admit to your stupidity - Page 16

madmmac · madmmac's Garage

Early 70's and my friend borrows his brothers VW bug to drive to a concert. Driving over to pick up another buddy he says the car is getting hot.

We get there and I head around the back of the house to get the buddy, come back to see a garden hose running across the driveway into the motor compartment. He says he could not see any water in the radiator so he stuck the hose in the oil fill tube and filled up the "radiator".

No, we did not make it to the concert. No, he did live. Yes, the motor was toast.

charleskieffner · 05-01-2006, 01:49 PM

buying the FABSPEED AIRBOX!

Netspeed · 05-01-2006, 01:55 PM

I replaced the clutch on my 914 many years ago. The boneheaded thing was that although I used jackstands, I did the while procedure while on a gravel driveway that leaned to the right.

zymurgist · zymurgist's Garage

I did the exact same thing with a 914 last summer. I had the engine and tranny out of my friend's '74 2.0 and the carcass was sitting in my driveway up on jackstands. My driveway is not level, and it is somewhat lacking in gravel. The jackstands on the downhill side sank enough into the dirt that I decided it was no longer safe to work on it that way, so I pulled it into my garage. I pulled my '70 911 out of the garage and under a cover so I could finish the 914.

bmcallister · 05-01-2006, 05:42 PM

Okay... I was in college and owned an '82 Toyota Tercel. I decided to replace the front strut cartridges with Bilsteins (yes, stupid, but it gets better). I rented a spring compressor from a local tool rental shop.

The problem was that they rented me a spring compressor for a VW bug (think two long bolts with hooks at the bolt head and threaded end) rather than the "claw" style for McPherson-style struts. The front of the car is on a jack, the front wheel is off, and I am sitting with my crotch more or less directly below the wheel hub. The problem was that the VW style compressors "rode" down the coils of the spring. After tightening and tightening for about 10 minutes, all of the sudden one of the huge bolt-style compressors shoots off the spring directly down at my crotch!!!!!

It was a near miss - leaving a 1 inch deep impression in the asphalt. (Yikes!) I was about 2 inches away from being involuntarily abstinent...

Rad Hatter · 05-01-2006, 05:54 PM

Left the hood unlatched and accellerated off only to get a total black out at 80kph on a public road - pretty scaryand you feel like a wally!
Steered in a straight line and braked toa stop. The hood came slamming back down again....no damage pretty terrifying though.

Craig 930 RS · 05-01-2006, 05:57 PM

Take one 1976 Fiat X1/9 - first car I owned.
Proceed to work on electrics under dash. With battery still connected, of course.

Massive electrical fire ensues, Mom rushes out with extinguisher.
Smoke inhalation for Mom, re-wire job for Craig.

Ever try to interpret Italian electrical schematics?

lateapex911 · 05-01-2006, 06:01 PM

Good ole Mom! What woud we do without them?

swa911 · swa911's Garage

While working as a mechanics helper at the age of 18. I was told to go out back and perform a compression check on a GMC Jimmy V6. My boss had the carb off doing a rebuild at the same time. I pulled all the plugs, laid the plug wires up on top of the manifold, and proceeded to perform the compression check.

Can you see where this is leading?

No, I did not disconnect the coil nor was the fuel line capped. It was at about cylinder #3 that the sparks from the plug wires ignited the fuel that had been pumping out of the open fuel line. The poor GMC burned to the ground before my very eyes and I was terminated on the spot from that job.

Now I fix airplanes for a living.

Plecostomus · 05-01-2006, 07:15 PM

Only Arnold terminates. You were fired!

Wangrande · 05-01-2006, 07:45 PM

Well over 20 years ago, I was rebuilding my Datsun pickup engine. First car I owned and first rebuild. Could not get one freeze plug out of the block because it was against a cylinder wall. I chucked up a brand new 1/8 bit intending to drill a hole in the brass plug and pound a screwdriver into the hole and hopefully pry it out. FULL speed on the drill motor and right through the plug AND the cylinder wall. I almost barfed.

snbush67 · snbush67's Garage

Removed my "crunchy" manual window regulator, could not get the "new" used one in right, so I took a break and went back to it and got it in and mounted.

