Do you keep a trophy of a screw up???

Does anyone keep trophies of a major screw up to remind you to keep your head out of your ***? Here I didn't tighten my U-joint after I replaced a drive shaft.

 

I have a piece of bone from my finger in a jar. I keep it in my medicine cabinet.
Just as a reminder that floor jacks can bite!!!

 

I have a wonderful twisted connecting rod mounted on a wooden base from a blow-up at Daytona, 1977. Makes a nice book-end.

 

Make it an offering to the hotrod gods.

 

I have lots of broken parts laying around.
They are to remind me that yes there is a red line.

 

I don't have that much room for storage!

 

You bet. The small stuff on a shelf and the bigger items hanging with some mechanics wire from the rafters. They make nice decorations for the barn.

Cliff Ramsdell

 

I have the screws from my broken leg they removed, really wanted the rod back out but it fused to the bone. Also the spacer on the upper timing gear of my 390 that I put back in on top of my new steel gear, that made some sweet noise!

Brad

 

If I ever screw up I'll probably keep whatever it is that gets messed up. LOL

I actually have a few things, one is the peice of metal with the bent drill bit still wedge in it, this is to remind me to clamp the stuff down on the drill press .

I wish I had kept mine but I didn't, that's the only thing I regret about losing mine, not keeping it .

 

I keep em, cause when i see them it reminds me of how lucky i really am, and i know i won't make that same mistake again!

 

Blown radiator hoses,bearings and brake pads....
"He Knew Better' rings in my ears.

 

I keep all of them. Hang them on the wall. I call it my shrine to the gods of speed!

 

Got a brake rotor hanging on the shop wall; it's got a six inch long flat spot on the edge...remember to check your lugnuts...twice!

 

I keep a defective 3.50 radiator cap that cost me a top end overhaul.

 

I call them self conversation pieces! Because after I do dumb stuff, I spend the next hour telling myself how stupid that was, or what the hell was I thinking?
Im glad God watches over guys like me! Im sure I keep him amused.

 

I have the single-point refueling connecter with the lugs ripped off from a KC-135. I kept it after installing the new one.

The incident has my name on it. Aux hydraulic pump was turned on, which closed the wheel well door on the hose whilst refueling, because the damned door lock wasn't installed. The remote hydrant switch cord was hanging in there too so the fuel couldn't be shut off.
JP4 flowed for several minutes before somebody thought to run to the fuel farm controls, about a hundred yards away. The short term trophy was a half acre of dead gr*** in front of the hardstand surrounding the Commander's office! That didn't green up for over a year.
The real trophy; I didn't get demoted and it was a great lesson in the hazards of not following the checklist. Could have been catastrophic...I haven't came that close to burning the house down since, and that was 47 years ago.(Chrome Dome Support, Ramey Air Force Base Puerto Rico, 1963)

 

wHY SURE, YOU DID IT AND WON THE AWARD , SO BE PROUD ! YOU CAN LAUGH ABOUT IT, PLUS YOU WILL NEVER DO THAT AGAIN .....

 

They didn't give me the metal shavings out of my eyes.

 

i think every true hot rodder keeps broken stuff, it makes for good conversation

 

I could not find the end of my fingerwhen I cut it off. But I have a wall that is getting full on other peoples screw ups. Newest is the rear axel seals in my 9' rear end and all the brake hardware that was installed back ***wared. Also one of them long swan neck shifter arms. I collect all the stuff that other people screw up when I work on their cars.

 

I have my fathers old finned cal custom oil pan on the wall with a hole where the rod cap blew through it...

 

Yup, I've got a couple. My favorite is a blown tire and bent wheel that reminds me to listen to that little voice when it says "you should slow down on this road".

 

Speaking of Air Force mishaps. I have the end of a piston from a PC1 reservoir from an F-15. A new airman rebuilt it and put it on test before a 5 level could check it. Put about 3k psi on it. No retainers means a senior airman (myself) almost lost his nuts to piece of "friendly" schrapnel. He got a chewin. Keep it on my keychain as a reminder to double check someone elses work.

 

I'm really not sure if this is a trophy or not but a reminder that using cheap parts can cost more than money.

I had just replaced the big old 16 " Harley rim with a 21" sealed bearing rim.

It was a nice summers day riding my 1956 Harley chopper enjoying the beautiful weather and doing about 50 miles per hour when the front wheel bearing locked up and started ripping out spokes,,,

It speed wobbled a couple of times and I went off the road and into a corn field about 12 feet below the pavement.

Needless to say I was in bad shape,,bones sticking out the side of my boot and a lot of pain.

One solid year in full cast and half cast,,this is the last one I wore,,the remains of the axle hang beside the cast.



Moral to the story,,this is the major reason I don't like off shore parts and tools. HRP

 

****. That hurts from here....

 

Yeah,,that was 36 years ago and with all the screws and plates it still hurts. HRP

 

Hell, I had to build a bigger barn.....

 

got a cast to remind me that my wife was right i didnt need a dirt bike after all . and a piece to my street bike to remind me that pavement hurt like hell

 

All I've got are some busted up cluster gears from my Ford 3 speed in my '40...

Just to remind me that even though the flatty isn't built up, if used improperly, it can still shred the gears.

It also reminds me that old Ford transmissions are a hell of a lot easier to fix than new ones...

 

I like to think of it as research and development rather than screw ups.