Don't ask me how I know that you can't lift a car by jacking underneath the bottom radiator tank. Don't ask me how I know.
Don't feel too bad, I came real close to doing that myself once. My trucks low, I was in a hurry and I didn't have a drop light inder it. Started pumping up the jack and noticed it didn't seem as far under the thing as usual. Looked again doh! Almost ruined a brand new radiator.
Man I hate that feeling. I have done many stupid things myself but the dumbist one I have seen was I went out to help tow a bud out of a snow bank and handed him the tow strap telling him to attach it to something solid. He did.. the lower Radiator hose.
Excellent. Now the thing is to get everyone to contribute and preface it with "Don't ask me how I know..." Don't ask me how I know you can break your Chevy 3 speed transmission by compression starting it rolling in reverse. Don't ask me how I know this. Don't ask me how I know that too liberal use of starting fluid can result in a spectacular underhood fireball that will leave you with only the singed remnants of your pompadour, eyebrows, eyelashes and nose hairs as well as a good bruise on the back of your head. Don't ask me how I know.
Don´t ask me how I know that installing a shorter oil pump drive shaft from a 283 sbc in a 350 sbc won´t give you any oil pressure.... but the distributor mounted so snuggly... Don´t ask me how I know that mismatching ignition wires #5 and #6 on the distributor cap will give you some serious backfires ... Don´t ask me how I know that forgetting about setting your welder back from #16 (welding railroad rails) to # 1 can give you some additional holes in your sheetmetal... To be continued... Chris
Don't ask me how I know: Not pulling the trouble light out of the coil spring before you let the jack down results in a trip to the store for a new light. Havng your tool box in front of a car no brakes is hard on the tool box. You have to unclip the battery clips on your battery charger instead of jusy giving them a jerk. :Reconnecting the clips back on the wires where you think they were right is not a good idea. 35 years of experance learned from doing stupid things does not mean you still don't do stupid things. Gene
Don't ask me how I know... but when you pick up a full oxygen bottle straight up by the cap, only it's cap is frozen on by sub zero temps and not screwed on... It'll come loose and you'll knock out your own front teeth. Don't ask me how I know... JOE
Dont ask me how I know -that you dont even slightly grind that ALAN GROVE bracket if it seems too tight in the just outa the box-POLISHED sd-508 air compressor mounting holes..... only cost me 289.00 for that stroke of genius- snugged it up with a hand wrench a little and SNAP!refrigerant-oil all over me......
Don't ask me how I know that rubber-gripped plyers won't insulate very well against a spark plug... Pretty cool to have you bones jump inside of your muscles..
Related to Mojo's post, don't ask me how I learned that you don't yank the coil wire with your bare hands to stop a 425 Olds that wouldn't stop running.
If you're really lucky like I was, that 5 pound open end wrench you forgot and left on the Bridgeport when you tightened the collet will only fly half way across the machine shop and land harmlessly on the ground without sending anyone to the hospital or the morgue...
Don't ask me how I know you don't use an 8# drill bit to drill through the inner door skin of a door.
Dont ask how I forgot the engine had been running awhile when I decided to take off the cap to check the water level....My dad & i were hunting & found a guy who had managed to get his VW bug stuck in the sand. Handed him the end of a tow chain. Amazing how easily they tow! figgured we'd find out why he was honking when we got to the top of the hill(bit dark by then). Getting out, all we saw was his front bumper laying in the road!
Don't ask me how I know that you can get a nice big bruise on your forehead by sitting all the way across the garage, but still in the trajectory as a friend is kicking on a breaker bar, trying to loosen a rusted shackle bolt. Don't ask me how I know that time slows down in an interesting way as the bar is spinning, end over end, as it makes its way toward your head.
don't ask me how I know to always assume that your sawed off shotgun in your tool box is loaded when you point it at your truck to use to take you to the airport in the morning.
Dont aks me how I know.. That two bumper jacks and the rear tires under the cars are not as good as a good jack and jack stands. That the petcock on the radiator of an e350 is not a good place to use as a lowering point, they break quite easly. Jonney
Don't ask me how I know but Shoebox doors do leave marks on your forehead when your not paying attention and the wind blows it shut! Fortunately, I did know (from a HAMB post) that Superglue works very well for "fixin" cuts that should be stitched up!
Don't ask me how I know that when cutting a piece of square tubing with a torch, while standing at the end of said tubing, you will set your hairy chest on fire. Good thing I had a couple of bud's standing around who beat out the flames or the pigpen would have been pigroast! pigpen "Bite me; burn me; beat me; make me write bad checks!" (anon)
Don't ask me how I know that A 4" grinder will cut a hole in your pants and anything inside them. Those space saver "fold up" cherry pickers will do just that when your engine and tranny are hanging over the grill of your pickup. If you drop a generator for a 289, you should not try to catch it. It will smash the shiat out of any finger you choose to place under it.
[ QUOTE ] don't ask me how I know to always assume that your sawed off shotgun in your tool box is loaded when you point it at your truck to use to take you to the airport in the morning. [/ QUOTE ] Could we get the whole story on this one? It's just begging to be told. Or at least illustrated... Here's mine: Don't ask me how I know, but when you get done setting an engine at TDC to check the timing belt, make sure you take the breaker bar off the crank pulley while your buddy is standing over the engine with a timing light. I don't know, of course, but I imagine it makes a helluva noise when that bar whips around and bangs off the frame at 1000 rpm...
Don't ask me how i know that one feels like an idiot after grinding on my frame sending sparks for about 1/2 an hour only to realize that the idiot that last used the gas can that is completely full only had a nice rag as it's top and was only two feet away. my god that was close.
along the lines of the grinder.... don't ask my best bud how he knows to always tuck in his shirt when using a grinder with a cut off disk... climbed UP his shirt and took a 3/8" wide by 4 or so inch channel out of his hide just under his armpit. looked like it went between two ribs, think i saw the fucking membrane that holds yer guts and whatnot in place. dude just kinda shrugged it off, his mom, a nurse bandaged it up, and he came back over and finished what he was working on the next day. don't ask ME how i know to not forget to put the spacer inside the control arm where the upper inner pivot goes when tightening the steel end bushings on your 50 pontiac...
It's not good to NOT heed safety warnings from your friends(re: Tudor's post about safety glasses and grinding last Thursday morning)......OOOH nooo, HAVING good intentions("hmm, I should go home and get my face shield") isn't enought to keep metal outta yer eye.... Don't ask me how I know
Oon't Ask Me How I Know.....that a PTO shaft will grab loose clothing, esp. if it has a burr on it. Wrapped up like a trash bag stuck in a mower. 10 inch titanium plate and 7 stainless screw's later....you beg for morphine.
Dont ask me how I know but anti-freeze is not flammable and will put our a gas fire on your windshield if you do not have an extinguisher handy.
Also dont has me how I know but I learned yesterday that if a grinder catches an edge and is ripped from your hands your shirt and gut are not recommended surfaces to stop the spinning grinder.
That a t350 transmission will go nowhere in drive when its completely empty. But get out of car and leave said tranny in drive and start pouring transmission fluid in and watch out...
The Jalopy Journal
