I was swapping the motor in my -53 Chevy when the engine hoist felt through the windshield, that was pretty annoying... Once I was welding closed rocker panels, welded all done, sprayed corrosion prevent stuff in and started to finish the rest of the welds when the whole **** exploded right to my mask. Ugly stuff, stupid me...
When someone looks at something and says "WOW" that's perfect they don't see the 50 mistakes in the junk pile.
My Dad always told me that the sign of a good craftsman is how well he can cover his mistakes. I sure miss him. He was probably the smartest man I ever knew. Of course when I was a teenager I did not realize it. A screw up I once did was crossing the wires between the coil and the temperature sending unit after rebuilding the engine on a friends early Mustang 289. I could get fire to the points but not enough to start the car. Worked on it for three nights. On the fourth night I finally sat down in the car instead of just reaching in the window to turn the key. When I turned the key to on I saw the temperature gauge go all the way to hot. That is when I knew I had crossed the wires. Changed the wires and the engine fired right up. Sure felt like a dummy.
It only took me 3 seconds to burn thru the corner of a boxing plate with the welder turned up too hight and it took me 25 minutes to make another plate. s.
Went to court over seatbelt issue a couple of months back. I represented myself .Highway patrol swore under oath he had not made a mistake in 35 years on the job. Judge laughed and asked if he was Jesus Christ and dismissed me. Bingo!
Everything looks 10 times better on the internet than in real life. For first chops looking perfect, I think the main focus is on proportions and shape because that is easily seen over the internet. Most of the "that looks great" comments are aimed towards that point I would think. Unless the pics are closeups or the car is in shiny paint, its tough to see things like door gaps and how straight the chop actually is. Attention to detail is what makes a chop great. Don't let it discourage you from attempting something. My screw-up to good ratio is probably at least 4:1. The key is learning from the screw-ups and knowing how to fix them so no one really knows there was a screw up to begin with. No one is perfect the first, second, or even third time out of the gate.
I screw up all the time. That is probably why I have so many projects going at once. If I get screwed up or confused, I go to something else. In a day or 2 or a few months , it will dawn on me how to fix my problem, usually when I'm sleeping, then I go back to it. There is one mistake I make over and over again. I like things tight. Too tight. I always grab my big ratchet and strip threads out. I always say never again but what do I do, Yep grab the big ratchet and strip again. I should hide that ratchet and use the smaller one. Will I? Probably not.
Is that the same thing as one step forward and three backward? or i'm back to where i was 3 days ago, then your able to make it look like you meant for it to be that way??
First top chop was my '53 Chevy pickup-cut it off twice and used pieces from three tops before I was done-looks good now though.
I've screwed a lot of stuff up, but this is the only picture I have handy. Detroit Diesel 6V92-TA. Oops. Those cylinder heads a f-ing heavy!
I think this is why I like blacksmithing so much ,You can start out hammering out a s**** end up with a fire place poker and unless you make the mistake of telling the people standing there watching you 99% of them won't know and still think your a genius!!
Bought my first Model A...I looked it over and it seemed to be alot better then the ones I have seen before for sale.I was told that it wasnt original due to the roof being filled in but that the owner wanted to keep the rest of the car a original Model A..He even told me that if I was to make a hotrod out of it that he would not sell it to me..So I felt that this guy was a hard core stocker and that this car must be solid..The only work that I was informed about was the roof..He claimed that the rest of the car was solid since 1930.. So I talked the guy down from what he was asking and brought it home..After I got it home of course I started tearing into it and stripped all the paint off and found tons of bad body work..It had a bad job done on the filler panel for the roof and all the lower patchs where junk ..It even had some kind of hole in the driver side quarter like at one time someone was gonna put a radio antenna there...So in my opinion I made a bad mastake by believing that the owner was truthful in what he said "That the car was all solid an original but the roof. The car has sat now for ten years.. I was so pissed and upset that i got shafted I couldnt even look at it..I have done other cars and projects over the years but have always stayed away from the coupe..I have now finally let my wounds heal and have accepted the fact the car is not perfect and that even though it aint it still can be a great ride..So I guess I made two mistakes believing in the owners b.s. and thinking this was the ONE..ONE of the rare few that wasnt butchered up by hacks..When in fact there is no ONE you make it the ONE..So now I **** it up and make this the ride the ONE I always wanted...
I just got done sawzalling my latest fu** -up in to tiny little pieces...I don't want to talk about it. I'm pissed but, I feel better now.
I think my latest screw up was breaking one of the hub-bolts on my '63. That mother was freaking tight, so what did I do? I got a long metal rod and broke the thing off. After further inspection I discovered the driver-side hub-bolts were left-handed threads. Gah! I still haven't fixed that thing. It was a dumb mistake; I just wasn't thinking.
I agree, there is a bunch of chops and such that look great online and then you see the work in person and it is far from perfect. I like the learnig curve when you make a part, ditch it and get a nicer one the second time around, or third. But like someone said, sometimes the first try ends up the best.
I was painting a Camaro for a buddy of mine an trying to streach the paint ran out 1/2 across the deck lid. Went back to fill my gun came back,started to make a p*** an the cup fell off dead center of the trunk!
The Jalopy Journal
