Rich

Happened to me 2-3 weeks ago. Makes ya feel real STUPID.
I should add that I had to recharge the battery twice, before I figured it out.

 

Great write up and i know how ya feel, hell i had called a buddy to come get my bike one night in his truck and after he arived he notice the pet**** was off... man i felt like Einstien

 

On the garage crawl the day before the second HAMB drags My front tank ran dry. Flipped the switch to switch to the rear tank. Nothing. :-( So I pull off on a dirt road and everybody else stops to help. I closed the manual fuel shutoff valve so I wouldn't get a bath, and start to diagnose. Bad fuel pump? No, there's voltage. Hmmm. Finally figure out it's the tank valve. I was starting to loosen clamps to plumb a byp*** when 40StudeDude comes up with some gas in a small jug. I put it in the front tank but the dumb thing still wouldn't start. :-/ There are pics of me under the car about this point. I got frustrated and started to diagnose what else might be the problem. Denise told me later I needed to chill. She was right but having problems like this with an audience didn't sit to well. When I finally remembered to open the manual shutoff valve I was fuming to myself. I'm sure the picture will show up.

Hat's off to you for 'fessing up! Misery does love company.

 

Best way I know to spot a liar is to ask him if he's ever done something like this. If the answer is NO, just stand back and watch his nose grow.

Frank

 

Yup, we've all done something like that. A few years ago when my younger daughter was in high school I got her a job where I work. I would go to work at 5 a.m. and she would get there at 7. One day she came in and said she'd had to get a ride in because her car wouldn't start; no crank, just dead. I drove her home that day after work and just pulled up alongside her car. I told her to get in it and put it in park and it would start. I could see from my truck it was still in Drive. And the reason i looked at her shifter from my truck was that I'd done the same thing when i was her age at the burger joint where I worked. I had about four guys "helping" me get my '65 Chevy started. When i jumped the starter relay and the car inched forward I knew what was wrong....

 

man i thought **** like that only hapeens to me,put cap,rotor,points and wires on my flatty and it wouldnt start,rechecked points still nothing...forgot to connect the coil wire!!

 

Great story. I'm really good at doing stuff like that, usually involves the coil wire. I'm also good at forgetting when I disconnect batteries or take them out of the car.

I love that car, is there a link to some more pictures of it?

 

hahaha....my wife's uncle (a hot rodder too) stopped by with a fella the other night to let him hear my flatty's lake pipes.....i fired her up......it kept dying......i told them i didnt' have the choke rod hooked up and that she's cold natured (all true)......after it wouldn't fire again, i remembered the shut off valve....

 

Ditto
And I usually forget to turn on the fuel on my bike

 

Maybe someday my smallblock will sound as Hot as your flatty.




But I doubt it.

 

Oh yeah...I did that a few times in my A. I would get a block away and then put put DEAD. haha.

 

Love that car Ryan. Can't tell you how many times i've shown that car to my friends and said"this is what I want!". Anybody have a front view of the car? Ryan?

 

Funny you say this but 2 weeks ago while getting the 38 ready for the roundup me and the pops had similiar issue. While working a wiring issue we unhooked all wires at the fuse panel and pulled some fuses. After reworking some wires we were trying to start the motor again no realizing I forgot to put the fuse back in to the electric fuel pump. Not ever building a car with a electric fule pump wit the vibrating sound it sounded like a normal mechanical sound. Took a few minutes to realize the problem. Lesson learned everyone has brain farts.

Rusty

 

That coupe is spot on. Wish my current car's issue was that straight forward.

 

There is something cathartic about owning up to a simple oversight. It's like saying I'm just as dumb as the rest of you. I now belong.

The more we learn the more we tend to forget about the basics and chase that wild goose.

I tore my hair out for a few days trying to get a 421SD Pontiac running. 18436572...check, #1 up on compression...check, spit and sputter but no start. I finally got a friend to go through the steps with me. It wasn't quite perfect on #1. He had me bump it to get it perfect. It was close enough to get it to run but not perfect. I obliged and the light bulb went off and the problem became very obvious.... Ponchos turn CC unlike the Chevys I was used to. 18436572 the other way and there was fire in the hold. Basics...it's always the basics.

It's very re***uring to tell people all over the world how stupid we can be and not get ridiculed. Of course I'd expect any good friend to politely remind you to turn on the fuel every time you climb behind the wheel. That's what friends do.

