Lets the see who has b@lls to actually post and put pictures up! READ

[brans72]

I wanna se if you guys will actually admit F*ck ups happen on building cars and tell/show what happen and how you fixed it. I am not calling any certain people out at all!!!! I just wanna know some mistake that happen and you where like oh sh*t but then fixed it. So this can be body work (mainly) to wiring,exhaust,wheels etc. We all make mistake and learn as we go and that is why we have Pro-Touring.com to share info and gain knowledge.Brandon

[skinnyboy67]

lets see what u got...if your NOT callin people out.....:pics2:
Im always up for learning....i do find myself always doing things twice.

[rickk]

x2.:enguard:
rick k

[critter]

No pictures but, heck, I've set mine on fire twice while doing stuff to make it "better". We've all done it. If not, you're a poser and don't really work on your car.

[elitecustombody]

Last fall I messed up by beeing lazy while raining and put 60A fuse in 30A slot on my daily driver without checking what caused it to blow, I paid the price a day later,finding out that one of the cooling fan motors burned up and cause the fuse to blow, so after new 60A fuse in the 30A spot,my chassis harness got toasted, in the way I'm kind of glad because it gave me a reason to clean up my engine bay by tucking bunch of components away,relocating and eliminating bunch of unused harness plugs/connectors aftyer single turbo conversion and AEM stand alone engine management,I polished alot of things,installed new intake manifold, throttle body,intercooler piping,radiator and few other things, I've been wanting to clean up the engine bay for over a year,so I think it was worth it .

Here are some pics

About a month ago I had some wiring harness failure,so I took the harness out to repair it.
While I had it out, I decided to chop some conectors off,one thing after another I found myself chopping engine harness,re-routing coolant,power steering and vacuum lines,relocating things,replacing my old Titan intake manifold for NUNEZTT manifold with Wilson T/B,sanding and polishing everything I could remove that was fairly easy to re-install .I also decided to get rid of all red couplers and vacuum lines and swap them out for black couplers with new T-bolt clamps .I'm sure I'm forgetting some smaller things,but here are the ones I remember.

Sanded & Polished parts:

NUNEZTT intake manifold
Wilson T/B with quick release V-band clamp
Valve Covers
Intercooler Piping
HKS BOV
Coil Pack Cover
Turbo Housing
Turbo Heat Sheild (built by Stage6 Motorsports)
Alternator
HKS Fuel rail
U/R Pulleys
AEM Cam Gears
Timing Belt Tensioner
Drive Belt Tensioner,Bracket,Absorber(clearcoated)
Upper Radiator Pipe
Upper Waterneck
Thermostat Housing Waterneck
PWR Radiator
Radiator Show Plate (made by yours truly)
Radiator Hold Down Brackets (made by yours truly)
Deflector Plate with sandblasted logo of my shop
Brass Fittings
Custom Battery Holder for Optima
A/C lines(not installed)

Relocated :

Power Steering Reservoir(next to brake booster)
ABS Relay Box (in right fender well)
Charcoal Canister(under intake manifold)
Fuel Pressure Regulator(next to brake booster)
HKS DLI(left fender well)
Ignitor(left fender well)
HKS BOV discharge hose (routed in left fender well for less noise)

One of the first pics has TRD strub bar I just laid down to see if it flows,but I'm not sure,I'll probably keep it off

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/05/015-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/05/0241-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/05/0271-1.jpg
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https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/05/0441-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/05/0371-1.jpg
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https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/05/051-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/05/018-1.jpg


https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/05/copperredsupramywheels043-1.jpg?t=1273716302

[HRBS]

I dont think you'll get too many responses from shops but I'm game. I never said I was perfect. In the end if this helps just one person I've done my job.
We just finished up a complete custom build and I was taking it out for its maiden voyage. I got 1/4 mile down the road and the front left wheel was making a very bad sound and before I knew it the lugs came flying off and sent the wheel and tire up into the wheel well. Apparently someone maybe even myself "hand tightened" the lugs and forgot to tighten that one wheel. The damage was 1 billet wheel, wilwood brake hub, ball joint and castle nut, and 3 days in the body shop to repair the inner fender. When all was repaired you could never tell what happened. At the end of the day its ultimately my responsibility. So my guys got a tongue lashing and that was it. From now on, I personally go over every nut and bolt before its maiden ride. I trust my guys, but this way I have no one to blame but myself.
ps.... after the owner saw and drove the finished car for the first time, I bought him a beer and told him the story. He actually laughed.

[mc84_zz4]

( no pics necessary for this one )
I've had my hood open on the car since the build, specially after all electronics are working, and trying to finally nail a fuel leak.
So I would keep the hood unlocked.
Well, the other night instead of just rolling it back into the garage, I decide to take her around the block, it was all fine until the 2nd block, which is a long downhill, just about as 2nd gear hits, the hood goes vertical, and DAMN! if that is not one big hood pointing straight up!.
I managed to hit the brakes exactly as the springs popped out of the hinges, and the hood slammed back down.

Total damages: 2 hood hinges turned inside-out and springs flew down the street.
I was VERY lucky I was able to avoid the slap of the hood on the roof.
Lesson learned, always leave the hood locked down, and do a walkaround if you were working on something recent.

[TT302Z28]

We built a 68 Camaro to sell at Hot August Nights. This was a combined effort of 4 of us to get this car done in 3 months from beater to done.

We discovered at 1:00am the night we were leaving for HAN that the window trip studs were missing on the upper windshield molding area. This is after 2 of the guys had put in the windshield and the car has been buffed out.

What a pain in the a$$ that was.

[Larry Callahan]

I once rebuilt an old VW motor. After it was done and installed in the car I decided to wait until the next day to fire it up since it was late at night. So, I decide to clean up my mess.

While cleaning up I found 9 wrist pin clips and one looks brand new. Doh!

