The SINGLE dumbest thing I've done while in the Garage

[CarMichael Angelo]

Jesus Mike, you make me feel a lot better about some of the dumb things Ive done. Haha.

judging by some of the trivial "dumb" things others have posted,.. I crown myself KING of stupid!oodance:

Never let it be said that a masters degree from the school of hard knocks isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

(that is if it was printed at all)

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

wow that second one i feel pretty bad for laughing at... i think i would have been on the urge of kurt cobaining myself if i did that.

No reason to feel bad for laughing, I was laughing while I wrote about it.......(at least I'm laughing now)

 

[NIKwoaC]

Oh Christ, I would have been in tears. That sounds like something that happens in a bad Ben Stiller movie.

 

[bdazzgt]

i wont even start with all of my mistakes when i was 12 i thought i would polish the extra chrome my dad had for his mustang with a d rill and a wire wheel.....fail #1, now speed forward 13 years to now. Im doing the sanding on my fox prepping for paint after a while prob 30 min or so i was like my sander sucks then i look down and realize there is no sandpaper on it....

 

[BLACK09GT]

Flashback to the early 1970's...

While I was changing the oil on my '67 Mustang, the plug from the bottom of the oil pan slipped out of my fingers and fell into the catch tray. I figured, "Okay, no problem. I'll just fish it out with my fingers when the oil finishes draining into it."

I got sidetracked, came back about 20 minutes later, pulled the catch pan out from under the car, forgot the oil drain plug was still in the tray, and poured the whole mess down a storm drain across the street. (I think I'm one of the reasons we all have to "recycle" used oil now).

So now I've got no oil in the car, the plug is down a sewer- so I can't put the new oil in, and I've got no way to get to an auto parts store to buy a new plug!

I ended up having to pull the iron grate off the storm drain and jump down into it to get my plug back! oodance:

Amazingly, I actually found the plug... but not before my mother spied me out the window, came barrel-assing out the front door and screamed, What the hell are you doing in the sewer!!!???

Tune-in next week folks... when I'll tell you about the time I almost burned our house down by using our central vac to clean the ashes out of the fireplace... (ahem....while some of the embers were still glowing)! :eyebrow:

Hey, you can't make this stuff up!!!

 

[cjrpony]

changing the oil on my car i went to kick the jack stand out of the way to let the car down, didnt get it out all the way and caught my bumper extension, i haz no paint on it now as it all flaked off from the extension being pushed about 7 inches up.

I did a similar thing, I pulled the jackstand out from under an 89 Vert I used to have, then let the car down. I had the door open and had put the jack stand right under it. CRUNCH! Put a real nice bend in the bottom of an otherwise nice rust free door.

 

[Chrome_Rust]

I had a goodmark 2.5" cowl hood on my 93 when I got it back together last summer. I was at my buddies shop messing with the timing when the "one who must be obey'd" called me. I was yelled at for working "on that damn mustang" and not spending time with her ( it was her birthday, but my timing was off. I HAD to fix it). I set the hood down, but didn't allow it to slam shut. I went back inside, and she called to yell again. Well I get in the car, started it and took off to her house, I make it about a 1/4 mile down the road, drill it to see if it was still spark knocking, and then i see the hood start to float. I am hard on the brakes, but it was too late. I came up, trashed the cowl, the wiper arms, the hood, the roof, the windshield trim and by a mircle, didnt hit the windshield.

But the fact that the hood came up isn't what I am upset about... it is the fact that i neglected to install the secondary catch.... so it was my fault it happened....

 

[LarsD]

Wasn't in the garage, but I was just outside of it. Was working on my truck, I had installed a new carb and the idle was hanging at 1500rpms. I thought I had a vacuum leak. Lacking anything other then brake cleaner I started spraying all over the intake and such trying to see if the idle would change. Some of it went down the carb, then a little more went down the carb. Suddenly I started choking on the fumes so bad I stumbled away from the truck and had to clear my lungs out. That is some BAD stuff to burn.

 

[slow90coupe]

summer of 2010...
i had just gotten my 2.5" cowl hood. i was soo excited to put it on!!! so, i bolted it up. i said "i dont need a safety latch. the stock latch will hold it good enough". so, i shut the hood halfway because i needed to check something else before i drove it. well, i get a call from someone and forgot all about the hood not being latched all of the way, and take off in it. i go WOT, got up to about 30MPH, and then realised "hey i forgot to latch my hood" so i let off as fast as i could. not quick enough! the hood goes up full force into the cowl panel and the actual cowl. i busted the ****t out of both of them. i now have a big crease all the way across the actual cowl, but i do have a new cowl panel on there!

 

[68stang351]

I put a suspension lift on an old Bronco II in my garage...but when it was done I couldn't get it out haha! Lesson learned

LMAO! You win!

