Stuff you've learned the hard way

OK...Here are a few of mine. Some I learned from my Dad, others I learned on my own.

1 Never wear your wedding band while working on a car. My dad nearly lost his ring finger when his wedding band got caught in a chain hoist he was using to lower an engine into a car.

2. If you are too lazy to go looking for a steering wheel puller (or don't have one on hand). Leave the nut or bolt on by a couple of threads if you are trying to wiggle and jerk it off the column. I watched my dad use this method a few times (with the fastener on loosely), the first time I tried it on my own, I did not put the fstener on. This happened to me about 30 years ago....My nose is still crooked!

3. Never wear a necktie while working on or checking out a running engine. Believe it or not, I have seen several idiot factory service reps, approach running engines with neckties dangling loose!

4. If your friend says the following phrase... "Hey, Watch This!".... Run as fast and as far away from him as you can!

I'll Post more as I think of them.

 

If you can't afford to do it right the first time, you DAMN sure can't afford to do it twice. I still haven't learned that one.

 

It's not funny to pop a ballon next to someone's ear when thay are welding near a gas tank. Actually, it IS funny, but not a good idea. Nor is welding near a gas tank.

 

stuff i learned the hard way.....

racing on the street...
a miracle that i and the people in my hometown survived.

i learned the Hard way...(took a long time to heal up)


No glory in street racing..None

 

If a buddy comes over with parts of an engine that has been sitting in his garage for a "while" and wants to assemble an engine so you can go on a road trip the following day, don't.

If the pistons and rods that have been setting for a "while" are frozen up and the pistons won't move on the rods at all, don't let your buddy talk you into putting motor oil in a deep fryer and heating the pistons up until they move. Especially don't let him talk you into doing this in your garage that is attached to the house.

After the pistons move some on the rods, don't let your buddy assure you they will free up more once the engine is running.

And finally, once the engine runs, don't ecpect it to run for more than 200 hundred miles.

Luckily for me, I didn't take the road trip out of state.

 

It is better to have a cigarrette hole in your carpet than to total your car out on a Kia. Never tow away a parts car until all salvageable body panels, engine components, etc. are stripped and tucked safely away.

 

cars are heavy!!! lesson learned under a jeep on a rock in the san juans of SW colorado.....not the best place to go learnin that particular lesson!

 

Design something you know will work first, you can optimize it later.

 

When welding under a car make sure your weld's molten metal's line of sight is away from your crotch.

Never juggle a spinning grinder even if its only to adjust your grip a few inches.

Always wear eye protection!!!!!

Wheel covers are awesome if you own dogs.

gas tanks need venting!!

 

This is a lesson one of my customers had to learn the hard way. I told him to verify the block casting number but he didn't..........

1) The stroke of a 305 is different than the stroke of a 350.
2) A 350 crank can be bolted in a 305 block with 305 rods and pistons.
3) The noise made by the combination in number 2 is not the lifters "ticking".
4) The auto parts store you purchased the 350 crank kit from will not refund your money after it has been installed.
5) Always number your rods and rod caps BEFORE you take them apart. You cannot mix and match different caps with different rods when you put everything back together.

Dan Marvin, Owner
Exeter Auto Supply

 

Shift into neutral while idling dammit.
When loosening stuck bolts with a breaker bar, make sure the handle of the bar does not hit anything.
When that bolt does loosen, it will break free very violently.
Mr. Breaker Bar doesn't care if your fingers are in the way.
When using a fiber backed abrasive wheel, don't let your fingernail hit the backing. It will peel off a lot of the fibers and bury them underneath your nail beyond the cuticle.
Don't set small screws, nuts, or bolts on top of the engine.
They will fall somewhere unreachable.
Get a tin can for them instead.
You will knock over that tin can.
Don't forget to put a rag into the sparkplug holes if you take the plugs out for any length of time.
Yes the exhaust manifolds are hot.
Sparkplugs that have just been removed from a running engine cannot be held in your hand.

 

Long hair and creaper wheels dont cooperate.

 

think befor you use a grinder, unconfertable eye protecttion is still important

 

