Hi All
It was suggested in another thread to bring up dumb things youve done since nobody was brave enough ill start 1977 17 yrs old dropping a motor into a falcon lined the bolts up told my buddy to drop it all the way down compressed the springs and pinned me under the car couldnt yell ended up kicking him he yanked the car about a foot off the ground once he realized what had happened 2nd time early 80's had my 1969 cougar rearended pulled motor out to use in my bronco while cougar body work was being done blew up the rear airshocks crawled under the rear to break the exhaust loose over the axle bolt on exhaust hanger snapped wrench caught me square in the forehead yanked my head back and cracked it on the concrete so i had a knot on my forehead and one one the back of my head Dad always told me i wasnt the sharpest crayon in the box lol



Gee Ooh

 

don't think I can touch that one, but I put my hand on the front of a running engine (see gallery under "more power") and took a finger off, still hasn't grown back. My grandsons run up to me, hold out both hands and say "Gimme 9 1/2"

 

Okay, welding glove on left hand, torch in the right. Finish job, put torch in left hand and pick up metal with right.

High school shop, you had to love it! Here's your sign...

 

Summer job, hauling hay, when 15 years old. While driving tractor back to the farm pulling a hay wagon we got the bright idea to take the short-cut through the woods. Came upon a mud hole and buddy says floor it! I did, we went flying through the mud hole only to hit a rock on the other side with the front wheel. It tore the wheel out of my hands and the tractor took a quick right and into a tree. It tore the whole right side of the tractor off. We were all ok thankfully. We did, however, work the rest of the summer for nothing to pay off the damage. Ooops!

 

I was 8-9 years old and walking home from school. I saw a friend throw a small rock at a stop sign. Not to be outdone I picked up a larger rock, probably about the size of a grown man's fist, and threw it at the stop sign. Now I knew from watching the smaller rock that the rock would bounce off the sign so I quickly moved from directly in front of the sign to the side and ducked. The rock hit me in the back of my head. It hurt, but I thought at least I'm not bleeding. After walking a little more I felt the top of my head was wet and hoped it was sweat. It wasn't. I had to walk the rest of the way home bleeding.

I still have a small bald patch on the back of my head where that rock hit me.

 

Five foot pipe carries a stream under the highway at the back of my property. Beavers had been building a dam in front of it so the highway crew placed a metal fence across the opening and secured it with 1" diameter pipe placed vertically across the pipe face.
Thought I might clear the dam and debris from the fence, so into the water I go with chest waders and a pitchfork. After a short while the 1" pipes has enough of my additional weight on the angled fence (bowed into the 5' pipe) and slipped. Hit me square on the back of the head very nearly knocking me unconcious. Was able to escape the water and get up to the highway where I waved a very bloody right hand to get someone to stop - forgetting I was still holding the pitchfork! Twenty cars passed before someone brave enough stopped to get me to the hospital where I got ten stitches. Must have been quite a sight!

 

LOL.. remiands me.. when I wa 14 and learning to MIG weld.. I put the (-) on a wheel stud.. And did some welding to the frame.. never thought about it intill we wnet to move it.. Ended up welding the bearing solid.. Learnd that one the hard way..

 

I was helping my best buddy install a rease hitch under his truck me on one side ratcheting and him on the other when he decided to turn it into a who can get done first race, so off we go ratcheting as fast as we could go, then it happened, my ratchet slipped off the nut and caught me right above the eye. After i flopped around on the ground for a bit holding my eye writhing in pain, we couldn't help but to laugh histerically about what just happened. Consequently this left a rather large knot with some bleeding and a black eye to follow. Man ! what friends can make you do to yourself !

