I see a lot of oil on shop floors, but I haven't seen this goof in the forum yet:
We have overhead lifts in our shop, so we drain oil into a tank on wheels that has a funnel mounted to the top of it. To get the oil from this tank to our bulk waste tank, we use a hose and air pressure. Close the funnel valve, open the hose valve, attach an air line and the oil is pushed out the hose and into the bulk tank.
One of the guys in the shop emptied out all of the oil in the tank successfully, but after he was done he opened the funnel valve while there was still air pressure. Unfortunately, the funnel still had a few quarts of used oil from a diesel engine. The oil shot out like a geyser, covering the mechanic.
After he got done changing and showering, he spent several hours cleaning the side and roof of the E-350 paratransit van that was parked next to the tank.
It was 1965, my dad agreed to pay for my insurance ($175 if memory serves) on my first car. I had to pay for the car ($90) and maintain it myself as part of the deal. Dad, a very wise old veteran of WWI and the 30s, probably allowed me to buy this particular car because he figured I'd spend more time fixing her than driving her. The first job was brakes - no problem, with his guidance they worked within 2 weekends. Then came the suspension - one of the rubber bushings was worn out. I got the control arm off and then had to force the worn rubber out - it would not move, The Wise One wasn't around to help. I decided to use a small grinding attachment on a flexible cable drive. This was the kind used to grind combustion chambers during 'porting and polishing'. Instead of hooking it up to a small power drill, I hooked it up to a drill press in Dad's workshop. I held the 2 foot long control arm down on the deck and turned the drill press on, so far so good. When I tried to grind away the bushing however the ball shaped grinding wheel dug in and yanked the steel suspension arm out of my hand. The flexible drive coiled up instantly and became an angry serpent as it flailed about smashing into everything nearby. The power cord to the drill press got pulled out of the wall - really lucky as I did not react or realize what had happened for quite some time. There were deep gouge marks in everything except me. I found my safety glasses on the other side of the shop but found no pieces of my face/neck/chest (and balls) removed after a long look in the mirror. When I confessed that night, the Old Man just shook his head, he didn't even get mad!!!
Dumbest thing I ever did was let my nephew help me strip an engine. The PS pump was dripping a few drops, so I put a couple rags on the floor. My nephew decided that wasn't good enough. He balanced a 5 gallon bucket that had probably 3+ gallons of used oil in it, on the engine stand. Needless to say, he accidently bumped the bucket over. What a big fricken mess that was. Took 4 hours, and almost 50# of oil dry to clean it up. All to save a couple drops of ATF on the floor.
It was 1965, my dad agreed to pay for my insurance ($175 if memory serves) on my first car. I had to pay for the car ($90) and maintain it myself as part of the deal. Dad, a very wise old veteran of WWI and the 30s, probably allowed me to buy this particular car because he figured I'd spend more time fixing her than driving her. The first job was brakes - no problem, with his guidance they worked within 2 weekends. Then came the suspension - one of the rubber bushings was worn out. I got the control arm off and then had to force the worn rubber out - it would not move, The Wise One wasn't around to help. I decided to use a small grinding attachment on a flexible cable drive. This was the kind used to grind combustion chambers during 'porting and polishing'. Instead of hooking it up to a small power drill, I hooked it up to a drill press in Dad's workshop. I held the 2 foot long control arm down on the deck and turned the drill press on, so far so good. When I tried to grind away the bushing however the ball shaped grinding wheel dug in and yanked the steel suspension arm out of my hand. The flexible drive coiled up instantly and became an angry serpent as it flailed about smashing into everything nearby. The power cord to the drill press got pulled out of the wall - really lucky as I did not react or realize what had happened for quite some time. There were deep gouge marks in everything except me. I found my safety glasses on the other side of the shop but found no pieces of my face/neck/chest (and balls) removed after a long look in the mirror. When I confessed that night, the Old Man just shook his head, he didn't even get mad!!!