So, I tear the engine out and apart only to find out the rebuild kit must have come with one extra since each piston had two.

What did I learn from that? Count your parts as you take them out of the box.

[rickpaw]

Well let see. Set fires INSIDE the car twice, and my hair once while welding.

The following are not my messed up. The shape of the panel was a bit off, so I fixed it.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

[formula]

I ran my car into a tree. Well actually, I ran it through a fence, then over a tree. Then drove away. American iron FTMFW.

After that, I called Frank. Frank fixed my car. Everything on it was perfect.

Then I broke everything that should have been impossible to break.

--stripped the bolt that holds my entire fuse/power distribution block together--this one wasn't REALLY my fault, the previous owner had replaced the nut on the other side with some sort of chalky, I dunno, plaster? grout? who knows? I was able to fix all of it, but had to completely rewire my ignition circuit, bypassing all of the old wiring--weird.

--wrong clutch master, which led to overextending my brand new z06 clutch, which was promptly trashed. This one I still feel terrible about.

--broke my brand new hood hinges. How? who knows? They just kaboomed one day, and promply stripped all of the fresh, perfect prodigy paint off of the back corners of the hood/fenders when the hood fell. awesome.

--broke the welds and spun the diff on my 10bolt. This is supposed to be nearly impossible at my power level. Congratulations to me! This one I am still trying to fix--I can't figure out how to spin the diff back down to weld it.

I never said "oh sh*t", but I did make this face every time something broke:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/11/Rage-1.jpg

[ProdigyCustoms]

My most stupid mistake was .....

We had recently acquired early 80s Chevy conversion van Circa early 90s. We had just bought it, it was 10 years old, it had 80,000 miles on it, had a slight miss, and I wanted to make sure everything was up to snuff. I was changing oil and doing some spark plugs, wires, belts, vacuum hoses, typical stuff everyone should do with a new to them old vehicle. This is a 4 hour pain in the ass job BTW.

On those full size vans half the spark plugs are done from inside the van with the engine cover removed, the other half under the van. So I did all the work on top, changed what plugs I could, the vacuum lines, plug wires, etc. Was working under the truck very efficiently, drained the oil, installed the new oil filter, was tightening the LAST spark Plug............

At this time I was doing the phone tech line for the United States Camaro Club. I was the guy you called with Camaro questions and problems. So the phone rings. I quickly tighten the plug, snap the plug wire, come out from under the van and answer the phone.

Now remember I am supposed to be Mr Expert, the guy others call for advice on their car and how to do things!

So I talk to mister member about his Camaro. After a 10 minute conversation I go back to the van and decide to start the motor and see how it sounds after all my hard work. I fire it up, it is running smooth as can be. That minor miss is gone (was plug wire), but My God this is a noisy sucker with the engine cover off and it is getting more noisey. Rockers are making all kinds of racket. That engine cover has a ton of insulation / sound deadener on it, it must really be absorbing all this noise! I rev it lightly a couple times a bit to kind of listen, it starts to develope what actually sounds like a mild rod knock...................

Then a bolt of lightening hits me...........

SHEOT!

In all my efficiency and answering the phone..........

I forgot to put oil in it!

Yup, burned it up! Did not take long to wipe out the rod bearing on a 80,000 mile motor! And the worlds biggest pain in the ass it became. Not only was it the family driver, so we are down the main car with a family of 5, and our other 2 cars are F Bodies, but if you never changed a small block in a full size Chevy van...............you have not lived yet!

And to drive a stake into my heart. This happened close to Christmas which really tighten things up finacially. My brother and I made a agreement when we each had kids we would get each other kids a little something Christmas but not waste money on gifts for one another that neither needed or could afford. But for Christmas that year he explaned he violated our agreement and had a special gift I HAD to accept...................

I opened it to find 5 quarts of oil!

So if you EVER call me and get a message that says I am in the shop and cannot answer the phone.........

I am probably not wanting to interupt a oil change!

[brans72]

I won't mind posting a pic on some of my mistakes! I actually put a hole through some good sheet metal when removing my full 1/4 so I have cut a little section out and made a new piece to weld back in place. I learned not to get carried away there lol. Frank sorry to hear about engine there, I have seen that happen alot with actual mechanics getting to busy,chatting on phones etc. Glad you guys chime in on this even some Pros in the field!

[XLexusTech]

OK i was invloved but not the key culprit.... No hint of a lie here...
In the late 80' 90's I am late teens.. working at a Race Car shop in NY.
We have a customer who was a great guy but we all knew who and what he was... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza_Connection_Trial hint his name is on this page....

well anyway he dropped off a 74 corvette for a backhalf rollcage and build and dyno of a blown SBC... Killer car for the time... well after the car was done he was coming out with a flat bed to pick it up to take it to the body shop... One of the guys ine the shop decides to have some fun with the car 'testing" it out.. read doing burn outs with the huge Prostreet style tires..... runs it out of fuel... NO problem pump some race gas into the fuel cell.. form metal can... hummm can you say big tires.. burnout metal can.. static spark = FIRE....!

Remember scary but realy friendly guys is on his way to pickup his now completly covered in white fire retardant form the fire exstiguishes car.... we were gald it didnt burn up but were frantically trying to clean it flush the fuel system and cover up the fact that we had not correctly grounded the car...

Big F#$% up and honestly scary as hell on a few fronts..

[Rob68427]

OK. I'll keep it simple. About 6 years ago I was wrenching on my 68 Chevelle. It had a fiberglass lift off hood. I put the SS hood back on and got distracted and didn't put the hood pins back in. I took it for a ride and cruising at about 35. Then suddenly the hood flys off without any warning or vibration. It does two flips over my car and the car behind me. I'm lucky it didn't land on the car behind me. The hood landed perfect. It only had a couple of nicks on the bottom of it and knocked the SS grilles.
I learn to double check the hood pins.