 

Well I guess I'll add to the laughter;
When I was 13 yrs old; I was riding our lawnmower to cut the softball field; about a mile from the house; riding to slow for my standards so I look down at the chain and notice it was loose; so the genius I am thinking if a motorcycle chain has a guide on it; I could use my right index finger to lift a upper pressure on the chain and this will allow the mower to ride faster; needless to say chain pulled finger into front spocket and my reaction was to pull my finger out; lost the tip up to near first bend in the knuckle; left the mower on side of the road; ran home to tell my dad about my situation; he was a vice cop at the time, working nights and too tired to get up and check to see, what I did; I told him I cut my finger off; He thought I said cut my finger; and his reply was it will grow back; He's thinking a slice or small cut; I'm thinking mmm'm like a lizard's tail; So I half-*** bandage myself and to my father's reply to return and get the field cut; later that day, after my father awaken to the large quanity of blood in the mud room, then kitchen sink, and then the hallway bathroom; he freak out; drove his un-marked car; with lights flashing to the ballfield thinking I lost an arm or something; once he had me uncover the bandage and examine the wound; His reply was to late to be consider a emergency; wait till your mom comes home from work to check it out.
Who saids the apple does'nt fall far the same tree is absolutely right.

 

My dad owned a printing shop, and we did all the repairs and remodeling around it. We were working on hooking up a new Heidelberg press (230V 3 phase) and when finished I went to put the cover back on the breaker box. It wouldn't go the last 1/4", so I took the edge of my hand and smacked it at the offending corner. There was a loud >POP< and I was blown back a couple feet -- one of the wires had been caught between the cover and the frame, and I managed to puncture the insulation. Thank god for breakers!

 

Ok, I figure I might as well weigh in....Came out to the car to go to the store, car wouldnt start...Just kinda sounded like a dead battery...So, I checked the connections...no dice...Stillsounded like a dead battery....I figured it was a fairly new battery...(in my infinite genius)...So, I figured my alternator MUST be overcharging the battery and boiling out the watter in the cells....So I popped the caps off the battery....Looked in to see if it had fluid, but it was overcast and I couldnt see in there...So I looked for a flashlight....(anyone see where this is going?),,,I couldnt find a flashlight, and being a smoker at the time....I knew a lighter produced some light....Oh man I STILL feel stupid!....So I light the lighter and held it close to the holes and got real close...and yep you guessed it...the darndest thing happened...the battery had a minor explosion in my face almost blinding me for life....I got lucky though, and made it to the shower and started rinsing my eyes out till the paramedics came(and laughed).

 

Well, this is just one of the many dumb things I’ve done. Years ago when pulling the engine from a 1971 LTD. I was using a chain host wrapped around a ceiling rafter in the garage. When getting the engine almost out something would bind up, every time I’d try to power it out I would get a electrical shock from the hoist. After much confusion and anger, I found there was a 12-2 romax wire on the backside of the rafter that I couldn’t see from the front. The chain would dig in to the wire under extra load.
That was pretty dumb !!!
Mike

 

In high school a friend and I decided to remove the Mercomatic out of a 55 Merc to install a 3 speed. Not knowing (or caring) how much those transmissions weigh. We pulled it without any support, realizing we couldn't control the weight we dropped it and both rolled to the outside. Didn't seem STUPID at the time but looking back, it sure does now.

Rod

 

About twentyfive years ago, a cute little blond asked me and my buddy to come over and assist with her CB antenna. It had blown over in the wind about a week earlier and her range had been drastically reduced. We got there about dusk. We coould see where the antenna had been fastened to her mobile home and the straps had broken. We grabbed the 20' mast and started pushing the business end skyward. We didn't see the overhead power line though. The antenna hooked on the wire and stopped us from lifting it up. On the third attempt we must have broke through the insulation on the wire. An arc of electricity jumped out of the bottom end of the mast blowing holes in the aluminum skirting on her mobile home. We dropped the antenna and got a garden hose to put out the FIRE! Oh I miss the good old days. Jag

 

I remembered another one. I was pulling the gas tank in my 50' pickup. It seemed that the easiest way to empty the tank was to disconect the fuel line and drain the gas into a bucket. When I first got it the truck had a valve on the elbow fitting on the bottom of the tank, but it wasn't any good anymore, so it was repalced with a fitting that didn't have a valve. I was laying on the ground right below the tank and was ready with the bucket while I disconected the fuel line. The gas didn't go straight down because of the elbow instead in went straight into my face. Luckily my mom had a sprinkler out on the lawn nearby. I run up and stuck the sprinkler in my face to get the gasoline out of my eyes and mouth. That was nasty.