking a light bulb.. There was a jet airliner wanting to land in Florida quite a few years ago. They did not get a green light on the landing gear being down and locked.. Either pilot MUST stay 100percent in command of flying the plane while the other may check out the problem. Well, The one flying ALSO got too interested in why the green light didn't work. As a result of his getting too interested in the no green light, he let the airliner get too low and he bellied it into a Flodida swamp.. All over a green light not comming on. If I remember, some people were killed.. ag.
 
Back around 1961 or so we had a new IHC T340 Dozer and we were using it to pull a 6' brush cutter and for some reason the PTO shaft broke so we drove it into the Barn/shop and with out thinking [on my part] I unbolted the shaft housing from the differential housing gave it a pull and!!!! don't remember how many gallons of hytran fluid is in those differentials but it is a lot.Thank God for Oil Dry and Squeggies. Ranks right at the top of dumb stunts I've pulled in my long life.JH
 
I do not know if this counts, since I avoided a problem. I worked for some folks maintaining a polo field. I used a device called a Rodenator. It injects a mixture of propane and oxygen into a gopher hole and has an ignitor to light the charge blowing up the hole and, with luck, the gopher.

After they got rid of me and hired some cheap immigrant labor, they were constantly calling asking how to do things. I seldom returned their calls except when they called asking about using hydrogen for the Rodenator instead of propane. I cautioned them on that one and the importance of not skipping certain classes in school.

JimS
 
Dad's rule was to check the oil in equipment before you start it EVERY time you use it. Well I took for granted that my brother was checking the oil in the riding mower and he vis versa. Well the next thing is the mower burns up due to lack of oil. Dad never said much but we did have to use the push mower to mow 2 acres the rest of the summer. It was only later that winter that he finally bought us a rebuild kit for that old Ariens mower. I/we check oil before starting anything, every time, to this day.
 
Got another one, this one not so much being dumb as just a self created learning experience. I rebuilt a 6-71 Detroit that was missing the plate the emergency shutdown flap seated against. Instead of spending an arm and a leg on a part that wasn't going to be in for several weeks I decided to make one using the gasket as a template to get the engine complete and back in. Simple flat plate with four bolt holes and two big holes, nothing to screw up so it should have worked, right??? WRONG!!!! The engine would run fine at an idle but lost power when racked open to full throttle. I checked everything from the fuel pump to the fuel lines to the size of the orfice in the return line and couldn't find anything wrong. I finally wondered if something had gotten into the blower and pulled the snorkle off the side to take a look. I didn't see a thing wrong but with the snorkle off I fired it up and it ran just fine. The only thing not origionalto the engine was that plate so I thought it had to be the problem. That's when I happened to remember another 6-71 I had under the shed that still had the OEM plate attached so I pulled it. Laying it down on the plate I fabricated the holes were exactly the same size and located in the same place end to end. The only difference in my plate and the OEM was the holes in my plate were 1/2 inch lower than factory. Even though lower they were still well within the intake opening provided on the blower. I haved asked numerous other mechanics over the years who are knowledgable on the Detroits and so far haven't found anyone who can explain what happened.
 
Lots of things come to mind. A books worth of "Do Not Do This".

But reading some of the ones below, decades ago I worked at a couple of boat factories, and at one I did "final finish" to Tri-Hull boats. One of the things I needed to do was put a couple of inch or so holes up front in the deck where it "almost" met the hull so that water could drain down to the bilge pump. Being Tri-Hull there were ribs and stuff and I always put the holes in the right stringer rib except that one time. Got the inch hole saw and the Millwaukee drill and...rrrr, rrrr, rrrr, rrrr "Man this is awfully thick fiber glass this time" RRRrrrrRRRRRRrrrrrRRRRRRRR pop through and...concrete floor. Ohhhhhh noooooo, that aint good. That boat was supposed to ship that night but did not. I didn't get fired or anything, but she was a beautiful hole. Perfectly round, right through the hull making way for a very serious patch job.

If everything always went perfect this would be an unexcitingly dull world, eh?

