Biggest bone head wrenching mistakes as a teenager

[1badmonkey]

first sbc i disassembled, didnt know about the row of headbolts under the exhaust. a big pry bar got me a fresh 2 pc cylinder head. the only good part of this is, i was pulling the heads because it dropped a valve. i broke junk, but still.

[A/Fuel]

I changed the oil in my nova, washed my hands got in it and started it up. I let it idle for a few seconds and watched my oil pressure guage. It was good for a little bit, then it started to bounce around. It was the first oil change on the engine so I go scared and shut it off. When I went to get out of the car there was a huge puddle of oil all over my Dads floor. I freaked and just worried about the mess before he came home. I waited until I though he was in a good enough mood before I broke the news that I might have screwed up my new engine that we spent all winter building. All he asked was "where's the old filter you took off?" Yup, you guessed it, the old gasket was stuck on the block and I didn't pay attention. I'm glad I got that one out of the way early in life.
I flattened a new cam because I thought I heard a lifter tick and cranked the rocker down until it went away, it was a hydrolic cam and I had read too many hot rod magazines by then.
I also used to use a 3/8" rachet on everthing I touched, including carbs. I was an expert at rounding off nuts and bolts, removing threads, and snaping things off. I guess it just made me better with left handed drill bits, easy-outs, heli-coils, and tap & die sets, lol.
Hot rod and car craft used to make things look real easy to me and it usually resulted in getting over my head real quick.

[DanStokes]

Hot rod and car craft used to make things look real easy to me and it usually resulted in getting over my head real quick.

Nowadays I get in over my head real s-l-o-w-l-y.

Dan

[TheSilverBuick]

Nowadays I get in over my head real s-l-o-w-l-y.

Dan

I will say Dan, I won't be running any bolts into the water pump of my L6. Studs all the way, learned that from you!

[Beagle]

the Plymouth story reminded me -I broke one of dad's tappet wrenches on a Schwinn, forgot the threads were left handed on one side. I think I was 9, knew how to bust wrenches with a cheater bar by then. Hah.

[A/Fuel]

the Plymouth story reminded me -I broke one of dad's tappet wrenches on a Schwinn, forgot the threads were left handed on one side. I think I was 9, knew how to bust wrenches with a cheater bar by then. Hah.

When I discovered vice-grips I thought they would be calling me to work on top fuel cars in a week.....I thought it made all other tools obsolete. I learned the cheater bar techquine later and knew I was the one cheated.....how could people have hid that from me?

[moparmaniac07]

I also used to use a 3/8" rachet on everthing I touched, including carbs. I was an expert at rounding off nuts and bolts, removing threads, and snaping things off. I guess it just made me better with left handed drill bits, easy-outs, heli-coils, and tap & die sets, lol.

Still kinda there. I'm afraid to take a door panel or any plastic clip off, because I'm sure I'm going to break it. Sometimes it works out and I don't though

[bishir]

Bought a 69 Mustang after I got home I decided to tighten the rockers all the way to get rid of the rattle. Oops!

[brandontinley]

Ok it's not really me that made the mistake but it was, I was changing the oil on my wife's van and I drained the oil and left the plug out for a few minutes and went to the bathroom, well I lowered the car down, because I have children who are curious about cars, I am in the bathroom and I hear the van fire up and take off.the wife decided to go to the store for groceries. I learned two lessons that day,1. Take the keys when u leave a car that you are working on alone. And 2. A van engine will live 4 miles round trip with no oil in it whatsoever but it will rattle like a can with rocks in it all the way home. O and on I side note I cannot run down a van to catch it,,,,

[Barry Donovan]

just thought of somehting.
I finished off a chassis that stays closed in..every bump has a rattle like something is bouncing around inside a channel.

holy crap. no way in until cutting.

[JeffMcKC]

Way to many to count!

Thought the meter on the back of the oil real was 5 quarts it was 5 Gallons, hydro locked from the bottom end. Left a Socket on the outer bolt of a clutch and started it up. Pulled a carb off heard a clunk and a rolling noise,,,,, it was the washer rolled right past the valve into the cylinder and would not come out the spark plug hole.....

[Monk]

Ok it's not really me that made the mistake but it was, I was changing the oil on my wife's van and I drained the oil and left the plug out for a few minutes and went to the bathroom, well I lowered the car down, because I have children who are curious about cars, I am in the bathroom and I hear the van fire up and take off.the wife decided to go to the store for groceries. I learned two lessons that day,1. Take the keys when u leave a car that you are working on alone. And 2. A van engine will live 4 miles round trip with no oil in it whatsoever but it will rattle like a can with rocks in it all the way home. O and on I side note I cannot run down a van to catch it,,,,

Shit that's funny

[DanStokes]

Just thought of another one. I must have been about 14 and I heard the cool older guys talking about spring blocks to raise the front of the car (this was back when the thinking was that you would get improved traction off the line if the front was higher). So being ignorant I decided to make that happen on Mom's Metropolitan which my brother Dick often drove at that time. We just wanted to be cool, too.

So I got out some short chunks of 2X4 and cut them to fit between the lower control arms and the frame. Mission accomplished - the front end was WAY up there. All was fine until Dick hit a bump and the blocks popped out and turned into the tires, taking out both tires. Poor Dick - Dad was furious and when my bro explained that he didn't do it Dad was just as pissed - because Dick didn't stop me from doing it. In about a year I was actually working on cars at the Plymouth dealership after school and found out that "spring blocks" were those twisty things that you can screw into a coil spring, at least in the local cool car guy culture.

Live and learn
Dan

[64casteel]

Not mine but i thought it was pretty funny

[oldsman71]

I had 2 IROC camaros on lifts at work for oil changes, some how jumped in the one with NO oil or filter and drove it back to the lot,
but figured out what i did, got the car and put the oil and filter in..... all was good. grabbed really hot coil... add sweaty pants...
all power going threw my NADS into stainless fender trim!!!!