Own up, who of us have been a dumb ass

[Stagdad]

Just saying on another thread about spilling oil all up my drive made me think most of us have proberbly learnt the hard way by making mistakes so laying eagos aside for a minute what's the dumbest car mechanical thing you've done?

Ill start, I fitted a clutch to my viva and when I was finished all chuffed with myself at 17 years old I saw the unfitted drive plate on the bench lol.

[staginhiding]

When I was 16 (just a few years ago) I was under my Anglia just about to remove the gearbox to renew the clutch.
I then didnt know if when I took it out if gear oil would pour out.So for an hour I was under the car debating with myself if it would or not.
Of course now I know the gear oil is in the box and not the bell housing..

And just to show that its not only youth and inexperience that causes mistakes.
I bought some lovely expensive Valvoline engine oil for the Stag,put it in and on firing it up I had most of it on the floor.
I had got the oil filter housing on wonky..so another full gallon of Valvoline and double checking the filter housing and all was well..

[1959terry]

Clutches seem to be common as i had to fit a clutch to my managers mk3 cortina back in the last 70's chuffed that it was all ready to go with about 45 mins before knocking off time and i could not engage any gears as the plate was around the wrong way. Oops. Box out plate changed around all in 40 minutes. Happy days, never did mention it to him😄

[Tdm]

By-passing a faulty auto starter inhibitor switch on the Stag, then starting the car when it was still in gear one day and seeing it shoot forward and hit 2 other cars in the Car Park - Oops!.

[mole42]

My most recent one, I prefer to forget the ones from 40-odd years ago, is believing the ROM when it says to fit the exhaust manifolds to a Stag without gaskets. Many years of engineering experience told me that this wasn't a great idea but I went and did it anyway, leaving the exhaust manifold gaskets on the shelf.
Fitting exhaust manifolds to a Stag cylinder head while it's on the bench is trivial. Removing said manifolds and refitting while it's on the engine in the car is probably the worst job I can imagine. Even the left-hand head is a pain and there seems to be plenty of space around that one!

Richard

[edd]

17years old with an electrical problem on my mk1 escort. Mainly the fan could be heard but not blowing.
One technician sat and pondered for a while and then said this may sound stupid Edd but you have put the batery terminals the right way round. Ummm The fan was sucking and I still find it hard to believe I did it.
Another gaff as an apprentice was after rebuilding a major engine failure the boss going ballistic as the job was already a come back. Every time I went into the office he would have a rant. I regreted not asking for the last item of antifreeze.
The customer failed to pick his car up from the company and I drove into the car park on what must if been the coldest night in uk history. Opening the bonnet with Stuart about the biggest wind up merchant there could be. Everything alley had expanded and was ruined to which I had to endure years of the song "ice ice baby "
The constant banter in that place was what kept everyone going and helped everyone realise we all make mistakes.
Edd

[Jeff]

Is that why you turned to the building trade Edd?

[mjheathcote]

20 odd years ago my daily runner, a Lancia Y10 Turbo, was running rough so I decided to rebuild the webber carb.
On completion it wouldn't start, and I discovered that I had accidently swapped the fuel line with a breather hose, the result being the crankcase was now full of fuel/oil mix with petrol being pumped straight into the inlet manifold.
I emptied the sump, refilled with fresh oil, and swapped back the hoses correctly.
Before starting, I noted neat petrol dripping out of the exhaust tailpipe, and that the exhaust silencers were also full of petrol.
By this time it was 11pm and with work the next morning, just said 'fukc it', started it, and ran away!!
She started straight away, and all the petrol just got blasted out of the tailpipe.
To this day, I still can't believe the whole car did not blow up!

[Always wanted a Stag]

Working on two projects at once is a mistake.

Recently I was making a start on re-veneering the dashboard and fitting new tail pipes and managed to use wood filler instead of exhaust paste on the tail pipes.

Didn't realise until everything was fitted, aligned and securely tightened.

Oh, how I laughed

Paul

[Donkey]

Fitting a tow bar to a Cortina, (company car no less) and using the bumper brackets as an aid to centring is a mistake.
Some months later, whilst approaching the car from behind, I noticed the error. The bumper brackets are not evenly spaced.
Strangely, the caravan didn't seem out of kilter. What a D--- H---!!

Brian

[wilf]

I can remember pouring a gallon of fresh oil into a Rover 3500, then spotting the oil slick spreading across the road toward the gutter, and then the sump plug on the toolbox lid.

[FITCHETT]

I had to replace the bearings on the gear box on my old Dolomite 1850 ( all after a days work ) so remove gear box strip box / replace bearings / re-build box / put gear box back in car / time to clean up the mess tools away sweep up "DANG" on the floor was the the spacer that should be behind the revers gear....( O GOD ) was funny for a few month after that at work NOT
phone for a taxi to go home....

Anthony

[nib]

I'm 17 and just did the gear lever return spring which sits behind the wet clutch on my Kawasaki S1 250 triple, all my mates there on there bikes ready to go for a blast, refilling it with oil it starts pouring out underneath, I had forgot to put the sump plug in!!

[RobinLegin]

Last summer, I called in to refuel the Stag. As I finished and put the pump away I realised i had filled the tank with £55 worth of diesel. That was an expensive morning. My wife walked home rather than help get over my embarrassment at our local Sainsburys.

[GDPR]

Early 1980s, in the workshop, asked to remove and rebuild transfer gearbox on an early Range Rover - this involved a lot of dismantling inside and underneath the car, and no one in the dealership had done one before. Had just taken some more stuff off inside and sent the car back up on the 4 poster ramp to get back underneath. The lift control was at the back left of the car. As it was going up I failed to notice the car leaning over....then a huge bang and the car lurched.

I had left the drivers door wide open, and it caught on a roof girder - the bang was the glass exploding and the door sagging down at an odd angle as the top hinge tore out of the door....

Felt a bit of a prat about that one