Zach8200

What is the Dumbest thing you have done while working on your mopars?

I just got a new #1 for my dumb list. I needed to pull my steering wheel to pull the dash to start the restoration. I got a gash/dash all right but not the one I was hopeing for. I got one right above my eye wow does it hurt.

I took the nut off the center of the steering wheel and installed my puller with a few light turns from the puller I hear the steering wheel give so I took the puller off and grab the steering wheel it didnt move so I tuged still didnt move so I thought id be smart and give it one really big tug and it came flying off and hit me in the head.

Silverick

I was using a pair of pliers to install a brake spring, got up into the fender well for leverage and was pulling toward myself. Almost had it hooked, the spring slipped and I hit myself in the face/cheekbone so hard that I saw stars and it split the skin

1972GoldDuster

Haven't really done anything bad working on it other than when I was changing the sparkplugs two of the wires wouldn't come off so I gave them a yank and pulled the wires apart. So I got a whole new set for the engine now.

Barfly

While this is not work related I have to tell ya this one.

My son and I are sitting on the track waiting to stage but we are being held up because of a foreign liquid on the track. We had just made a pass minutes before and I'm sitting there wondering what could be leaking out of our truck.

Waiting and waiting I'm getting more and more nervous about "was it our truck" and "were we to blame".

Now it's finally time to pull ahead when I push down on the brake pedal and it goes straight to the floor, oh my gosh! it is us, oh what the heck do I do? We must be leaking brake fluid everywhere!!!

I get one of the flagmen to come over and tell him I think it's us!. Trying to decide what to do I pull ahead a little farther and realize it's the old clutch pedal from the original setup I'm pushing down on and not the brake!

Laugh I thought I was going to die! Needless to say given my current state of mind I let my son out of the truck for the next few passes...

Gosh what a dink!!

Sangetsu

I was making a carburetor adjustment on my old Blazer when the screwdriver tip came off and fell into the carb. I didn't notice the tip was missing until after I started the engine and broke a piston. I found the remains of the bit embedded in the top of the piston. An expensive mistake,

scotts74birds

Probably not enough room on the server to list them all, but lets start with my first experience with Left-hand thread wheel studs. I may not be very bright, but I am pretty strong! Snapped off all 5 of them!........Stupid Mopar

sixpack440

haha, alot of good ones up there. but this one is verry painful. me and my father was hoisting an engine out of his old 69 super bee and the engine was hung on something it wouldnt budge after the few inches it lifted when we released the mount bolts. so we stop, look at it. I am standing on the side leaning in trying to figure out whats got it held. come to find out we had forgotten to take a couple wires off and im like oh heres the problem. before I think about it, I hear my dad scream "hold on now god.. *crack*" the engine jumped back at him and popped him smack dab in the chin and he hit the ground.. he actually had to have surgery due to this. it cracked his chin all to pieces. Miss those old days. aint nothing like a good ole busted knuckle from working on an engine all day. hurts like the dickens sometimes but I wouldnt trade it for anything.

blue 68 gts

Put a wheel on after a tech finished surfacing rotors. Used 3 lug nuts to hold the rotor on the opposite side from falling off.


The owner wasn't too happy with me. It got caught before the car even left. Was in a tight spot with alot of stuff, car was basically on the ground and I was leaning sideway over the hoise to torque the lugnuts down.

Couldn't see that the wheel was cockeyed

78D200

Dumbest thing I did while working on a mopar was selling it.

Zach8200

Lol wow Im glad im not the only one. maybe things will go better today now that I had my morning laugh.

samuelcosmo76

I put a new water pump on, and then made the belts too tight. 6 months later I put a new one on again. ha.

1966sportfury

i did the samething but with a 7/16 bolt, that bolt wasnt very thick when i pulled it out of the engine.

mopardrt

working on ripping apart my first parts car couldent get the plastic bumper to body filler off of my dart so I just sawsawed the piece in half to later find out that is a HARD PIECE to come buy

Sangetsu

This wasn't my mistake, but one that a friend made. He replaced the oil pan gasket on my '71 340 'cuda, but he forgot to replace the cotter pins in the steering drag link when he put everything back together. As I was driving down the highway I noticed the steering started to get very vague, I could turn the wheel half a turn each way, but the car continued to go straight. I got of the highway and was turning into a parking lot when the link dropped, and I lost the steering altogether. Luckily it turned out that the lug nuts on the wheels were the same size as the threaded studs on the pitman and idler arms, so I was able to limp the car home.

Cranky

Lit one on fire because I tried to start it without a carb. I had pulled it off a couple of days earlier and forgot about it. Needed to move the car and just got in and hit the key and then when to pump the throttle and it was already on the floor. That's when I remembered there was no carb on it but it was already on fire at that point. All I had to try and put it out was a water hose nearby but it wasn't on so by the time I got it turned on and about to hit it, the fire was licking up to the top of the car port and then when I hit it, it really got big lol. Had my doubts for a few seconds but it finally went out and no damage was done. Now that surprised me for sure. Next dumbest thing is selling several cars that I should have kept....not to mention the ones I parted out or crashed....

scotts74birds

Hey, Sixpack! When you are lifting an engine, and the front wheels come off the ground, STOP!

76NY440_nTX

That would have to be what I did today. I'm cleaning up a water pump housing and was having a tough time removing a pair of heater hose nipples. I got the bright idea of chiseling off the top and then working my way down into the housing. Well, needless to say I got the top off and a mess in the housing. I'm probably going to have to drill it and re-tap it or use a Heli Coil.

Barfly

LOL! now that's pretty good!