Mark
 
i needed to replace dry liners in a 4 cyl perkins,so a welded a couple beads on 1 of the old liners,to see if i get them out easy,it worked.
so i proceeded to do the other 3 as well,only to find out i done the bore with the removed liner again.Now i had to have it bored out,but that did'nt work cause it was case hardened right at the welds,leaving high spots.
The block was junked.
 
mine has to be when i was replacing the head gaskets on a 1969 olds cutlass, did the gaskets but got called away and didnt get back to the car until the next day, the clean up boy had of course been through and fidled with everything on the bench, found it all but 1 lock washer for a accessory mounting bracket, the dumb thing on my part was assuming the washer had been swept up by the clean up boy, and not checking the engine, [ the intake was still off the car when this happened] when i started the car after finishing up, i found the washer, in the top of number 7 piston, also bent a intake valve
 
I was a first year apprentice welder and had to weld a fitting in a small tank before the end cap went on. The fitting had to be flush on the inside so I took my glove off to hold it flush on the inside while I tacked it on the outside. It was like having a lighting bolt shoot through my thumb. Didn't really need a glove for awhile since my thumb was like hard leather. The guy I was working with was laughing his head off. He said he'd done the same when he was a newbie. Dave
 
The emergency brake on my old GTX would hang up. I got down and was examining the workings of it. The brake was engaged, I pulled the release handle and that pedal whammed me in the face HARD. I had to laugh at my own stoopidity
 
1150 Case dozer I pulled an injector. I don't remember the reason.What I do remember is after I put it back in the hole I decided I needed to reach over and hit the starter button. It went right by my head and way up in the air.
Ron
 
Cowman remember the F 20 rebuild in Madison.

We were ready to start it after the rebuild with about 200 people looking on. We cranked and cranked and it would not start. We knew it would run cause we had it running the night before. We were all kind of embarrassed cause it would not start.

For some reason I had a thought and yelled out. DID ANYONE TURN ON THE GAS?

Started on the second pull after the gas got turned on.

Gary
 
Put power steering on a 1946 chevy army 4x4 truck, ps. was from a 76 chevy 3/4 ton. got all done ,worked great only one small problem. turn steering wheel to the right and ft. wheels turned left! had to take a differential gear box from a rideing mower and install it in the steering columm. works great now
 
Hello Mark-IN,
Yea! most of the time the are people that talk/write, as if they can walk on water. So the oops! helps keep me humble.
Guido.
 
Right after buying my Farmall Cub I performed all the maintenance steps as listed in the owners manual. When I got to the transmission I crawled under the tractor to remove the oil level plug. With the rear tires set in at 40", I couldn't get in a good position to get at the plug to get a wrench on it. I kept thinking how difficult this is and how I never want to do this again. Finally I crawled out from under the tractor and was leaning on the rear left tire when it dawned on me to get a long extension and just go at it from between the hub and rim on the left rear wheel! Took about 30 seconds to get it removed!
 
One time I was welding, fliped up the little window in the full face masked to see. Didn"t like what i saw, and gave a "LOUD" curse word..... Blew my ears drums out, being the large part of the mask was down. Took the mask off, and had to shake that one off.
You only want to do that once.
I remember to be a quiet welder man now...
Don L.
 
This is a long post. I have done things like this myself. I will add that I have spent many hours at night and early morning by myself to correct these MISSHAPS brought on by my incompetent beer slurping no good loafers relatives and employees that I will not tell anybody what really happend! That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!!!
 
That reminds me of another one. Had done some engine work on an AC 200. I like to get oil and fuel flowing before I put injectors in. For some unknown reason I had unwittingly set one down in the head. Hit the starter, and WHOOSH BAM. The way that thing rocketed to and smacked the ceiling, I think it could have killed me had I been in the way. I picked it up expecting a damaged tip(concrete floor) It looked OK. Put it in and ran fine!
 
friend of mine had kind of the same thing on a boat trailer one ofthe tail lights was put in the socket wrong we had the wiring harness apart six times befor we figured it out didnt get to the lake that time
 
Neighbor had cross-threaded the spark plug on his lawnmower- so plug wouldn't stay in. So he reached down with one hand to hold it in place, and pulled the cord with the other. When he told me about it, kind of sheepishly, he said "I did confirm that the coil is real good."
 