This was back in 1984 I was building my second street rod from the ground up starting with a set of rails I began to build this kick ass little 31 roadster in 5 months. I hung the mustang steering box a brake kit from speedway motors and then it came to sitting in the car and get a feel for it well the brake pedal just did not feel right see I am 6' 2" and weigh about 260 LBS, back then, so I did not fit real well. So I cut the pedal off the brake arm and refit it to a new angle just for me. 2 months past and it was time to test the Trans out. I had no steering hooked up but I did have the drive shaft in the car. Bad point # 1 First mistake!! So I fired the Big Block up and she sounded great it gave me goose bumps I put it in gear it went 5 feet put in neutral slowed down put it in reverse went 5 feet slowed again .Wow this was cool every thing worked .Bad point #2 picture this, my driveway is 300 feet long going down hill in a residential neighbor hood. My buddy yells out DO A HOLE SHOT!. So I goosed it she jumped and kind of lost my balance because my seat was not bolted down and no steering a big block will give you a jolt in a 1800 lb car. I proceeded down the drive way picking up speed went to reach for the key and it was not there it was on the ground. I hit the break pedal as hard as I could and it would not go down, by this time I am approaching the sidewalk that is before the street Its 3 o clock on a Saturday after noon people every where my kids the neighbors kids parents etc. I cross the street take down a small tree in the parkway I see the house across the street from me coming up very fast there is a picture window to left and a brick wall below another window that I am going to hit I have no choice no F##king steering. At this time I am standing on the brake pedal so hard I am vertical in the car. I hit the wall of the house doing around 25 miles and hour I fall out of the car the frame horns stick in the front of the house break the window smash the drywall in the house some lady comes out yelling at me in Spanish I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE Fu##k she is saying to me my buddy is laughing his ass off on the ground and I am about 5 shades of red. People are every where. I got the car unstuck from the house and pushed it back in my garage the police came but they did not arrest me. I was so proud of myself there was no damage done to car what so ever my 600 dollar radiator was untouched and my 32 grill shell was fine thanks to me boxing the frame horns So don’t mess with the law of physics and leave the geometry of the brake pedal alone . I put the angle of the pedal so you would have to use your toes to push it down not the ball of your foot .OOPS <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

 

Don't try to get rid of crabs with a propane torch!!!!!!! Ice picks don't work either.

 

Fluids are bad, ALL FLUIDS!! The mention that i will be near them makes them want to run from any containment and expand over the entire work area.One quart of oil could take more than 10 square feet,multiply by 5 and a real mess will be had.At my last job i was good for 50 lbs of speedy dry a week.I am a neat worker just not with liquids.Oh yea,Lug nuts installed hand tight will allow you to go approx 1 mile before the wheel passes you by.little more or less but about 1 mile.

 

letting a woman with teenage kids move in my house with me! its hard enough to love your own kids. they call that "a momentary lapse of reason"!

 

Old Craftsmen breaker bars with a 3 foot extension welded on will break! Really. And like Richard Pryor said "knock you the fuck out!"

Especially when you get a galled nut on a clutch stand in a funny car. So naturally you put a 250 lb asst. crew chief on the job to just break it off and we'll change the flywheel. Cause he was just the man to do it. No problemo!

So "name protected" pulls on said nut and WHAMMO! Right to the middle of the top front of his head. Breaker bar broke right at the clevis and whacked the shit right out of the ole hillbilly. Dropped him like sack O' taters. Right on down to the ground.

Crew chief says "roll him outta the way and get the car ready for the next round!" "We ain't got time for this shit." LOL.

Damn near thought he was dead. But he came around slowly. Real slowly.

We laughed like hell at dinner but wasn't really funny at the time cause like mom said "until someone gets hurt". Well we laughed like hell afterwards.

Boys from Sears were right there wanting to see parts and know what the hell happened. They were like real scared. One asked if we might have been abusing the tool? Of course we were abusing the tools. Dumb bastards what the hell did you think we would do with them? That is what free tools are for. Abusing the living shit out of them cause they were FREE! And we got as many as we needed because they were FREE!

Guess they don't know you can use those 3' long skinny phillips screwdrivers for shish kabobs or cooking hot dogs on the grill either. I still have a nice set of 12 skewers I mean screwdrivers. God how I miss that sponsorship deal.

 

Are you on drugs? I hope to hell she is really hot or has billions of dollars. Or is it that love thing?

 

Never drop a running 1/2 inch hand drill when you are wearing runners. My son put it right through the top of his foot with the steel shavings still attached to the 3/8 bit. Watching the cord twist around the drill in knots is still vividly embedded in his mind. Two weeks of draining the infection twice a day at the hospital and a size 14 foot twice its normal size earned him the name, "BIG FOOT".

 

That pinion angle has absolutely no effect on traction at all.

 

everything

 

Who needs directions when you have a picture.

 

man thats just fucked up and not the kids fault..

 

Oily rags in a small metal pale in the sun WILL CATCH ON FIRE.

 

If you think you can build it for 10,000 make sure and have 15,000 in the bank.

 

Shit I am screwed....but she got big boobs....

 

Never put gas in a styrofoam cup.....................it will melt!

 

I learned on the weekend that if you have tried everything that you can possibly think of to remove tie-rod ends from the steering arms you should not use a cut-off wheel.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=280510

Seemed like a good idea at the time.

I'm going to order all new parts tomorrow

 

when welding, wear your shoes loosely so when molten slag falls in your shoe you can throw it off faster

dont use cut off wheels with cracks unless you enjoy bloody knuckles