Bone head moves
 

What bone head moves have you guys pulled off while working on your truck? I was trying to get my instrument panel wireing sorted out and was having trouble because I couldn't understand why some lights were lit up and other were not. I double checked the grounding and everything. I turned out that I had screwed the grounding wire back to the intrument panel and not the truck. If Bill Engvall would have been there he probaly would have handed me my sign. :banghead: :dohh:

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how about putting your engine/trans in without the flexplate?

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Not taking enough/any pictures before disassembly and not bagging hardware... (why is this coffee can still so full of nuts and bolts?)...

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I had bought another running 72 and was wiring a tach into it and it had a floor shifter which was in my way in park so i moved it to first and proceeded to start the truck without thinking about it after i installed the tach and ran the truck into a bunch of barrells of oil wrecking my rad thank god the grill was already screwed.

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Or putting trans in only to look over and see the clutch fork on the bench....:dohh:

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yep, im deffinatly going to regret this when i get deeper into my build :lol:

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changing direction on a build. $$$

throwing away ANYTHING!

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How about yelling and cussing for about 1/2 hour after installing a rebuilt transmission and trying to figure out why the truck won't move and then realizing the transfer case is in neutral.

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how about changing the oil, then oil filter......getting side tracked (go help the wife), pouring all five quarts into the car.....your son comes around the corner of the car and ask's "whats all of this stuff running under the car"...........as you look under the car you see the :censored: oil plug laying on the ground. :dohh:


then this occurs with the wife= :m3: (because it's not my fault) :lol:

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Propping your original paint, un-molested, perfectly straight, 67 hood up against the garage wall for just a second so you can move something else out of the way.

Of course you're doing this to put the hood in a safe place so it doesn't get damaged . . ..... only to have the only gust of wind for the day blow the hood over & watch it smack flat on the center body-line against the concrete driveway.

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Man, you guys make me feel so much better!!!!!!!!!!
I guess my bonehead move was going right ahead with my truck disassembly, after finding out my wife was having twins. (Who are now 3 year olds) The truck project is still ongoing, just at a slower pace.

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I had a '52 Chevy coupe beat me up one time. I was much younger, and much more inclined to impulse. The car in question was on jack stands up front and I was doing something in the vicinity of the starter. This was a 6 volt system, and I managed to short out my wedding ring between the "hot" starter post and ground somehow. I jerked my hand back, and the ring was glowing! When I jerked back, my elbow hit the underside of the hood. I had the presence of mind to take the ring off quick, because a blister was already on the way. I'm standing beside the car in pain and decide to kick the front wheel. The wheel was off the car, and my shin hit the edge of the fender. Ouch two! Now I'm really frustrated so I tried to bang the hood with my fist. The hood was too high and I hit the edge of the hood with my boney fore arm. Ouch three! I just sat down on the step not believing how many places I hurt. My wife had heard me muttering to myself and came out to ask what I was doing. Suffering dear, just suffering. What I learned from that was, walk away, don't hit the car/truck, it's tougher.

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Reminds me of another one....I was under a car working on the Trans. pan gasket and I raised up and smacked my head on the frame rail. Of course, my head snapped back and I smacked my head on the concrete. Of course, my head snapped back up and hit the frame rail again. Of course, my head snapped back and I smacked my head on the concrete. Of course, my head snapped back up and hit the frame rail again. Of course, my head snapped back and I smacked my head on the concrete. Of course, my head snapped back up and hit the frame rail again. Of course, my head snapped back and I smacked my head on the concrete. Of course, my head snapped back up and hit the frame rail again. You get the idea.:hh:

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That happened to me on my parts truck hood. Found out it was full of Bondo:metal::metal::metal:

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So far on my current build my bone head move was ordering new inner fenders and forgetting to order the retainer clips that hold them in place. Driving all over the place I went to our company body shop up the road and they had clips that were almost identical that worked perfect...

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Working on my 71 Camaro (350/350). I had it jacked up in the sloping driveway with my floorjack. No need for stands, as I am only going to be under it for a few seconds. I was doing something, bumped the shift linkage, nothing happened so no alarm. A second later I hear a creek and the car is on my chest. I couldn't do anything, no breath, no YELLY, I was under it for a few minutes before someone saw me and lifter the car. A few seperated ribs, cracked sternum, and almost dies from air bubbles in the blood (when you compress your chest {decrease the lung's filling with clean air} you build up poison gas in the blood), anyways I now most of the time put jack stands under a car?! I KNOW, I KNOW, but I am hard headed.


BTW Faces of DEATH (seen it??) A dude died under car in a wrecking yard, car fell and the front brake rotor cut his legs (off if I remember right?!) and he bled to death?! So do as I say, not as I do!! Use jack stands!!

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I knew a guy that died from that. He used cinder blocks instead of jack stands. Blocks broke and nobody was around and he died under his car. Moral of the story is don't be lazy and use the proper equipment.

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I have too many to recall but here are three.

We put the engine, clutch and transmission together trying to save time to find that it could not be put in the truck that way since the transmission is a granny low 4 speed.

We were in a hurry to get a newer year bed on my '67 so instead of taking the time to align it properly and bolt it we aligned it and welded the bed to the frame. A few days later I realized I need to replace both cab corners, oops!!

Installing a 3/4 ton cab on a 1/2 ton frame and using the rear 3/4 ton cab bushings, which makes the front fenders alignment impossible.