 

[Kdubslugga]

I was working on my blinker switch in the back yard, had the drivers door open. Now Im in the actual yard so im not blocking the drive way. "I was still living at home" now of course i had to to move the car for something. I leave the door open, the edge of the door barely catches the end of a picnic table, in reverese, and i basically ripped the hinges "Tommy Boy" style! not quite as bad though.

 

[5.0Droptop]

I rested my arm arcross the + and - terminals on the battery while really sweaty.... that felt nice...
I once set the timing on a big block 400 I had in a 74 firebird with HEI ignition. I started the car and realized I left the #1 plug wire off.No problem Ill just plug it on while car is running.... I grabbed the wire to plug it in and the next thing I know im on the ground holding my arm....hurt like hell.
on the same car I leaned over the engine and rested my left hand on the alternator the alt slipped on the bracket and the sudden shift resulted in me inserting my thumb into the external alt fan...took a huge chunk out of thumb also resulted in me rolling around on ground wondering wtf just happened.

I bypassed the neutral safty switch once forgot all about it..... reached in to bump the starter thinking it was in neutral....car leaps forward scared me ****less.

we all do really stupid stuff.

 

[Mr. Rustypwnz]

I tried to light a camel with an acetaline torch once.

we all have, its a right of passage.

 

[Mr. Rustypwnz]

open drain plug

drain old oil

pour new oil in

realize the drain plug is sitting on battery.

 

[stykthyn]

^ I've done that

 

[C6AE]

I was in my garage welding a patch on my 66. the window was out of the door and I had an old blanket hanging there to stop "debris" from getting inside. As I was welding, I thought I heard thunderous rain on the roof so I stopped and flipped my visor up to see not only the blanket in flames, but the headliner in the car as well!!!

got some pretty good burns to my wrists (not covered by gloves) putting that fire out.

I don't know if that's as bad as when I was welding under my old Isuzu pickup and I caught the gas tank on fire (those old Isuzu tanks always leaked)... at least that was outside! I remember sitting there wondering if I should get the hose, or just let it go... I got the hose, because it was too close to the garage...

I have an industrial fire extinguisher now. lol

 

[NIKwoaC]

open drain plug

drain old oil

pour new oil in

realize the drain plug is sitting on battery.

Is it just me, or does it seem like no matter how good you get at working on cars, it's still impossible to do an oil change without making a mess?

I was in my garage welding a patch on my 66. the window was out of the door and I had an old blanket hanging there to stop "debris" from getting inside. As I was welding, I thought I heard thunderous rain on the roof so I stopped and flipped my visor up to see not only the blanket in flames, but the headliner in the car as well!!!

got some pretty good burns to my wrists (not covered by gloves) putting that fire out.

I don't know if that's as bad as when I was welding under my old Isuzu pickup and I caught the gas tank on fire (those old Isuzu tanks always leaked)... at least that was outside! I remember sitting there wondering if I should get the hose, or just let it go... I got the hose, because it was too close to the garage...

I have an industrial fire extinguisher now. lol

Damn dude, I hope you've gotten a little more careful with fire after all that! I have a small automotive fire extinguisher in the Mustang and a full size unit under the kitchen sink. I don't mess around; fire is an easy way to lose a lot of hard work and money. A guy I knew lost his entire Mustang to an electrical fire, it even melted the rims into puddles. It happened while he was out driving it, I guess the carpet caught on fire from a shorted out amp wire. He had to stand there and watch it burn, the fire dept couldn't get there soon enough.

 

[RacEoHolic330]

Madmike, ya know Harbor Freight sells cherry pickers for like $150. Lol

 

[LarsD]

Damn dude, I hope you've gotten a little more careful with fire after all that! I have a small automotive fire extinguisher in the Mustang and a full size unit under the kitchen sink. I don't mess around; fire is an easy way to lose a lot of hard work and money. A guy I knew lost his entire Mustang to an electrical fire, it even melted the rims into puddles. It happened while he was out driving it, I guess the carpet caught on fire from a shorted out amp wire. He had to stand there and watch it burn, the fire dept couldn't get there soon enough.

This scares me also, all my cars have an extinguisher in them, I knew a local guy here who had to watch his 77 El-Camino burn to the ground b/c of a broken fuel filter (was a nice ride too). Sad part was, he had an extinguisher and it ran out before he got the fire put out. Which reminds me I need one for the Cobra and the Wife's 67...

 

[NIKwoaC]

This scares me also, all my cars have an extinguisher in them, I knew a local guy here who had to watch his 77 El-Camino burn to the ground b/c of a broken fuel filter (was a nice ride too). Sad part was, he had an extinguisher and it ran out before he got the fire put out. Which reminds me I need one for the Cobra and the Wife's 67...

Stories like that just make me sad. I think I'd fall into depression if I had to watch my car burn to the ground.