Mr-Fixit, I swear, our fathers were cut from the same cloth. Can't remember the number of times I saw him just after I pulled a bonehead move, just shaking his head.
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Hand me that hammer, I think I can make it fit.
This goes back a few years. My twin brother was hepling owr Dad change the oil in the family car {57 belair wagon 283}. After they dumped the oil and refilled it my brother was to start it up. Being only 12, when he started it my Dad then told him to rev it up. He floored it. Not having full oil pressure the motor stoped $1200 later the oil change was done.
Pulled a friend's cattle trailer out of the barn and onto the road leading down a grade. It felt a little sluggish - I looked in mirror I could see that the a couple of the trailer brakes (the ones that worked!) were locked up. I knew there was nothing really wrong with the brakes so I got out of the truck, went back and wiggled the trailer plug. Oh, did I forget to mention that I left the truck in neutral? Well it was the trailer plug, something must have been shorting in there and when I wiggled it, I "fixed" it, and the brakes released. Darn near ran myself over, I had to jump out fo the way and then I had to chase the truck and trailer as they headed down the hill without yours truly. I did catch them and no harm was done, but I didn't feel real smart for the rest of the day...
It was 1967, my clutch was finished and I thought I'd do this job myself without help, advice or cash from the Old Man. Jacked the vehicle up about a foot and put blocks under the suspension - I was really hip to safety by now! Un-did all the bolts and removed the starter, speedo cable, clutch linkage and front U- joint on the driveshaft. wiggled the tranny with my foot and it seemed to move a bit and then get stuck. Crawled under the transmission and braced my feet against the front X member and pulled hard. Faster than you can say "what a bone-head" or "cannon fodder", the unit came off and fell on my chest - the edge of the bell housing resting just above the 'family jewels'. I was stuck for some time, not able to breathe with the drain plug rammed home into the middle of my ribcage. God, did it hurt, but couldn't yell 'cause I had no wind. After an agonizing few moments I squirmed out and staggered into the bathroom to look in the mirror. I now had a third (reverse) square nipple in the middle of my chest!!! Once again, it wasn't my dad who got mad when I confessed at dinner, it was my mum: "I'll never get all that oil out of your good work clothes!"
This extra 'nipple', complete with spectacularly coloured 4 inch diameter bruise was tried out on a few of the local girls with the famous: "You show me yours and I'll show you mine" line. Every time the young lovelies saw my multicoloured chest, all I heard was: Oh, gross, take me home!!!" More frustration!
Here's the first one of many...and it was YEARS ago.
I was drilling a piece of sheetmetal...and didn't want to push the bit too far after I went through. So naturally I put my finger on the other side...so I'd know when I hit the other side.
I knew when I got there...a sharp 1/8th inch bit pierces skin VERY quickly.
My dad installed a remote car starter on his 1984 F-350 Dually (Standard Transmission) truck in his garage.When he finished he walked to the end of the block to test the remote's range and to see if it would start. He forgot to put the truck in neutral.
My Uncle once changed oil in his ford fiesta. While he was draining the old oil out he went to his shop to go get new oil. When he came back he started adding oil to his car but he forgot to put the oil plug back in.
Hey Broesky, I've done that one myself! The amazing thing is that I kept pouring oil into the engine and checking the dip stick - gee that engine took a lot of oil - "el stupido" here finally figured out what was 'up' when the ground got real slippery where I was standing.....
Here's another related case: a friend of mine bought an old Austin for $100 and had no money for anything (gas was about 50 cent per gallon in those days.) He decided to change his own oil but had nothing to catch the oil in, so he positioned the sump over a storm drain in the street. You guessed it, he fumbled the drain plug and lost it down the drain. I helped him lever up the cover and he spent quite some time trying to retreave the plug. No luck. I drove him all over town to get another one. Sometimes the Godess of the Ecosystem punishes us right away...
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