Oh, just in case.... the bolts that hold your ring gear on are lefty's too!
My brother in law and I found this out... just in time

Cranky

A guy at work broke 5 studs on a motorhome before he realized something was up lol

One time I was shooting the breeze in a auto parts (when they were real) and a guy came in wanting a water pump for a big block Mopar. No one said a word about him bringing in the whole housing until one of the guys went back and brought out this small box with the new pump in it. The look on his face when he realize what he had done was priceless lol

78D200

That is only with the 8.25 and 9.25 axles.

deadkelly

mine was very similar to yours zach instead of pulling the steering wheel i used my hands to smack the back of the steering wheel . it took a few goes then wack , it hit me in the nose made my nose bleed & left a cut & bump on me bridge . i took a photo of me bloody face & steering wheel .

rcknrolfender79

Lots off good ones up. I'm a bit late on this one but I'll share mine anyhow lol. When I first got my chally we tore the carpet out of her and cleaned the rust out of the floor boards. Well with me and my smarts I decide to not change out of my sweats to use a wire brush. I'm on my knees in the floor just going at with the brush. It hit a ridge on the tranny hump and flew back towards my krotch and wound my sweats up in and ripped my sweats all the way down my left leg in a split second and was about an inch away from nudering myself lmao. Luckily got away with nothing more than a humiliating walk into the house lol.

BuckNeccid

There used to be a know it all that worked at a local Auto Zone, real jerk who wouldn't give you anything without a lecture to prove he knew more than you. I tried not to deal with him for anything he was so unpleasant. No matter what, what YOU wanted was wrong, and he was right.

I once bought a Gm power steering hose from one of the other clerks, and when I went to put it on, the fitting wasn't screwing in, so I took it back to exchange it. HAD to deal with the clown, so I told him what was wrong, and he just turned the hose around, showed me I was putting it on backwards... Man did I feel like a fool, letting him get the better of me over something that simple <sigh>

rcknrolfender79

lol I think its just autozone. Any of them around here all of the guys are jerks and to go get something as simple as plugs or wires or even just a friggin pop out of their cooler you spend a minimum of 30 to 45 minutes waiting on someone to help you.... and that is when you are the only person in the entire store! I always go to oreilly's lol. Sometimes I am forced to go to autozone though.

I actually used to work at oreilly's. Well local shops would call and have us deliver parts to them. The majority of them were asses and thought they should come before anyone else. Anyways one day it was extremely busy, lines of customers going down the aisles. Well I had a shop call I answered, he asked for spark plugs for a certain vehicle. I asked him what kind he said I don't care just not autolite's.... lol Well for some reason in all of the craziness some part of my mind thought he said to get autolite's. Boy was he pissed he called me and bitched me out like no other. I understood for a little bit but he was really getting out of hand over something so small, I mean literally just cussing me out! I tried reasoning with him but it was like he didnt care to fix the situation he just wanted to let me know how shitty a parts salesman I was. I ended up telling him I didn't have to listen to him treat talk to me like that. Well long story short after some *** whoopin threats from the guy and my cockyness he shows up at the store and follows me to the back of the store (I was headed back there to get a hose for another customer) I have to threatin him with the cops to get the guy to leave lol. And the whole time he is telling me he is a professional lol not a very professional way to deal with someones mistake. He no longer deals with oreilly's... and not by his choice. I told my manager what had happened, and he got pretty upset at that guy and calls him and tells him all of his accounts with oreilly's have been closed and if he is caught on the property the cops will be called. lmao but yeah that was one of my biggest dumb dumbs lol you know when you get on a roll doing stuff in a hurry your bound to screw up somewhere.

Mopar_71

1st car. Working on my Duster had the stock bumper jack in the front changing the tire when it tilted pinning me against the fence.
2nd car. Sold my 85% fully restored 71 Challenger. But it was due to divorce so it was kind of worth it. ( stupid b#%*&)
3rd and current car. When I first got the 72 Satellite running I didn't change the distributer cap. It had a crack that I could not see so it back fired. I put the engine together and thought something major was wrong.
I felt stupid because I towed it to a mechnic and some smart butt kid told me about the crack using an osilliscope.
Some of the other post are pretty funny

Furyous68

I bought my 68 Fury III convertible as a means to learn how to work on cars and after a couple of months of tinkering with new plugs, points, battery, ballast resistor, starter relay, I got it running again. One night I decided I wanted to sit in it and listen to the engine run, but when I turned the key I got nothing. Battery checked out. power at the ammeter was solid. Power at the starter was solid. replaced the starter. Nothing. Replaced the ignition switch. Nothing. Replaced the alternator (okay, I was very new to this at the time). Nothing. I replaced the battery ground and positive cables, coil, and still nothing. Finally I cracked a beer and sat in the driver's seat when it finally hit me.

It was in "D". I put it in park and it started right away.

pops1967GTX

I was working on a rear shock housing.. I started to weld bracket joint back in place. Had a hard time reaching , so my buddie gave me a can to stand on & walked away... needless to say. I started to weld & the can blew up..."Paint thinner". didn't get hurt. But all had a good laugh ....

Zach8200

quick update next dumbest thing Sold The Road Runner and passed up a 72 Cuda

PK1

Motor done,fluids in, ready to light the fire... Cleaned shop, inventoried tools and was down a socket.... Same size used to torque the lifter hold down spider..... O crap! I left it in there?

Tear back in to get my missing socket cause I am getting forgetful... S#$T happens.

Almost all the way to the valley when my kid came back to shop with the "socket" on one of the arms of some lego creation.... He said " it was on the floor when I brought you a drink Daddy. Thought it was trash"....

He got to keep that tool for his creation... Life is to short. Motor hit its HP goal and then some

Coronet 500

I think 16 and thought the front drums MUST be like the rears and slide off over the studs. My pal and I made an elaborate puller out of metal stuff we found and pulled and pulled until the cap was crushed and fell off, then one of us said "what's that nut for".