[John Wright]

I was feeling pretty good about myself one day and felt like I was knocking out the projects and getting some stuff done. I was trying to figure out where to go through the firewall with my TPI harness so that I could mount the computer under the glovebox. With the factory A/C, that side of the firewall was pretty used up....but I found a spot....

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/05/DSC02380-1.jpg

Wanting to document the location for anyone that comes along behind me trying to do the same, I figured that I would take a few pics with the tapeline in view measuring off of some landmark objects....

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/05/DSC02382-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/05/DSC02383-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/05/DSC02384-1.jpg


Well, anyway...I was pleased with my success and progress that day...

Wiring to the inside under the glovebox.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/05/DSC02385-1.jpg

NOW...Take particular notice of the fender cover laying on the floor....

What followed next was my complete stupidity....I ran back and forth between the house and the car several times and worked on a bunch of little items trying to get the car ready to stuff the motor in. Then a saw a place underneath that still needed to be welded from where I put new floorpans in. I get the wire welder out of my shed and clamp the ground and started welding up that seam. In a few minutes I noticed that there was alot of smoke and could smell rubber burning...I threw my welding shield down and crawled out from under the car through the engine bay and immediately remembered the fender cover...but it was too late.....I had 12" of flames licking up under the dash. I grabbed the flaming foam rubber fender cover and drug it out into the yard and stomped it out, but my newly routed TPI harness was a burnt mess.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/05/DSC02386-1.jpg

so after all of that routing and squirming under the dash, twisting my arms in directions that were completely un-natural ....I had to wiggle the harness back out from under the dash and back through the firewall to survey the damage.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/05/DSC02388-1.jpg

So...after a few minutes with a pin-out wiring diagram, I had all of the wires labeled.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/10/DSC02390-1.jpg

A gracious member over at NastyZ28.com sent me a care package with a new set of wiring connections for the back of the computer to whom I am very thankful.....and then a quick visa purchase from an online internet store, I had new pins on their way. After a few minutes of cutting and re-pinning a few wires, I slipped them all back into the ecu connectors and am back at square one of where I started that day.

[Bjkadron]

I have two things.

The first one was like Franks, I was doing general maintenance after I first got it. Well I checked the waterpump and it had a tiny bit of play... So I thought.. Well it isn't that bad.. It can wait till friday when I have more time. WRONG!!! Thursday night.. It did this.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/02/DUSTER002-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/02/DUSTER004-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/05/DUSTER008-1.jpg

My other one was just Like HRBS's (it is nice to know I am not alone). I decided to swap over my new rebuilt front suspension, switch to discs with big bolt pattern, and change all the shocks. All in a friday night and a saturday. It actually went pretty well untill I had everything all together and realized that I had the spindles on the wrong side... Spindles back off, balljoints switched and back on! Everything continued fairly smoothly until I was Aligning it at 1am sunday morning (I stopped at 3AM then back at it at 6 the night before) And was very tired.. I got the alignment right finally and started to drive home.. But there was this weird thumping noise on the right front. Yep, I had hand tightened the lugs but not torqued them... LUCKILY! No damage! WHEW!
here are some pictures of the swap and all the pieces I swapped over.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/03/duster031-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/05/duster0023-1.jpg

[Wicked]

....we had not correctly grounded the car...

Great thread!

I've burnt up a stainless braided clutch hydraulic line when the full current of the starter tried to ground itself through the clutch line. Yep, forgot to ground the engine. I think bad grounds or lack thereof is a pretty common thing.

[6'9"Witha69]

383. Externally balanced. The machine shop didn't install the flexplate locator and I didn't varify it was aligned. I was chasing down a vibratrion for MONTHS. Went through driveline angles, rear end, etc. Finally I went to upgrade the converter in my TH350 and I noticed it, the flexplate was misaligned. Arrrggggh.

[Patrick]

Great thread!

I've burnt up a stainless braided clutch hydraulic line when the full current of the starter tried to ground itself through the clutch line. Yep, forgot to ground the engine. I think bad grounds or lack thereof is a pretty common thing.


I burned up a SS braided steering hose due to lack of a ground. It sprayed power steering fluid all over the engine compartment...Lots of smoke off the headers but luckily no fire.

[69stang]

Put a new windshield in the mustang years ago. Its never seen the road yet. Year and a half ago when I started removing my floor pan pieces which I had paid a shop to install poorly (that's another story). I thought I had covered the windshield to protect it. Well after using a cutting wheel and grinder I discovered some spray had hit the glass. Trash one perfect windshield.

[LateNight72]

Didn't have a clue what I was doing, and started cutting up the Chevelle and welding it back together. Let's say my welder of choice was spooled with .030" FLUX CORE wire. https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif


Royally f***ed a lot of the car up. Lots of blow-through, bird s*** welds, etc.

Haven't fixed it yet. Though I know what I am doing now, have the proper skillset and then some. I still haven't touched the Chevelle in many years. Not sure what I want to do. I might just dump it and start over.

[mnm99]

No pictures but, heck, I've set mine on fire twice while doing stuff to make it "better". We've all done it. If not, you're a poser and don't really work on your car.

Hmmm. Cant say I have.

Maybe closed my garage door and didn't have the car ALL the way in. I was 1/2" too short and the garage door handle chipped my spoiler as it came down.

[badbu68]

Bought my daily driver honda 2 years ago with ~160k miles on it, was told the timing belt was changed (needs done every 80k on), put about 10k miles on it and last year driving down the highway the belt snapped. Motor was burning oil anyway and I had a shortblock with half the miles so I swap it all out including pulling the transmission. Drove it with very little problems since. Two weeks ago I drove 3 hours away to pick up some parts with no problems, but last week drove it to a job an hour away and the shifter linkage falls out of the back of the trans. Car was stuck in fourth gear. Found some zipties in the car, zipped it all up and drove it back home. Come to find out I barely drove the linkage pin into the trans, put it back in and everythings gravy. :smoke:

[gearheads78]

Stupid ..me and a buddy are loading a car on a trailer to head to the track. We are both hooking up the trailer at the same time. I think he latched the ball and he thinks I did. So I start driving the car up the trailer and it jumps off the ball and destoys the tailgate of my nearly new truck.

