Twitch de la Brat Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 I've done the lugnuts a few times in the past. I drove a honda civic off a set of ramps. The car was a 1200CVCC stick. It had a hard time with the ramps. So between impatience and stubbroness, i got it on (and over) the ramps. Had to get a few freinds to pick the car up off the ramps. A VW beetle, testing for spark before my electric knowledge was expanded. Did you know the path of electricity from a leaky spark plug wire through the zippered fly of a mans pants is the path of least resistance when compared to a spark plug? nipper I did the Civic trick with my BRAT. Thankfully it didn't hit and I just had to put it in 4 to get it over the ramps to try again. And OW! I know how painful it is to get bit by a spark plug, but down there? Gah that musta hurt. Twitch PS: that's how I get people who're dumb enough to do it, to check their sparkplug wires PPS: No not by that, by their hand! Sheesh, you think I'm that twisted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudduck Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 Years ago I was helping a friend of mine change out the oil pan gasket and a few other gaskets on his old '70 FJ40. A case of beer and a bottle of whiskey we had it together with a few snaped off bolt heads from the pan. Filled her back up with oil, fired her up and pulled out of the garage to watch oil run out of the engine faster than you could dump it back in. We ended up doing the job all over the next night, fixing all of the major ***-ups, without the booze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdjdc Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 I was working on my wife's 88 GL-10 wagon in the front of our apartment. We weren't suppose to work on them in the parting lot so I was a bit distracted. I had to remove the crank pulley to get down to the covers and when I replaced it I forgot to take the rachet wrench off the bolt. Needless to say, when I started the car up the wrench unscrewed the bolt. Now this was my wife's car and now the threads in the crank were all mucked up, not to mention that the bolt was screwed up too. My wife was non too happy with me for putting her car down for several days while I found a fix for the problem. The bot finally went back in, but it never did come back out. I later ended up replacing the engine after she blew another head gasket. Blasted turbo's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonicfrog Posted February 9, 2010 Author Share Posted February 9, 2010 A VW beetle, testing for spark before my electric knowledge was expanded. Did you know the path of electricity from a leaky spark plug wire through the zippered fly of a mans pants is the path of least resistance when compared to a spark plug? Just curious.... are you able to have kids???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Just curious.... are you able to have kids???? yes but they are revolting... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swampbrat Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 I ve pulled a lot of them over the years. Lost a front wheel one morning. Found in top of tree at bottom of canyon! I hit my wrench against the solenoid once and melted a gold ring off my finger - still have the scar!:-\ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loyale 2.7 Turbo Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 I was using a short and fat screwdriver, to adjust the Fuel / Air Mixture on the Weber Carburetor at idle speed on my EA82 engine, and Accidentally I Dropped it against the Naked Timing Belts, which somehow expelled it immediately, against the spinning radiator fan, who threw it down to the skid plate ... ... Miraculously, nothing bad happened, but somehow the situation and the fast metallic hitting noises, scared me during the event... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musubk Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 (edited) My first head gasket job, I put one of the gaskets in upside down, and got a fountain of oil squirting several feet above the car when I started it. That ruined the bearings on my 2002 Subaru (this was around 2004-2005, so not some old beater I could afford to trash) and I had to pull the motor again and now learn how to do crank bearings. I'm pretty conscious about being certain things fit together properly now.My best, not really mistake but lucky streak, was with my current BRAT project. I needed an EJ donor and picked a $200 Legacy off Craigslist that the guy said 'ran well but needed a new transmission'. I figured at $200 it was worth a gamble on getting a good engine. The Legacy turned out to have an awesome engine that turns over instantly and purrs, a brand new radiator, and a nearly new set of winter tires. I pulled the engine, ECU, wiring harness, and radiator for my BRAT, sold the winter wheels/tires for $250, rented a U-Haul trailer ($55) to cart the remaining shell away to salvage and they gave me $50 in credit for it which I used for some rear disc conversion parts from a GL-10 they had on the lot. In the final tally, I got a good engine, ECU, harness, new radiator, and some of the parts for my rear disc conversion, all for $5. Edited October 14, 2015 by musubk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferp420 Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 my laitist fup i was chasing my tick of death i found silicone in the oil feed hole for the cam tower well i was all happy and got it all cleaned up put back together one of the lifters was off it pushed on the valve retainer till the retainers fell out and the valve bounced around and hit the piston i dont think there was any major damage but after i fixed the valve and spring retainers i seem to have a head gasket leak so now i get to pull the head again and replace a gasket the up side is i already have the gasket because i replaced the otherside already and i like that gasket better so now ill have matching headgaskets lol ill check the valve to make sure it isent bent before i put it back together i realy shouldent work on anything when im tiered i dont function when im tiered Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR_Loyale Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 (edited) It was in 2006 I think. I had the ea82 out to do a reseal and timing belts. I also replaced the water pump while I was there. The Haynes manual said 40ft lb on the torque. This of course snapped the bolt. That day I learned to not trust Haynes torque figures. Luckily the broken bolt was proud of the block and I was able to get it out with vise grips. Edited October 14, 2015 by MR_Loyale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdweninger Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 I was teaching my son how to replace the timing belts on his EA82. The covers were on, so we pulled the crank pulley and replaced the old water pump as well as the cam seals and belts and tensioners. You know ... do the job right ... sort of thing. I had my boy turn the wrenches ... I was just supervising. After we put it back together, we started it up. It ran great, but had a strange high pitched buzzing sound coming from the engine compartment. While it was running, we stuck our heads closer to the engine compartment ... to my surprise, the 1/2" ratchet was still attached to the crank bolt. The buzzing sound was the ratchet 'click' when it is in reverse (not tightening). Got lucky on that one. Note to self ... keep a close eye on the kid. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobiedubie Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 For Subaru cylinder head replacement, installing the short bolts in the holes with a shoulder, that require the longer bolts. Strips out thread in the block. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soopsoop Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 tried towing my 1988 gl sw home with no axles in it,almost made it home until the tire and rotor fell off and the brake lines caught on fire found out you are not suppose to tow a subaru without the axles. now i am slowly rebuilding the front end one piece at a time 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagonist Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 I haven't had that many cos I'm too much of an anal bastard But I've replaced the clutch in a FWD Toyota I owned. Being a turbo diesel, the engine was backwards to most engines of the time with intake on the front & exhaust on the back. And the oil filter (which was the same part as a Landcruiser, so HUGE) was fitted sideways above the driveshafts & below the exhaust on the back of the motor (I had to dismantle half the intake to even see it). Anyway, I'd pulled it off to remove the transmission. Finished the job late about 9:45pm, started the car to try to check it & found a flood of oil running down the driveway. Supermarkets usually close at 10pm, so dashed to the local absolutely covered to try to buy the largest bag of kitty litter I could find. The shop staff certainly looked at me (I was covered in black) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subarubrat Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 My neighbor had a funny one. He was at a dealer and saw a smashed Honda S2000 and ended up getting the thing for just a few hundred and it was fixable, needed and A pillar and windshield, front fenders and hood, and a rear suspension link (low speed roll over). He decides to part it out instead of fixing it and wants to see if it starts so he installs a battery and tries to turn it over but not much happens. Correctly assuming that the cylinders may be full of oil from when the car was upside down he pulled the plugs and turned the motor over with the starter. The mixture of oil and water that was ejected from the plug holes was like a pressure washer of flith that coated his entire garage. Then for part 2 he puts the plugs in and started it up which created an incredible smoke screen that filled the cauldesac for about 10 min until it started burning off. After that the motor ran great and was probably fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferox Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 I haven't had any particularly destructive ones, but I do remember leaving a rag in the intake manifold during a carb rebuild years ago and forgetting to take it out before re-installation. Not a huge deal, but I am a bit obsessive about my carb installs, so it was more of a chore than anything. Troubleshooting the carb at that point was VERY frustrating until I removed the carb to pull it apart and clean it again. I was SUPER pissed until I figured it out then I was even more pissed (and relieved) at my stupidity. Luckily it was packed in there tight or it would have been sucked into a valve or something. I don't drink as much alcohol when I work on cars as I used to... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jono Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 I had a square, race ? bowl 465 Vac secondary Holley on a straight six Ford that I was forever tinkering with and got it just right. So right that sometimes when heading up an incline, or the last time, sitting idling at lights up the incline, the engine would cut out. This time i could not get it to start after roadside fiddles. I was right beside the Ford dealer where I had bought the carter fuel pump not so long before. I was not getting any fuel, so blamed the pump. I unbolted pump to work its cam lever manually, still no fuel. Off to the parts guys asking for replacement under warranty. This was the last time I stepped into the dealers for anything. Due to the fuel pump smelling like fuel they said they would not take it back under warranty and just give me a new pump. Derr ...it is gonna smell like fuel, I was not asking them to try resell it !! So, a GM towed a Ford home, from outside a Ford dealer I started at the fuel tank, clean as a whistle 20 years old, blew all the lines clear from rear to pump, then pump to Holley, then found with disconnected at the Holley, I could pump fuel .... ???? coming out at the carb junction. Hmm, pulled the front float bowl off and found the small bent piece of tin that sits on the pegs at the top, inside the bowl as a splash guard to stop fuel splashing out the vent hole - sort of a wedge shape on its side that piece of tin, wedged under the float jamming the needle and seat shut just that one time, I fitted the anti splash shield after the bowl gasket, whereas it should have been before the gasket as gasket was the only interference to stop the guard falling off its pegs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Dawg Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Had the Torque Converter pin fall inside housing, tried splitting the case worked at getting it out for 3 days... then Realized there was the Window hatch.. other than that forgot to put the Oil filter on before start up.. LOL Dumb! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvdrt Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 I just figured out this problem yesterday. Huge fail on my part. So over the summer I rebuilt my Brats engine. During the rebuild when I was painting the block I capped all of the openings with take and rubber plugs. Installed the engine and everything went perfect...except my heater didn't work. Not a huge deal in SoCal until it started getting cold the past few days. I checked all of the heater hoses and wasn't getting any flow out of the heater core. Naturally I assumed in was the heater core that was bad. I spent an entire day pulling out the dash to replace the heater core. After reinstalling it and being happy with my fix, I fired it up and there was still no heat. The coolant just wasn't flowing. I began to remove the water pump heater return pipe and as soon as I popped off the little rubber heater hose on the water pump.......there it was. A rubber plug I forgot and placed the heater hose over LOL. I painted the block black and the plug was black so I must have not seen it lol. All of that, pulling the dash and everything and it ended up being a quick 5 minute fix haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subnz Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 (edited) Agree can relate to and annoying having bits left over after a fixit. particularly in the ealrier stages of my DIY career or forgetting the sequence of putting back together / missing bits etc Its a cliche but certainly learn from making mistakes Edited November 17, 2015 by subnz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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