This Saturday night while wishing I was at the drags, I was in the shop banging away on Slick. I droped the front end by pulling all the leafs except the main and the smallest. Which without a motor in it droped the front 3 inches. But I did not have the leaf spring tie bolts I needed. So I ground the heads of some grade 8 - 3/8 bolts round and proceded. Well I was afraid that the head of the bolt was not deep enough to sink into the axle. What to do, what to do. I know I'll weld a 3/8 nut to the head of the bolt and double the depth! Well I welded the first and then ground it to shape, and just to be sure banged on it with a hammer against the vice. It didn't fall apart and I felt like my idea would work. So I did the secound. I welded it and picked it up with pliers, then banged it with a hammer while it was still glowing red. After the "Bang" I looked down to see the nut had disapeared! Where the hell did that go? Now I am begining to notice a tingling pain running down my shin, past my ankle and onto the top of my foot! The red hot nut poped off entered the hole of my jeans at the knee, rolled down my leg and into my boot! By this time I was in pain! So what do I do? I cram my fingers into my boot to pull out the nut. Wrong! I burnt the holy crap outa my finger! Now I am bounceing up and down on one foot trying to get my boot off. I lose balance and fall against the work bench spilling my Coke down the back of my pants. (What a feeling! To be on fire and froze at the same time!) I lunge forward and bang my head on the Cherry picker, snapping my head back, and causeing me to utter some very choice words. About 30 mins. later my wife walks in and looks at me working with one shoe and sock off, a major burn the size of a quater on my foot, my index finger sticking out like it is broken with a big blister on the end, a trickle of blood on my forhead and a wet ass. She stands for a minute and then simply says "Honey, I think it's time to quit for tonight." Gently leads me inside giggling at me all the way. Moral: I shoulda went to the drags...
Bummer man. A bit of advise, next time don't tuck your pant's leg into your boots, helps keep hot shit out!
You must be my long lost twin brother, that's something I would have done. Try a little vitamin E on the burn, it'll help it to heal quick w/o scarring......
Yes you should have went to the drags... I believe they call that karma... and it can be some funny shit...
My sides hurt....oooooh thats some funny stuff....and we've all been there....hope your on your way to full recovery... i welded in deck shoes...once.
Terry- Hey man, don't feel so bad. I was at the HAMB drags - and they weren't all that safe. While wandering around, I stopped to check out someone's motor just after he stopped nearby and lifted his hood. Unbeknownst to me, the guy was screwing off his radiator cap. Just as I peeked in, the whole thing went off like Mount Vesuvius! A huge column of boiling anti-freeze shot up, splashed against the inside of the hood, and doused us both pretty well. Fortunately, I escaped without injury, but the car owner had a painful burn on his hand. Ya' just have to stay alert all the time, I guess. Regarding your particular deal - stuff like that has happened to us all. Just be happy you can laugh at your mistakes. Thanks for sharing ("real-life" stories like that keep us all humble). I hope the damage heals fast. BTW - Do come to the HAMB drags next time. Hey, if you're gonna get an "owie", it's much less painful when you have all the cool rods around to distract you. (-:
Hey, Terry. Barb and I were thinking we might swing by and see you while we were in Odessa last Saturday. We ran out of time before we could find you... too bad. Might have caught a part of your comedy routine! Thanks for the laugh, hope you're all right. himmelberg
Geez man, maybe you should think about having someone over whenever you're in the garage, kinda like a "buddy" system. If nothing else, you'd have someone handy to run your ass into the emergency ward! If I remember correctly, this isn't the first time you've had a day like that!
I too had a bit of a laugh at your post Terry. But we have all gone through similar stuff. I often think when regular folk are looking and admiring our old cars and bikes, they just don't know what we go through. Geoff aka Whodaky
Man, glad to know it's not just me. I don't think I've ever worked on my truck without bleeding from somewhere.
You know what? Now I'm thinking of the money I could made had I had a camera! That would have had to have won over at AFV!
Must suck to be you dude! Just kidding, hope you're feeling better. We've all been in similar situations.
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