I have done a few my self. Latest was put 5 gal of gas in my JD 401, which was a 4 cyl. diesel and ran it for 2 hrs. mowing. The tank had about 2 gal of diesel when the gas was put in. It started missing I thought it was a bad injector. That is when I found my mistake. The tractor still runs ok after flushing the system. Another goof up I replaced the head gasket on my MF with a perkins diesel. I put a rag over the intake to keep the intake clean, and forgot to remove it. It ran good until I gave it more throttle, and it sucked the rag in. It didn't seam to hurt anything, but it did run rough for a short time, until it spit out the rag. There are more I'm sure but that is all for now. Stan
 
I have not gotten bad burns yet,but The first day i welded gave me a bad case of weld eyes.
I never had that again in 40 yrs and i often tack weld without a helmet,i just close my eyes.
 
It wasn't me that did this.

a gravel truck drove in my yard one day many rears ago requesting help to change a flat on a rear axle.
turned out they had welded the lug nuts to the rim cause they kept coming loose.

To top it of,they had welded the spare wheel to the bumper as well.

Upon commenting about that stupidity the driver said,our mechanic knows only how to cut and weld and pointed at the pumpkins.and by gosh,they where welded to the axles as well.

I never seen the likes.
 
Dont remind me LOOL .... today hooking up battery Charger to VAC Case POSITIVE ground stuck the ground to a bolt on the frame like i usually do 12 volt negative ground , Instant!! welderdamitdumaz! payattention!@... Just off hand one of the worst is .. some 10 years back .thinking that there was plenty antifreeze in a tractor WHEN THERE WAS NONE ,. Thank GOD that the Heater plugin Pushed out and No damage was done .. these are goofs not really mechanical mishaps , but every day ,, seems I am guilty of something that the damdevil gets aKickOut of ...
 
Hello centralIL,
Who was the fellow that said, give me a long enough lever and i can move the world!
Guido.
 
I was 16 and putting points into my Dad's 66 Dodge Coronet with a slant 6 engine. Dropped one of the screws down the distributor shaft. Knew enough to pull the distributor, but didn't mark anything. Endded up getting a neighbor to help get it back in time. Lesson learned.
 
I was 16 and putting points into my Dad's 66 Dodge Coronet with a slant 6 engine. Dropped one of the screws down the distributor shaft. Knew enough to pull the distributor, but didn't mark anything. Endded up getting a neighbor to help get it back in time. Lesson learned.
 
Changing oil on my wife's 20 year old BMW. That's how many years I've been changing oil on this car. New filter on, poured six quarts of Valvoline into it, and then looked over to see the sump plug on the counter right where I'd left it. Drain pan had twice as much oil in it. Never----NEVER had I done that before and I started changing oil on Model A Fords when I was 8 years old. I'm glad my dad will never find out.
 
Remembered another, though not really mechanical:

I had a government service job at a Marine Corps Air Station. We had gotten a shipment of that famed government cheese and I was asked to go along with the driver to hand it all out.

As we entered the community center, there were a number of people standing around. As we got closer they began waving their arms, jumping up and down and shouting. The driver thought they were excited that the government cheese had arrived and began blowing the horn in response. As we neared the group however, they began to run away. Somewhat puzzled, we continued on eventually striking the power lines we could not see which the crowd was trying to warn us about resulting in the blowing of a nearby transformer.
 
Reminds me of when I made a homemade gasket for the air cleaner on my F-12, and forgot to make a hole in the middle of it. Ran a bit smoky.
 
Dad was splitting a WD to work on the trans. It stuck after a few inches so he put a jack in to spread the two halves apart. When he heard a big bang, he realized he hadn't unbolted the steering column.
 
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