I was working on the 54's frame yesterday afternoon cutting off the old brackets and trans mounts i'm not going to use and smacking them off with a ballpeen. Long story short the pass side trans mount was stuck good so i decided to use a sledge hammer and after the second swing the sledge broke. The head went flyin and i smacked the frame with the rest of the handle and my left hand. I fractured my left pinky and lacerated my ring finger, Took nine stiches to put that back together so I'm more or less out of action for at least six weeks.

 

Dang you're a violent one....

"Note to self... stay away from Whizzy during mechanical repairs...."

Hope you feel better man....

I managed to "loose" my right mid. finger nail in an incident with the truck door. (t'was smashed)

 

You followed my lifes motto and it bit you.

If it don't fit get a bigger hammer......

 

Yep! That motto works both ways, Installation and Removal. It was almost off too.

Violent! Naaaaaa. Just didn't pay attention the the sledge handle.

 

Hey Wiz I was looking thru your gallery - what front suspension is in that 54

 

It's a Volare suspension.

 

Bummer.
Now's a good chance to put a METAL handle on your sledge.
Mine has a Harley forktube welded to an unknown make motorcycle axle slid through the hammer head. All my small hammers get rebar handles, and my chisels also get handles welded T-style to the sides at various angles. Much safer for chopping frame rivets and anything else.
The only reason chisels and most hammers don't come with metal handles is cost.

 

Good idea i got plenty of metal layin around.

 

Just the other day I was removeing the mounting bracket for the master cylinder on my 48 f2 beating on it with a 2lb sledge I missed and hit the inside of my knee. It's hard to act like a tough guy with your 17 year old watching

 

Damn, I'm hurtin with ya here in Utah!!!!!!!

 

OUCH!!

making me hurt just reading! I hope both you guys are doing better now.

Bob

Edit: hey Wiz.......did you really say "FUDGE" when it happened??.........

 

LoL No but a few of the words were close to sounding like it.

 

I've told my grandsons, if you aren't willing to get dirty or bleed you'll never be a mechanic. It must've worked, I'm the only mechanic in the family!
The words "oh Fudge" aren't in my " hurt vocabulary!"

 

True words to live by! My Dad told me the same thing when i got into turning wrenches. This truck will have a bunch of my blood before it's over with i'm sure.

 

Blood is corrosive, and self-injury is embarrassing if someone else is watching.
I still nick and dent myself now and then, but I'd rather spend time building tools to solve my problems.

"Just the other day I was removeing the mounting bracket for the master cylinder on my 48 f2 beating on it with a 2lb sledge I missed and hit the inside of my knee. It's hard to act like a tough guy with your 17 year old watching"

Ouch.
Pilot holes are a good thing (less force required to chop the rivet), as is drilling off rivet heads completely. Hunks of bar (such as a cut off section of draglink) make nice chisel and punch extensions, just weld them on. A great source for cheap hammer heads,chisels,and punches is fleamarkets. The good US-made stuff is usually old, rusty, and cheap.

After a while you end up with a wide selection of cheap/free implements of destruction that will serve ya for many years.