[ZZ430]

I was working as a line tech at a Pontiac/GMC dealership when the Fiero first came out. That's all I did pretty much was work on them..

Anyway, I did a warranty clutch on a 5-speed model, and of course you lose most of the gear oil when you pull out the axles.

I had the job done, did a quick little test drive around the lot, and parked it.

A little bit later it hit me......I didn't put any oil in the transaxle! D'oh!

I sheepishly went up the service writer that worked with the customer, and before I could say anything he said "You know that clutch you just did? The customer called and says it is hard to shift and is bringing back in for a shift linkage adjustment"


LOL, guess what? I didn't say anything about the oil! I figured worse case that GM would buy a new trans. :idea:

I got lucky because there was no damage and it shifted great after adding it!

That is my confession.

That taught me a big lesson that carried with me throughout my career.

[JRouche]

Hang on a sec here Brandon. You cant post a thread like this without airing yer dirt also. Come on dude. Everyone Fs up during any second spent alive. But whats yer slant?? Just trying to feel better about a major F-up.

I agree, we can all learn from others mistakes. But bud, you gotta fess up to a couple of yer own with a post like this.

So anyway. I tend to screw stuff up with everything I do, and I commonly post it along with the fix. Gives it a complete learning envelope. Not just a head bashing "durr, I F-ed up again".

But.... Here are a couple off the top of my head. And I have to say. Most if not all were due to rushing or laziness on my part. Not wanting to take the extra step, or more to the fact, not an extra step, just the proper step. Rushing and laziness will be the main thing in all of these. Ready!!!!


K, back in 1998. Fiat spider. Rear brakes locked up on the freeway after a brake rebuild. Calipers came loose. I didnt check the bolts and apply thread locker. AAA call.

Set the inside of my nova on fire, two foot flames inside the car when I was done welding under it. It was a shell of a car, all metal. Nothing to catch fire. Cept the cardboard boxes full of new parts I had stored inside the car. Lost some parts and some skin trying to put the flames out.

How bout the engine. I built a 350. Blue printed. Every part of the engine was blue printed to .0003" for bearings and align bored, magna fluxed, the works. Forged parts throughout. Top of the line ARP fasteners everywhere. I was paying attention to the details. Made some custom breathers for the valve covers. Primed the fuel and oil system. Got it all ready to do a cam break in. Yes, old school soft cam. One thing I couldnt afford back then was a roller lifter setup. Fired her up for the 20 min run and I forgot to remove the plugs that were sealing the breathers during the storage. Spat oil out the rear intake seal. Had to remove the engine to fix that lil mishap. Not a dramatic engine ruining event. But it was a days worth of work.

Suspension? Too many to write about. Had to buy a new sway bar due to a correct measurements but a incorrectly written number. Ordered a too short of a bar. Ruined a weld in tube end. Threaded the stainless steel rod end into the tube end after welding it for mock up. It siezed. I forgot to swipe the threads with some anti-seize. It seized.

But alot of my mistakes arent really mechanical screw ups. They are planning issues. I will prep a body panel for paint, and paint it after alot of welding and work just to relize I didnt want that and really needed somthing elase entirly. So I plasma cut out all the work I did and toss it in the can and start over. Poor planning and not a good build book.

Proper planning and a GOOD plan would have saved me prolly five years. And Im talking about a project car that started in 1995 and I have yet to drive it proper on the roads.

And really, I could go on and on. There are toooooo many mistakes I have made.

Do I learn?? Im not sure. To be honest, I am still a reactional type, that doesnt plan and just reacts. I build from the head. NOT GOOD!!!!!! Put your plans on paper.

I guess I learn a lil. Now I have a MUST do list thats taped to the inside of the windshield. Before I can even start her up and tool down the road I have to check off all the items on the list. Simple stuff, fluids and fasteners. And I add to the list as the thoughts come up. And yes, one of the items is to check every fastener on the suspension and brake system. Why? Because as I am mocking the car up I will leave some of the bolts fastened with regular nuts for ease of dis-assembly and re-assembly, not the lock nuts ( all metal or nylon locknuts or thread locker, depends on the application, I like all metal lock nuts).. So during mock up, when everything looks good Ill forget I have the regular nuts in place and forget to put the lock nuts on, stuff like that. Or that I re-routed the tranny cooler and forgot to add the two quarts of tranny fluid. Stuff like that.

Anyway, I really do have ALOT more of mishaps that I could talk about. But the list is too long. So you think? How the heck can I get anything done or this car is gonna be a disaster and you hope yer not on the road anywhere around me when I go driving.

Well, thats a good idea LOL But... I do fix every mishap, no matter how small. I wont let anything that doesnt look correct to live on the car. I think I have the knowledge to make a safe car. The problems come up because of my rushing or laziness. And I usually see the problem and fix it.

But if I dont catch it I do post all of the stuff I do here and on other sites. So If I miss something I have my brothers in arms to catch it for me. And I give detailed pics and like you see now, long texts about the work performed. So hopefully someone catches my mishaps if I dont.

Thats the main reason I post here. The stuff I do. If there is a problem I WANT you folks to give me a heads up. Say its wrong....... Before I hit the road. Thanks guys!!!!!