I am sure given the time I could remember more, though.

Danny

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Ditto! I have had a cinder block break as well as a big wood block tip, whatever you use, be sure it is secure. Sorry about your buddy, I was close to meeting up with him though. My brother too, he changed the starter on my mom's 74 Nova with a muncie 4-speed. Didn't disconnect the batt, arced the + term and drove the car over the ramps and onto his chest like 10-15 years before I did it to myself, I should've learned from his incident as well.

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Not bagging parts. Not buying POR 15

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Assembled my 454 bottom end (the first time) while talking to the neighbor's kid and in a hurry because it was rapidly getting hot as hell in my garage. I had a dyslexic moment and put the piston/rods in the opposite banks (1/3/5/7 on the 2/4/6/8 side). The rod side clearance was just tight enuf with it put together wrong that I had 8 clacking rods when it warmed up. That cost me a set of gaskets and rod bearings, and some time & humility.
Plus it was hotter outside the second time around...:waah:

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I know a guy that died that way too. His wife came home and found him trapped under the car dead in the middle of the driveway.

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Of course I've never done anything like this stuff.
You do believe me, right?
You have to, you're my buds.

Anyhow, I nearly lost a very good friend.
He was going to replace the u-joints on his Dodge motor home.
He set the e-brake, and disconnected the rear u-joint from the differential.
He had forgotten that the e-brake on the Dodge was on the drive shaft.
As soon as he popped the drive shaft from the rear yoke, the motor home started to roll backwards down the driveway. He couldn't get out of the way in time and it rolled over him.
He literally laid in his driveway for a couple hours before a neighbor was curious about "Why is Mike's motor home in the middle of the court?" and walked up to investigate.

So, I say, instead of just being sure you use jack stands, CHOCK THEM WHEELS for God's sake.
It'll only take another 30 seconds, or so.

Rant finished.

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so far the worst ive done is loose my gas cap twice after filling up and after removing my headlight bezels to replace a headlight i moved my truck forgetting i still had one bezel on the ground and i flattened it :( but i bought new ones the next day lol

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Spending too much on an ebay item that aint worth diddly. Live and learn.

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Changing your oil, sliding the full pan of oil to the side of the truck to get it easier, then forgetting to pick it up...makes nice tire marks down the street...

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My greatest bonehead moves is also one of my favorite build memories. I was hammering on the driver side door and baby sitting my 3 year old girl. I had all my tools laid out on the floor and had one eye on her. I was hammering away and then heard hammering sounds coming from the other side. Heidi had picked up a pick hammer and was banging away at the passenger side door. What do you do...you cherish that memory for 25 years!
Weezer67
Dodge City, Kansas

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My first truck back when I was 20, broke & stupid, It was a '67 with a granny gear 4 speed. It had a bad starter solenoid. I had always parked it in a place where I could push start it.
Well this time I forgot the whole push start thing, I had parked it downhill against a curb in a parking lot. I had parked it in first gear (so it wouldn't roll of course) When it came time to leave, I proceeded to turn the key to the run position and jump the solenoid with a screwdriver. YES, it was still in gear... so it jumped forward... I paniced... I pulled the screwdriver off the starter... then as the truck rocked back off the curb and still in gear... it slammed me back against the hood hinge, bruising my left ribs.... then I fell to the ground in pain. Right in front of a business.
How embarrassing...
Yes, I then got up... put it in neutral, started the truck, and drove straight to the parts store that "I WORKED AT" and had a key to. Bought a new solenoid and fixed it that night. Sore ribs and all....

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Years ago when I was young and dumb( now I think I'm old and dumb) I had a 67 with a six was replacing a broken piston with the motor still in the truck. Wanted to check the deck height on the piston so I had my wife bump the motor. Fuel pump shot gas on my arm and the spark from the coil that I had just laid on the fender ignighted it. Lucky I had a long sleeve shirt on so only got minor burns. Could have been a lot worse.

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I have many, but still remember dropping the timing light and poking a hole in the radiator ! Or leaning on a heater hose while changing plugs, ended up fixing heater core too !

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How about buying a GMC headlight harness for my 70 Chevy and burning up the electrical system when the electrical tape fell off on the spare connectors and shorted out... The guy said they were ALL HE SAME!

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years back I was carrying my small block and powerglide with a skid steer loader, hanging from the bucket on a chain, drove down out of the shed, the skid steer tipped forward landing with the bucket in the middle of the transmission...busting the powerglide in half....alot of cussing followed there after

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I started this thread so it serves me right that I have to enter another bone head move. I am just about ready to get my truck on the road after doing a frame off. For one reason or another there was this whining noise. I just figured out that I didn't fill the torque converter with oil. Guess I'll have to start another thread to figure out what is my next step.

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I spent 2 hours Thursday night cleaning up & painting a nice pair of hood hinges for the '72 GMC. I was looking at them hanging there and something didn't look right. The problem was that they were '57 Chevy car hood hinges not pickup. That's what happens when you are working on 2 or 3 different vehicles at the same time.... :(

LockDoc

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Not so long ago I assembled a 327 and put it in the truck and relized I hadn't installed the oil pump drive shaft !! For those of you who may not know you must install it with the oil pump from the bottom or you can't get it in ! I have built a lot of motors this was a Big Bonehead Moment for me!! Bob