On my first attempt to roll up the window my "new" used manual window regulator made the same crunchy sound and skipped just like my old one.

I became upset thinking that I had been duped by evilbay.

I then tripped over my actual "new" used regulator and realized I had put my original one back in.

It was much easier to do it all the second time as I had garnered great experience doing it the first time.

mshriner · 05-01-2006, 10:10 PM

Last weekend at PCA time trial. 2nd Session, wife driving, car starts making a horrible noise. A mechanic took a look and diagnosed it with a broken valve spring. Limped home to my mechanic....2+ hours in 90 degree heat driving the speed limit...hoping it would make it.....turns out to be an exhaust leak.....If I had just looked under the car myself. I would have noticed the nut missing and enjoyed the rest of the weekend. Duh! Always good to get help but check things over yourself. Sometimes the simplest thing is the answer.

RLJ · RLJ's Garage

In 1979 I didn't buy a 300SL M-B that only needed to be put back together. Dumb, Dumb, Dumb.

The asking price was $5000.00! Five grand was in those days equal to $5,000,000 today. I was then driving a 55' Chevy pickup that was a real "hit" at the local race track "PIR". A kid with a truck was that was intrested in " sports cars" was needed. Need I say more!

VZ935 · VZ935's Garage

I didn't do this but a jr. tech did.. at a race at Thunderhill my brake peddle felt funny.. so I go for tech and my brake lights are flickering.. not coming on real solid but they still cut me lose (PCA) .. as I am driving back through the pits the peddle doesn't feel right. I tell my main mechanic and he basically gives me the " your stupid look.." the brakes are fine just drive" .. still I don't like it and tell him either check it out or I am not going out...my main tech David comes over.. kids from New Zealand.. with his accent he asks me whats up and starts checking my car...no front brake pads.... they had just nut and bolted the car and put new pads in it.. and the "new guy" dropped the ball and some how , don't ask me why or how took out the old ones and just buttoned everything back up ! .... unreal! this is a sub 1:50 car at Thunderhill using the Eagles Nest.... that would not have been fun!

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by VZ935
this is a sub 1:50 car at Thunderhill using the Eagles Nest.... that would not have been fun!

Naw, you would have just turned it into a sub 1:40 car!

VZ935 · VZ935's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by widebody911
Naw, you would have just turned it into a sub 1:40 car!

If I did that my buddy Bob Stephanowicz would just go out and do a 1:35 ... so what's the point

Here is Bob in my car ..

"Hey Van what is wrong with your car" ? " Well Bob the shifter is jacked up and it won't go into 4th gear... Bob , " can I drive it to check it out"? Sure Bob ... Bob on the radio " yeah.. it won't go into 4th gear " ....me, " But Bob, you just turned a 1:51.25 (throught he Eagles Nest).. Bob " well if I had a 4th gear I am sure I could do better "

carrera1975 · 05-23-2006, 02:48 PM

Before Porsche it was Triumph.....

I had a GT-6 was in a hurry to pick up my girl friend and drive down to L.A. from Menlo Park CA. Fresh Plugs, tranny 90 weight ( loved the smell)
Smells best on your clothes during a hot day... But when I changed the engine oil I did not seat the small thin oil seal in the canester filter....drove down my parents drive way of the their then NEW House....left a Exxon Valdez spill of pure 50 weight...man that thing leaked a 5 qrts in less than 30 feet. Tried to clean it up, but had to go, left for L.A. after a trip to Kragens for more 50 weight....my Dad still brings it up 23 years later

rdrr · 05-23-2006, 04:05 PM

I just remembered one. When I had my SC Targa - I washed it one day and removed the top to dry off all the seals. Put the top back one without fastening at the front and left it. Went for a drive the next day, turned out of my driveway on to the main road and accelerated quickly. Of course the top flew off the car and I could see it floating about 10 or 15 feet in the air before lightly landing on a patch of grass by the side of the road. No damage done, but boy did I feel like an idiot!

holtjv · 05-23-2006, 05:49 PM

We should do a poll for funniest post--what great reading.