Yes... We ALL F-up sometimes. Brandon? Any to share. JR



I wanna se if you guys will actually admit F*ck ups happen on building cars and tell/show what happen and how you fixed it. I am not calling any certain people out at all!!!! I just wanna know some mistake that happen and you where like oh sh*t but then fixed it. So this can be body work (mainly) to wiring,exhaust,wheels etc. We all make mistake and learn as we go and that is why we have Pro-Touring.com to share info and gain knowledge.Brandon

[manicmechanic]

Well I've had a few incidents over the years but the one that got me twice is the newly installed fiberglass hood with pins to hold it down. These were new hoods that bolted to the hinges and used low tension springs but still needed hood pins to hold them down. Got bit both times after washing out the engine bay and forgetting to put the pins back in. First hood flipped up and completely came off of the car and then was ran over by next car coming down the street. 2nd hood flipped up and broke off the hinges but I was able to save it. Both hoods were L-88's on 2nd Gen Camaro, what really sucked is that I had 3 gages bolted in the hood @ the entrance of the scoop all mechanical, so when the hood went so did the gages and lines. After the second hood I used some springs that would hold the hood up like a stock opened but not unlatched hood and I never had the problem of remembering to pin the hood again. I also was going to install a pin switch to a light in the dash to show if the hood was up, but never got around to it.

[sniper]

I built a Supra for a customer. It dyno'd 860ish at the wheels. Beautiful black paint and all that crap. Well I asked the owner if I could take the car to a cruise night and show off my work. He happened to be on vacation. He said sure no problem. I got finished up at the shop late, as usual, and heading over to the hangout, I said to hell with this I am going home. My house was but 5 minutes from the spot and I was too tired to hang out that night. So on the last curve before my house I discovered a small (HUGE) problem with his car that wasn't shown on the dyno. It overboosts LIKE CRAZY! Well the car was going backwards before I knew it and hit a mail box and over a curb.

A short story longer, I put a nice size dent in the rear quarter and killed a wheel hoop shattered his park bench (wing).

That was a tough call to make and explain to him what happened. While I could here the anger, hurt and unhappiness in his voice, I -emailed him some pics and man, that had to be a hard call for him to recieve. He did however tell me that it happened to him as well, but that was little comfort to me.

Anyway, I of course did a complete repair to his car. I worked the crap out of his quarter to get it near as perfect a panel that I have ever done. It turned out great. He's still a customer and friend.

The overboost condition was the wastegate not being large enough maintain a steady 27lbs. He now has twin 44 tials.

I can tell you that any test drives still have me babying cars. I use a huge expo parking lot to do any "performance" manuevers.

[Gitter Dun]

Late night brake pad install before track day, installed brake pad backwards so that the pad side was facing away from rotor. needless to say I destroyed rotor.

Drove to Infineon Raceway from my house without latching trailer to tow ball, LOL, good thing I pulled car all the way forward, didn't notice till I got to the track.

Was parked in front of steel I beam that supported seating stands at Infineon and didn't set parking brake. Was looking at my lap times and pushed in clutch, car rolled into I beam and dented header panel, LOL.

[brans72]

Here is a good one! When I was 17 I got a 62 Impala with a sliding rag top in in and car was lowered etc. So we went to SC to pick it up and riving back to NC during night I was getting sleeply, so I was like open the sliding rag top (slides back and forth on tracks) not thinking I am doing 65 down the interstate and you know what happens when one opens! I was like oh smack!! I got luck no damage but learned not to do that again.

[Viperlover]

Installed new heads, didn't let the rtv on the intake sit up before I cranked it and blew out the back seal.

Took the intake back off, ended up dropping a washer into one of the intake ports on the heads, didn't know until I cranked it and heard a clanging.

Took the intake back off, passenger side head, got the washer out of the bore, it had only nicked the head a couple of times. Put everything back together more careful than before, and let the rtv sit up for a whole day...

[elitecustombody]

I built a Supra for a customer. It dyno'd 860ish at the wheels. Beautiful black paint and all that crap. Well I asked the owner if I could take the car to a cruise night and show off my work. He happened to be on vacation. He said sure no problem. I got finished up at the shop late, as usual, and heading over to the hangout, I said to hell with this I am going home. My house was but 5 minutes from the spot and I was too tired to hang out that night. So on the last curve before my house I discovered a small (HUGE) problem with his car that wasn't shown on the dyno. It overboosts LIKE CRAZY! Well the car was going backwards before I knew it and hit a mail box and over a curb.

A short story longer, I put a nice size dent in the rear quarter and killed a wheel hoop shattered his park bench (wing).

That was a tough call to make and explain to him what happened. While I could here the anger, hurt and unhappiness in his voice, I -emailed him some pics and man, that had to be a hard call for him to recieve. He did however tell me that it happened to him as well, but that was little comfort to me.

Anyway, I of course did a complete repair to his car. I worked the crap out of his quarter to get it near as perfect a panel that I have ever done. It turned out great. He's still a customer and friend.

The overboost condition was the wastegate not being large enough maintain a steady 27lbs. He now has twin 44 tials.

I can tell you that any test drives still have me babying cars. I use a huge expo parking lot to do any "performance" manuevers.


never underestimate the power of Supra:6gears:

[Happyfunballs]

This site doesn't have the bandwidth to support pics of the things I've screwed up and had to repair.

[69 Hugger 396]

Many years ago I bought a wrecked 78 Formula. It was towed to my house which is in a residential neighborhood. I lived directly across from the neighborhood whiner, you know the type. This guy called the cops on everyone in the neighborhood for just about anything we did besides read a book or meditate. The car was backed into my driveway and I wanted to get it apart and into the garage before he got home. I took the wrecked sheetmetal off and in the process had removed the front wheels and had the noseless Firebird on stands, pointing right at his front porch. Wanting to get it running I hooked up a battery and pumped the gas a few times. I turned the key and the 400 jumped to life. Unfortunately, the tow truck driver had popped the shifter cable off and the car was in drive. It jumped off the jack stands and ended up in the middle of the road, no nose or wheels. Just as I was checking my shorts I look up and guess who's coming down the street! I don't recall the conversation but it wasn't pleasant.

