OT: Ever get pinned under a car??

Yeah. Back around '84 I had a '60 T-Bird,Took out the motor and trans to put in a newer one.For some reason I had to take something out,so I jacked it up with a bottle jack and slid under drivers door.Didnt bother to chock the wheels or anything,only take a sec,right?I hear a sound and the jack goes sideways,now my chest is compressed under a car with about 6" clearance,thank God the engine and trans were out! Managed to gasp out a help,and my friend Tony was right there and jacked it up and me out.Tried to go back under(after chocking wheel) but Tony insisted on White Castles and beer. He was usually right.No more working without proper supports,known of other guys dying,so be safe guys!

 

My uncle was killed in the late 60's when one of those huge old hydraulic jacks with two support arms gave out. The center section of the rear fell on his chest and that was it. He was working alone when it happened.

Any time I need to work under one of my cars, his fate always runs through my mind & I take the time to support the car even if I'm only going to be under the car for a second ... that's all it takes.

 

Yeah ,with a lit torch and no way to turn the thing off or where it was pointed ! I had installed a 331 Hemi in my '51 Merc when I was about 19. Young and dumb using cinder blocks and a couple old bumper jacks , I was underneath welding a headpipe laying on my back on a concrete floor . I knew better but at 19 immortality and hormones rule . Cut to the chase , I had heated a section of pipe to bend it over to match so I could weld it , when I pried the pipe over with a bar . the jack bent over and down that heavy ***ed Merc . came . Didn't squish me but left me pinned with my right arm above my head and my left between my torso and the bottom of the frame , bad part was the torch was out of my reach and I couldn't see or reach it but I could still hear it burning . Screw immortality !Panic! I could burn to death under this thing ! until my kid sister came out into the garage to see what the loud noise was . I calmed down a bit and told her to shut the bottles off which she did .Yeah, the torch popped a few times but it was off and immortality was on again . She summoned my 18 year old hoodlum neighbor and he got the bumper jack raised enough so I could slither out from underneath that Merc . Armed with memories of that close call , we used THREE bumper jacks ,a scissors jack stolen from his dad's '54 chevy pickup and a slew of 4x6 blocks plus the aformentioned cinder block as a back up , just in case ! We did manage to cobble enough bird **** on those head pipes that night and we even took it for a maiden voyage sans the hood until the battery went dead from the generator not being hooked up.

 

While installing a transmission in my '63 Caddy convertable the trans slipped off the floor jack and the tail shaft pinned my upper arm between the jack and the floor. About 3 hours later dear old Dad showed up and asked if I was done yet! Such are the adventures of dealing with the cast iron 4 speed Jetaway automatic, no wonder the car weighed over 5,000 pounds. God, I miss that car.

 

Not under the entire car, but back in High School ('77), I was working on my '51 Ford, pulling the ******, laying right underneath it, and it dropped out on my chest and pinned me so I couldn't move.

The only way I could get out was to shimmy the ****** down my chest, towards my crotch and work it off. Of course, the ****** leaked a bunch of fluid all over my crotch; think it filled my pockets full...fortunately, the only damage was to ego and a nice pair of Levi's.

 

Never pinned under a car; not even close. Lucky, not smart.

But about twelve years back, I was driving a 1 ton Econoline delivery truck w/ a 460 & 4.10's. Ugly, but went like stink.

I'd just delivered something to a grocery store and the pig wouldn't start. No click, nothing.

But, I'm resourceful - pop the hood, jump terminals on starter. While standing in front of truck.

The 460 started to sputter to life, the truck began to roll forward, and I jumped like a straight man running away from a Barbara Streisand concert.

Good thing I did; the 460 came up onto high idle in a second, and went flying forward into the local Pepsi sales rep's company car. Which had been parked a foot behind where I'd been standing.

They say God looks out for babies, drunks, and fools...


-bill