SO remember when your bending your brake tubes to make sure that both connectors are all the way to their own ends hahaha man so I do a good kick ass bending job only to find out that I made a mistake and cant get the connector around the bends lol O well I guess its a newbie thing = ) Anyone else have some lame mess up they did?
Oh yeah....building plug wires and forgetting to put the boots on first.....that's my trick...I feel like I should be in a talent show for the mentally challenged.
it always seems you forget a fitting when your flare is "perfect!" oh yeah, i'm sure we have all done this one....at least once!
If you haven't done the bend the tube with the fitting on the wrong side you haven't done any ! jerry
done the big tune up and forgot to replace the rotor button! ( remembering just before the battery starts to get tired) !!! RRRRRRRRR r r r r r r ... clickkkkkk k k k k .
I wish that was a screwup that was significant enough to me to be noteworthy. I've done it a bunch of times, but my mistakes make that look like a slight diversion...
Done it too. And lucky enough to buy brand new line and found one of the fittings on backwards. Both pointed in the same direction. Took it back so the fellas at the counter could enjoy. The heat shrink I use can be put over the ring terminals on my wiring and still shrink down correctly. Its saved my ass numerous times.
Oh my god yes. That, or I flare the end, and realize that I've forgotten to put the fitting on. That is a guaranteed screwup every time I bend brake lines. GuaranTEED!
Seems to happen to me when about done with the job...like anything you're tired and may be rushing a bit to get done. Like someone said -if you haven't done this before then you've never played with hard lines! Keeps us humble anyways.
Lets see...Ive been building cars for quite a few years now... I always at least once per car flare a line with the fitting sitting next to me off the line. I have masked myself out of a car I have to move before spraying. Once at my old tire shop when I was hungover seriously and about 20 or so, left the lugnuts off a van...drove it out and laid it down on the running board...whoops...anything forgetful I can accomplish at least a couple times during a build. Pretty good about leaving tools on the leaf springs too, its like Snap On Easter Egg Hunt when I get home and see the trail infront of the driveway haha.
You know the valley in an SBC is a great place to set your gasket scraper.......just don't put the intake back on......took my cousin 3 months to blow the motor and get his scraper back. Bird
this is a great thread. I have definately done my share of really dumb shit while in the process of working on my cars but Unionville that lugnut story had me cracking up, very good story at least now anyways
I remember when i was about 6 years old my dad just dropped a fresh rebuilt 327 into his 63' nova and i dropped a quarter into the intake. He popped on the carburetor and started it up heard a clank clank clank pulled off the intake and saw the quarter. He turned and looked at me and instantly saw the guilt in my eyes. My ass still hurts from that day.
This is why experience is so valuable: “Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.” ~F. P. Jones
And don't lead wheel balance weights sound great hitting the inside of the fender well at 60 cause you put them on OK, but sort of forgot to hammer them in place!
I've learned the hard way that you shouldn't put your hands anywhere near the fan, belts or pullys if the engine is running. Always use a jack-stand and not a pile of two by fours. Do not under any circumstances put your finger in the tranny fill tube hole 'cause you won't be able to get it out without losing much of the skin around your second nuckle (not to mention the crowd that quickly gathers 'round to poke fun!). Park is not an emergency brake. Never remove a driveshaft without first making sure that the e-brakes really work and if you do be sure that the person you call to get the truck off your hip ain't got a cameraphone.
I started a Harley once after a rebuild and couldn't figure out why there was this blue stuff puffing out of the exhaust. Then I remembered that I stuck a paper towel in the intake while the carb was off to keep dirt out. I got real lucky, I took the heads and cylinders back off to make sure I didn't bend a valve or con rod and I didn't. We ALL do stupid things, only some of us are man enough to admit it. And by the way I've done the brake fitting thing more times then I care to remember.
how about when you fight the timing cover on an olds engine for 4 hours because you can't remove the dowell pins. then you finally get the thing back on and look around in triumph, only to realize the fuel pump eccentric is still sitting on the table behind you...
The Jalopy Journal