[John Wright]

It jumped off the jack stands and ended up in the middle of the road, no nose or wheels.^^^That had to be quite a scene....LOL

[elitecustombody]

Many years ago I bought a wrecked 78 Formula. It was towed to my house which is in a residential neighborhood. I lived directly across from the neighborhood whiner, you know the type. This guy called the cops on everyone in the neighborhood for just about anything we did besides read a book or meditate. The car was backed into my driveway and I wanted to get it apart and into the garage before he got home. I took the wrecked sheetmetal off and in the process had removed the front wheels and had the noseless Firebird on stands, pointing right at his front porch. Wanting to get it running I hooked up a battery and pumped the gas a few times. I turned the key and the 400 jumped to life. Unfortunately, the tow truck driver had popped the shifter cable off and the car was in drive. It jumped off the jack stands and ended up in the middle of the road, no nose or wheels. Just as I was checking my shorts I look up and guess who's coming down the street! I don't recall the conversation but it wasn't pleasant.


LMAO! That's awesome! Did you get a ticket for wreckless driving? wait, you weren't driving,hahaha...

[69 Hugger 396]

LMAO! That's awesome! Did you get a ticket for wreckless driving? wait, you weren't driving,hahaha...

LOL. No ticket but it took a long time to live that one down!

[Denvervet]

Soon after I married my current wife...10years now.....I was doing her front disc brakes. Being the car guy hero I was I put the pads on ....backwards....iron side to the disc. Took the car out for a quick test drive and thought it seem to be a little rough on braking. Of course must just need to get the pads seated so made sure to make some hard braking events. Got worse. Pulled the wheel and rotor trashed and hero status gone forever:bsjerk:

[latamud]

I was the resident car guy in my group during my combat skills training before Iraq deployment. I've never worked on a HMMVV (Hummer). Part of the pre-inspection calls for topping off fluids. I noticed my vehicle was running hot the day before so thought it might be a little low on coolant, it was about 1 quart low. I went to the supply Sgt and took a gallon of coolant over to my vehicle, the radiator doesn't have a cap on it. There's a filler neck that is a shallow drop and a 90 degree turn similar to radiator filler necks on an import, it rises from the front of the intake I twisted off the cap and started pouring. I was expecting to eventually see coolant top off the filer neck. It didn't happen so I went and got another gallon of coolant. Halfway into the second gallon I realized the filler neck terminated under the intake into the block. FFFFRRRUG! I poured about a gallon and half into the oil pan.
I didn't live that one down for the rest of the training. Years later one of the guys that was there still jokes with me about it.

And my most devastating incident. I spent 2 years piecing together a 377 Clevor. It was supposed to be my ultimate engine to replace my 408 Clevor. When I pulled the 408 I remember where everything went. Well, almost. I have a remote oil filter, and I could have sworn the short hose traveled to the closed fitting and the longer hose to the farther fitting. I crossed my oil filter lines so the oil pump was pushing oil to the center of the filter and dead-ending on the back side of the filter baffle. No oil was getting past the filter, this was the first time I ever started the engine. Ran the engine dry, killed the bearings, blew a head gasket, coolant in the oil pan, 12 quarts of Mobil1 and Lucas oil ruined too. Something locked up not sure what yet. I haven't torn into it enough. When I pulled the timing cover off I found the timing gear pin that sets it to the face of the cam had sheared off. It left a chunk in the gear and one in the cam face. I couldn't get the crank to turn over.
A simple check to see in/out on the lines and fittings would have me on the road this summer.

Couple days ago, bleeding my hydro throwout bearing I decided to stick my hand through the fork hole to feel for leaks. I realized why I couldn't feel the pressure plate when I hit the clutch pedal. The TOB was maxed and there was still a 1" gap between the pressure plate. Getting a spacer machined. 2 3/8".

[speedshftr]

i was changing the oil in my wifes jeep.took off the filter and let oil come out.didnt even think about the drain plug.bad day
i was like darn this thing didnt have much oil in it.so i put 6 quarts in it.started her up and rite away realized my mistake.thank god the engine was okay.it had over 12 quarts in it during the final drain out.:eek:

[COPO-RAT]

Stupid ..me and a buddy are loading a car on a trailer to head to the track. We are both hooking up the trailer at the same time. I think he latched the ball and he thinks I did. So I start driving the car up the trailer and it jumps off the ball and destoys the tailgate of my nearly new truck.

Did the exact same thing to my brother's truck while pushing the wife's 'new' firebird onto the tow dolly. Left the trans in the car (I thought motor and trans were out of the car until I got there to pick it up and only the motor was out), cuz I didn't have room for it in the bed with all the other parts, left the driveshaft in the car to 'stabilize' the rear of the trans as I towed it from Oklahoma City to Cincinnati..........you know what happens next........nothing turning the pump in the trans and at the Indiana/Illinois border the trans finally locked up. To add insult to injury, I had left on this trip without a single tool! This was our first trip with our new baby and we were more focused on making sure we had everything to keep her happy and forgot to pack tools! Ended up 11 miles down the road at Walmart (while the firebird sat on the shoulder still on the tow dolly), buying a $9.00 set of Stanley wrenches to pull the driveshaft and trans on the side of the highway. The rest of the trip was a breeze! lol

[johnparts]

21 years old with my first big block mopar I decided to get the nice Mopar performance valve covers and throw them on. Well I didn't even think about it but there were 4 holes knocked partially out inside the covers for oil filler and breathers. I knocked out one for the oil fill but didn't bother with the breather hole on the other side cover. Then I decide to be a big man and challenge the guy at the hot rod shop next door to a little street race with his big block chevelle(in an industrial zone no traffic no people late in the day.) Well I cleaned his clock but at the end of our little race I had 2 blown valve cover gaskets a blown valley pan and I spit the front of the oil pan gasket out. Needless to say there was a huge cloud of oil following me back to the shop which the local PD used to check out what was going on with all the "engine noise".

