I was removing the front fenders from my truck. The way I have it wedged into the garage, I had to crawl in from the passenger side to reach the fender bolts from the inside.

I got stuck under the steering wheel. I was wedged between the wheel and the seat. I got out, but it made me wonder, how many other people have gotten themselves into a funny situation while working on their trucks?

 

I have two stories to add while working on different projects...

I was working on musclecar one day and had the engine running. I decided to check the oil and heard a snap when I pulled the dipstick out of the tube. Oh my god, about three inches of the stick broke off the end! I quickly turned the ignition off to avoid engine damage, but the car kept running. I scratched my head, then hit the quick disconnect switch on the battery. It still ran. So now I'm starting to freak out with the idea of a piece of metal getting lodged in a bearing or something. I ran upstairs and put an oven mitt on and pulled the coil wire. That was fun. Turned out to be joice from the electric fan leaking into the MSD igntion feed wire.

Another time I was wiring a light switch in the door jam when smoke filled the car. (FYI all of those wires are actually filled with smoke & whenever I cut them it all comes out) It was nighttime and the car was in the garage. So I cut the battery (w/ the same quick disconnect mentioned above) and thought I better get this outta my garage. When I opened the garage door, my F250, Pontiac & wife's mini van were lined up in the driveway. At this point, my butt was puckered tight.

It electrical smoke ceased shortly after disconnecting the battery. I went inside and had a tall glass of scotch to re-evaluate my involvement in this hobby.

I'm still good for about one bone-headed thing a year.

 

I was test fitting my new tilt steering column one afternoon while my wife was running errands. I accidently hit the tilt release lever while removing the column and it pinched the tip pad of my finger in the gap. That spring is very strong, and with nothing to hold the column in place and no wheel on it I could not operate the lever while straightening the head to release my finger one handed! I had visions of the guy who had to cut his arm off to free himself in the mountains. I finally figured out a way to hold the column down against the floor with one knee and use the other knee to push on the head while working the release lever with my free hand. I now make sure the head is fully tilted any time I'm handling that column!

 

I was looking for a squeaking noise on my 351C while the motor was running and stuck my left pinkie into the gilmer drive, took that boy off like a scalpel. My oldest son still walks up to me, holds both hands out and says ''gimme 9 1/2!''

 

That's just wrong. Funny, but wrong.

 

Me And A Buddy Was Working On His Mustang.put In Some New Carpet And Seats.took It For A Drive He Droped Something On The Floor And Went To Pick It Up.about That Time I Told Him To Stop For The Stop Sing.he Hit The Brakes Alittle Hard The Seat Was Not Locked Good Put His Head Thur The Openings In The Steering Wheel.i Still Get A Laugh When I Think Of Us Setting At That Stop Sing And Him Trying To Unlodge His Head.kodak Momet.
Art

 

Years ago I had a 64 F-250, and I was doing some work on the engine. I thought the truck was not in gear and just reached in the window to start it. I quickly realized it was in gear, and that it had started. It lurched over the curb, and started up to the house. I jumped in and got the clutch pushed before it hit the house. That truck always did start real nice!!

Broomfieldbum

 

This thread will likely run into three pages. (Stuff like this usually does). Plse try to keep the gory stuff to yourselves or at least warn us. I'm a little squeamish and that 9 and half almost made me puke....

Thanks,

 

Back in my early years of driving, I had a 3/4 ton with a full floating axle. The screws on the driver's side hub kept backing out and a few fell off. I drove it to an auto parts store to buy replacement screws, washers, and lock washers. The store sat higher than the parking lot, so all the parking spaces were inclined away from the store towards a busy street. I tried to install my newly purchased hardware, but the hub, with only two bolts left in it, was slightly rotated and I couldn't get the screws to start into the holes. So, I decided to take out the remaining two screws. When the last screw came out, the truck quickly departed. If I had not left the door unlocked, the truck would have reached the street; it nearly did before I got to the brake.

 

1. Bankruptcy

2. Divorce

3. Insanity

 

I had bought a '69 Pontiac Tempest convertable that was sitting in a guy's backyard for some time. It was pretty much just parts and no engine. I dragged it home and found an engine and tranny combo out of a running '74 LeMans. I installed the combo and after the first test drive the transmission decided to go out. I was on my way to the transmission shop for a rebuilt transmission but I had to cross a set of railroad tracks on my way. As I approached the tracks the warning lights turned on so I slowed to check for the train. It was coming and I decided I didn't have enough room to cross so I stopped. As the train was approaching I notice the nose of the car was kind of close to the tracks, in fact it was almost hanging over the rails. I put the car in reverse, nothing, it just sat there. I shoved it into drive, again nothing. The train was getting closer blowing it's horn. I couldn't get the car to move so I went to bail out and reached for the door handles, I had removed them when I installed a new window in the driver's door and for some reason hadn't put them back on. Fortunately, I had the top down so I jumped over the top of the door. Just as I did the car rolled back a little and the train just missed the front end. There was a car behind me and he must have had one of a hell of time watching me! I got back into the car, the tranny decided to come back to life so I was able to make it to the transmission shop. If nothing else, it gave me a story to tell.

 

Too bad 'fenders isn't here to tell us about the time he was welding under the floor of one of his vehicles and set his carpetting on fire

 

Speaking of fire, I bought a junkyard engine that turned out to have a bad fuel pump. The junkyard gave me a used replacement, but the fuel line was the wrong diameter; 5/16" or 3/8", I can't remember which. So I found some tubing to sweat solder (propane torch) to get to the proper diameter. I hand actuated the pump to push out any residual gas. Well, the torch ignited some vapor still in the pump and a flame about 8" long shot out of the fuel line.