 

Ryan,
Keith wasn't laughing at you when he hung up. Friends don't do that. However, he was probably just chuckling and enjoying the moment remembering when he did exactly the same thing himself. This one will go into the story file in your head for the bench racing sessions.

Oh yeah, and the coupe. Beautiful and it was great to see parked next to the 38 in the Roundup coverage. Thanks again for the JJ and the HAMB and all of your hard work.

 

The coupe has an auto, the 1st I have owned in many years. Yes you guessed it, didnt have it in park and was stuffed if I couldnt work out what was wrong when it wouldnt start

 

Ryan - dang - that's about as good as it gets in my book..

 

That coupe is so perfectly put together by Tardel - and a great story to boot - the way he totally surprised you with it in the end - I like it even more just knowing how Keith totally faked you out - thats just too great. I wish I had a recording of that flatty roaring by when you blew by me downtown a few weeks back - the reverb off the Frost Bank tower was amazing.

I was cracking up hearing that guy out at the Roundup trying to convince you that you'll eventually want to sell it, and get a duece - cuz, ya know - its better.

 

Two that I'll tell on myself--I was going crazy tracking down all kinds of bizarre electrical problems on my '38 Ford pickup until I finally noticed that the bolt attaching the ground cable to the engine block was loose. Tightened it up, and all the gremlins went away. Then I had a freshly-built small block Chevy that wasn't getting any gas to the carburetor. The fuel pump was working fine before I tore the engine down, and I was sure it didn't suddenly go bad during the couple of days the engine was apart, but as I was starting to pull my "defective" fuel pump, I noticed the fuel pump pushrod on the garage floor under the truck. Any man who says he never overlooked the obvious will lie about anything.

 

read your "story" last night, had to come back again tonight, that is just about the coolest car I have ever seen, it relieves stress just admiring it, I would guess driving it would almost make you comatose - - - what a neat car ! ! !

 

Only did this once - poured 5 quarts of oil all over the driveway when I forgot to put the drain plug back in my dad's Bronco. That was years and years ago - to this day - I ALWAYS double check.

Another time - young & dumb - had totaled my car, so was borrowing my mom's '79 Caprice Cl***ic Wagon (man, was I cool!). It needed brakes, but I had a date that night - told my GF it would just be a few minutes - floor jack under the middle, both wheels up, air gunned the lugs off, popped the calipers off, C-clamped the pistons in, new pads, calipers on, wheels on - rock & roll in 16 minutes flat - I felt like a NASCAR pit crew.

Cruised for about a week with the AC on & stereo blasting. Noticed a pulsing in the pedal on about day four or five. Day six, the pedal went to the floor! Quick look underneath & I saw brake fluid all over one wheel. Pulled it off - I had put one of the brake pads in backwards! Wore right through the rotor - the pulsing pedal was as it was wearing through the cooling vanes - eventually, the piston popped out of the caliper!

OK - that's enough telling on myself!

 

Very cool thread.

A common factor in a lot of these stories was that SOMEONE- a father, friend, mentor- was patient enough to "turn the light on" for you. Pay it forward someday, when the young guy/girl next door, or who hangs out at the shop, gets into their own jam.

 

I'm forever forgetting to turn the fuel on on my bike which always ruins that picture perfect exit from wherever I am.

The worst was when the club dudes all came over to help put our '58 Olds in the garage in preparation to get it on the road for the cinematic (I'm a slow wrench-turner) a few weeks back. I had to change a flat and already had the spare half-filled. Anyhow, put the breaker bar/impact socket on the lugnut (I hate lugwrenches) and turned it once, twice, three times and it would't get any looser. Of course, I have 5 people supervising. Finally, someone pointed out that it COULD be reverse-threaded ala Mopars of the 50s. Of course, it is. Anyone have any idea why the hell they did that? Slow sales of new lugs?

 

I have my own Keith....his name is Beatnik

 

When Denise is with you when you "break down", photos are likely to be posted on the HAMB at some point.

Earlier that day


Lots of opinions on what could be wrong


Maybe just outta gas???


Nope, could be that easy

 

I knew you wouldn't disappoint me Denise.

 

Ryan, Your driving the car I tried to build when I was 16. Every time I see a picture of it my mind drifts back some 45 years. Enjoy!