[aktmracer]

A friend of mine thought he burned up the turbo on his 2008 Chevy Duramax diesel, since knows the trucks pretty good and has a lot of experiance with working with them i did not second guess it when he asked me to swap the turbo for him. After about twenty hours of the most agravating projet I think I have ever done and hope to not do again I was finished. Went to drive the truck, it ran great until about 15 pounds of boost and then shut down. Into "limp" mode with lights flashing. Got back to the shop scanned it and the same trouble codes as before. So lets rethink what else could be wrong cause its not the turbo. While unhooking the inlet tubes (to pressure test the intercooler) we discovered a boot had come of the tube. So five minutes later boot was back on and truck ran like a champ. OPPS.

[excessive]

I own a small restoration/rod shop in Ohio and was trying to finish up a chassis for a 1930 Ford five window coupe that had to leave the next morning . I had all the small parts in the booth and just had to get the chassis set up on stands , so my helper and myself carried it into the booth and realized I only had one stand set up . I decided to just sit it on that while he held the back and I went for the other stand . Well....... before I even got out of the booth the stand started tipping and off went the paint ready chassis !!! I don't have any pictures of this because it was about 3am !!! Needless to say I didnt sleep that night , but still had the chassis ready to go by 10am . You have to love a 27 hour work day !! LOL

[overZealous1]

got a couple good nitrous stories.
first one, just hooked up a new nitrous kit just in time to hit a big show out of town. this was in a highly modded c4 vette. i KNOW i checked the nitrous and fuel solenoids many times to make sure fuel line went to fuel solenoid and vice versa. next day at the cruise in i had the bottle turned on so i could play with my new purge solenoid. traffic was stopped and all of a sudden my car starts revving up. i push harder on the brakes. then harder, then HARDER. front tires start to lock up and i'm still heading forward!! in one lightning quick motion, hit trans in neutral and turn off key. pop the hood, and my intake is literally frosted over with nitrous still pouring in. turn bottle off and in my embarrassment of stopping traffic at the main intersection of the cruise, i jump right in and hit the key. what an effing dip ****! motor hit so hard on the first couple hits it felt and sounded like it twisted out of the dam car!! luckily, built it strong and no damage happened. finally get home and find out some sonofabich swapped my fuel and n20 solenoids. yup, all me.
next, cruising in the same car to a show and smell gas on the freeway. thinking it was someone in front of me, i change lanes, but still smell it. i figure i should pull over and check it out. next exit 2 miles up. i take the exit and everyone is looking at the car pointing, hell, even turning around. i figured i had her looking extra waxed up today and looking sharp! i finally stop and 3' tall flames jump out of the back of the hood scoop!!! no panic, got a fire extinguisher. pop hood and extinguish it, just a second before my girlfriend dumps 44oz. of grape soda on the hot engine now freshly covered with the powder in the fire extinguisher!!! ya, nice crusty corrosive shell was formed, but fire was out i guess. people pulled up and said i had flames coming out like 4' under each side of the car. fire engines came. towed it home. problem- had a wire too close to a header, finally touched, baked of insulation, grounded, burned off insulation heading up the wire, wire touching my braided teflon fuel line, melted teflon creating hole, 50psi fuel shooting out with plenty of spark to ignite it, fuel line carrying current due to braiding, fuel line touching nitrous line, burns hole through nitrous line (thank god bottle was off or it would have been an unstoppable blow torch or worse). amazingly, about the worst damage was done by the extinguisher/grape soda combo. appears all the flames got pulled under the car at speed.
moral of story. i don't effing use braided anymore!!!

[Crossupbill]

Stupid ..me and a buddy are loading a car on a trailer to head to the track. We are both hooking up the trailer at the same time. I think he latched the ball and he thinks I did. So I start driving the car up the trailer and it jumps off the ball and destoys the tailgate of my nearly new truck.


I have a similar story, I failed to check the ball diameter on the truck. Well it was a 2" instead of the required 2 5/16". Well long story short, trailer came off the ball, safety chains failed, trailer came loose on the interstate at about 50 or so. Luckily the trailer was empty and it veered right into the gaurd rail instead of oncoming traffic. I got so lucky it is not even funny. I am overly cautious now about anything to do with towing.

[LSXfan]

me and my brother had to put a new tranny in his '79 Corolla ( I screwed the original up somehow;) ). Anyway after we got the replacement tranny installed, he was pouring gear oil in thru the shifter hole. I noticed alot of gear oil on the ground and told him about it. He said it was just where he missed the hole pouring the oil in. I told him it looked like an awful lot of oil just by missin the hole. After about 4 days of driving (with a very noisy transmission) the tranny locked up.......we never put the drain plug in after installation.

[John510]

I had a spring pop out and break my pinky finger in half once. I will definately use a compressor next time.

I caught my 2000 integra on fire once while drag racing down the street. That was pretty scary.

[Olav]

Many ears ago a frind of mine and i put a Rover 3500/ Buick 215 in his Ford Granada -83 Euro model
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Granada_(Europe)

Well it had 130hp so we added a Crane cam, 4bbl intake and a 390 holley Carb. after one year he wanted more so he bought a Cheater system 225HP. We had a lot of fun with this sleeper for a while with the smallest jets. One night we was at the freeway 500km from home after dragracing event with one step bigger jets in the plate. But we forgot to retard the ign..... so no more comments regarding this ( 3 pistons). Aeroplaine home back with hauler and pick up the car. Took 20 hours of travelling.
Rebuilt engine and 2 weeks later out on the freeway again. This car had a manual trans and at full trottle from 2 to 3 gear the return spring on the carb. linkage failed. This time we "only" bendt 4-5 valves. No more nitous on the Rover Granada...

