[legion]

Worst DIY story:

When re-doing the main ground on the 951, I bought a 13mm wobble socket just for the job. The clutch inspection hole is just to the right (when looking at the engine from the front). When I was done tightening the main ground, and I went to pull the socket off of the ground bolt, the socket stayed on the bolt and the extension detached. I went to reach for the socket, but it was a tight squeeze and I ended up knocking it off the bolt. Well, it just so turns out that the clutch inspection hole is the exact right size to let a 13mm wobble socket through.

After swearing at the top of my lungs for a good ten minutes, my wife came out to ask what was wrong. I told her that I was not prepared to answer that question in a civil manner, but that she needed to go out to the auto parts store and buy as many telescoping magnets as possible.

After three hours of trying to fish out the socket, I had almost given up. I could get a magnet on the socket, but I couldn't orientate it to pass through the hole. I decided to give it one last try, and with two telescoping magnets, I managed to fish out the socket. I was going to have to have the car towed to a shop to have the clutch replaced (major surgery on a 951 with a one-piece crossover pipe).

Worst shop story:

I was 17. My '85 Plymouth Duster had started to overheat. On the advice of my non-car guy dad (I had no mechanical know-how at the time), I took the car to Pep Boys. They charged me $500 to change the radiator. Pulling out of the parking lot, the car started to overheat. I went in and complained that they had not fixed the problem that I described, and demanded they fix the problem at no charge. I finally left after they threatened to call the police on me. My dad stopped payment on the radiator (it was on his CC), and I took the car to another shop. $40 later I had a new water pump and a car that didn't overheat.