[gearheads78]

My first real hotrod I ever built and also where my user name stems from was a 78 Malibu. I built a pretty healthy 383 and managed to break the 7.5 rear first time out. I then saved for 6 months to put a 9" in the car. 6 painful months later I'm so excited to go cruise the local hangout I am thrashing all day to put it together. Pretty much all done just have to put the new driveshaft in and roll. Tighten 3 nuts on the u-bolts and get to the final one. I get that sick feeling in my stomach as I feel the threads strip. Well there is 3 good nuts holding. It will be OK cruising tonight. I'll take it easy.

Spend the night hanging out having a good time with people seeing I really do have a car. All is well. So 3:00AM on the way home on a deserted 4 lane freeway with not a car in sight any direction. I'm just going to run it up once just see how it feels. Hammer down first gear pulls hard, hit second ...this MF runs, Third gear weeeeeee OK the shift light is on better let out .........Oh wait what is that loud banging under the car and why is the dark sky behind me lit up like daylight?

Moral of the story. Don't let a $3.00 U-bolt cost you a transmission case, exhaust system , pinion yoke, driveshaft and most importanty another 6 months saving to drive your car again.

[minendrews68]

OK, going back to my, way earlier, years. I had my first '55 Chev hardtop. Of course proud as punch. Just got me a new engine, car was in primer, was working on the body one Saturday and needed something from the parts store. I thought Hey, Im not going that far so I'll just put the hood back on without bolting it down. (it's heavy, besides the way it's made the wind should push down on it holding it even better). Well, made it to the parts store and was coming back. There was some of my friends, so what do you do....you gotta show just how this things runs, so I'll run through the gears. Just hit third hear and the hood blows off, hits the windshield and shatters it, continues over the top of the car and lands in the street behind me. Hood is bent to no end, and the impression I left on my friends......more embarrasment than I will probably ever live down.

Carl

[DynoDon]

1986 a customer gets a contract with Dodge to race the GLH Turbo in Pro Rally. They send us three cars and I get the first one fully gutted and start seam welding the body shell. I have the car rolled on it's side on a mattress (work great on Little square body cars like that BTW). Anyway I have the HeliArc buzzing and the Silicone Bronze rod flowing. After a couple of hours of this the shop phone rings and I'm chatting with a guy when I look over at this gutted body shell - IT'S ON FIRE! I tell him I gotta go, and find out that the only thing we didn't take out of the car is the main wiring harness and up by the passenger footwell is the computer harness - all six thousand four hundred and three connectors of the smallest damn wire you ever seen (well it seemed like that many when we had to slice them).

Doing a little work on a customers Plymouth Arrow Rally car and decide to take it for a test drive down his street. The Side Drafts are howling, the tires are spinning, the hood goes - FLYING! Oops forgot the hood pins on the worlds lightest fiberglass hood. It takes off in front of me and must have gone 30 feet in the sir. I slam on the brakes so I won't run over the shrapnel when it hits the ground as it's heading straight down. At the last second it rotates to horizontal and glides safely to earth in the neighbors grass with nary a scratch! I couldn't have set it down that gently myself.

[DynoDon]

Just thought of another that wasn't our fault and still pisses me off!
customer brings in a 48 Willys Jeepster for a Mustang II and Chevy V6 conversion. I call a well known suspension company in NC and tell them what I need. They ask a couple of questions about the Jeep, frame type (remember this) height we are looking for, Power Steering etc.
We get the kit and I remove the old stuff and clean the frame down to bare metal. I do all the measurements, check everything twice and following the directions weld the cross member in place. The instructions say to fully weld it now as it will be harder once the other components are in place. So I Do. Nice big beautiful beads, pat myself on the back. Next comes the upper spring hats/control arm mounts, I set them in place and something doesn't look Kosher. Hmmm, Control Arm angles look a bit wacky. I check the instructions, nope everything is installed right. Still looks goofy. Bit more analytical thought and I call the large vendor. Guy says let me check this out, comes back and says "Do you have a Top Hat Frame or a Channel frame"? I answer "Top hat, just like I ordered and is on the work order from you". "Well we sent you the Channel version, send it back and we'll get you the right one". ???????? "Uh, following your instructions, the cross member is fully welded in, what do you suggest"? "Cut it out carefully so we can still use it and send it back" "Seriously?, so you can reuse it?"
It took longer to cut out the wrong one and clean the frame back up than it did to install both of them. No compensation, it still pisses me off. Lost at least 8 hours of billable time, ah the joy of being a shop owner.

[monteboy84]

First day I had my Monte Carlo out of paint, I had/have an Unlimited Products Fiberglass hood on it (Garbage, absolutely crap part). Anyway, it bolts to the stock hinges with springs removed, but pins in the front. Mind you, I'd never owned a car with hood pins before this. I'm tinkering with it in the front yard at home, washing it, cleaning up bodywork residue, etc. My sister comes out and asks for a ride. No biggie, except the hood was set down and hadn't been pinned. We made it up to about 30 MPH before the thing flipped up and ripped off, flying way in the air before gliding to the ground right side up.

The only suck about it, it ripped the fiberglass corners from the bottom of the hood where the hinges were, and the cowl portion of the hood completely shattered the windshield. Totally embarrassing....

More recently, put a motor in my 1992 Chevy, fresh heads rebuilt, all new gaskets, etc. Truck hadn't run in about 5 years, I had bought it from a friend who got it apart and never had time to put it back together. Got it all together, got it running, but the timing light was broken so just did it 'by ear'. Bad idea, I drove it around for a week just fine on short trips, but got on the interstate and made it all of 2 miles before it cooked all the coolant out and scorched a piston. Major idiot move...

-matt

[John Wright]

find out that the only thing we didn't take out of the car is the main wiring harness and up by the passenger footwell is the computer harness - all six thousand four hundred and three connectors of the smallest damn wire you ever seen (well it seemed like that many when we had to slice them).

Ah man!...you too?(refer to earlier post by me in this thread)