Stupidist thing Youve messed up on your truck

[jostrans68]

I am not only a member I am the pres of the Dumb @ss club. Here goes 4 yrs ago I purchased a exhaust system for my 68 project. Installed it it didnt fit as well as hoped but I left it. Well now after getting it on the road you can see that it looks lile hell..... The pipe that goes around the trailing arms and frame were on backward and upside down......moral of the story dont drink the cold ones till after you are done.........Jack Pres of the Dumb @ss club of America,,,,,,,,,LOL

LETS HEAR YOUR SCREW UPS

[Russell]

haha, the entire thing

[R@nger]

Hahaha well I don't think to many people can beat yours..no offense

Well I haven't had my truck very long so I haven't done anything to stupid. However just today I put on a new alt/fan belt and didn't tighten it up enough. I loaded the truck up with branches and started my way to the dump, however when I'd give it some gas it would scream like a bat out of hell...so alllllll the way to the dump and back I felt like an idiot . Needless to say when I got back home I promtly tightened the belt . Tada no squealing.

[truck69]

Have a question for Jostran68 - I see in your post at the bottom you put 4:11 gears in your c-20. How much of a difference did that make in the speed of your truck? I have very low gear and if I get to 55mph the truck is pretty much at the limit for speed. If I go any faster I dont think it could take it. So I am thinking about changing the gears also. Any info would be great.

Truck69 - C20.

[Longhorn Man]

truck69, whats your location? I have an HO52 that should have the 4.10 gears in it.
IN all reality, if you are maxing out at 55, then you may have bigger problems, even with the 4.56 gears, you should be able to flirt with 100 MPH.

As for the Q at hand... I was replacing the alt belt on the old GMC once. It had the long pump set up witht he alt on the passenger side. I loosened up the upper slide bolt, and then the lower pivot bolt. As soon as I did that lower one, the sucker flopped over, shorting out the large post on the back of the alt to the intake manifold.
I don't know what was dummer, letting it happen, or grabbing the wire that was melting and smoking so i could keep it from damaging the rest of the wires. <Friggen YOUCH!>

[Solver]

I can play on this post! Last night I was trying to get the long cable that goes from the heater controller into the heater box freed up. There is a little plastic cover under the dash where the cable goes through. pulled the little cover loose and shot a whole bunch of spray silicone inside the heater box. Cable was still sticking somewhere in there and couldn't find my flashlight soooooooo why not use my trusty bic lighter to look in there. I can tell you the flames shot outta that box a good 3 feet. singed all the hair on one of my arms. Luckily I hadn't got my head down under far enough when she blew!!!! I quit for the night!!!!

[R@nger]

Originally Posted by Solver

I can play on this post! Last night I was trying to get the long cable that goes from the heater controller into the heater box freed up. There is a little plastic cover under the dash where the cable goes through. pulled the little cover loose and shot a whole bunch of spray silicone inside the heater box. Cable was still sticking somewhere in there and couldn't find my flashlight soooooooo why not use my trusty bic lighter to look in there. I can tell you the flames shot outta that box a good 3 feet. singed all the hair on one of my arms. Luckily I hadn't got my head down under far enough when she blew!!!! I quit for the night!!!!

ROFL...oh man thats one time I can truely say that had me rolling on the floor!

I've recently messed with the heater controller so I know how annoying it can be.

[jostrans68]

So far it looks like the gearing is a big difference, truck is more driveable I am also getting ready to put in a 200 r4 overdrive so it will be even better . Yea I know the story is hard to beat but a lesson well learned...if you cant laugh at yourself.................

[dtlilly]

I towed my C-30 all the way from Memphis to Milwaukee on a car dolly. Had the drive shaft unhooked and was in a rush. So I tied a rope to the rear bumper and the other end to a C60 I was parking in front of, and drove the dolly from under the front wheels. The C-30 came off the dolly fine, but rolled in to the front of the C60 and damaged my stepside tailgate beyond any repair

[68C15]

Originally Posted by dtlilly

The C-30 came off the dolly fine, but rolled in to the front of the C60 and damaged my stepside tailgate beyond any repair

I did close to the same thing years ago. I had a '79 Honda CIVIC (please, no flaming) & my friend had a '67 Skylark we were trying to push up this incline into his garage. the brakes were hanging up & the grass was wet. "hey, I have an idea. lets use the Honda & put a tire between the bumpers. then we can use this nylon rope to tie the two together just in case". well....... it was going great until the Buick got up the sloped entrance & the brakes freed up. I stopped in a panic. the behemoth of a convertible didnt. it did stop after smashing his antique woodstove THROUGH the back wall of the garage.

[Scooter67]

While installing a new generator on my '52, I dropped it through the engine bay. It fell on the asphalt underneath and broke the bolt hole bracket cast into the front plate. Not even good for a core anymore!

Did my best to bolt it on with the two remaining holes, and wired the broken end with a coat hangar real tight around the exhaust pipe. Darn thing worked great for many years after that.

[mocwon]

When I was running the brand spankin' new pre-bent brake lines I couldn't get them to line up right. I kept going outside to the old bare frame with the old lines on it and comparing it to what I was doing. I just couldn't make them fit and started to re-bend the lines by hand but then decided not to. I figured somehow I was wrong and In-Line Tube was probably correct in their bending so I just quit for the day. The next day, I came back walked out to the old frame and it hit me like a ton of bricks, the old frame was upside down and the new frame I was working on was right side up. Flipped the old frame right side up and wouldn't you kow it the lines then fit perfectly when installed on the correct side. What a dumb-@ss I can be sometimes.....

[LUV2XCLR8]

On my 67 fleet I used to own, I drag raced it at the local 1/8 mile
track, was trying to come up with budget upgrades to go faster,
first I used IMCA dirt track tires as slicks, worked pretty good, I
was able to go from a 10.27 to a 10.00 flat, stock engine, then
I got greedy, I welded up the spiders, lol, full time pos, worked
well for a year and a half, drove the truck 1 hour to memphis 4
the super chevy show, almost sold it, drove it home, got a call
from a interested buyer, he came over and drove it, when he
came back I asked if he got on it? he said no, I said let's go I
will take ya for a ride, layed squirrelly black marks down all over
the place, then we cut down a side road, I took her up to 120
mph and snap, lost an axle and a wheel, scared the sh!t out of
those 2 kids, had to call a wrecker, and sold the truck a week
later, to someone else, for a $575 loss including wrecker bill.

[modifiedGMC]

When I read the post about the heater box blaze it made me remember when I was 18. I had done some horse trading and got my hands on a 1967 caprice with a 396 BB and 400 turbo tranny. I was going to put the BB in my chevelle so I decided to try and see if it would run. So me and a friend pulled my 77 camaro (that I had only had a couple of months) up to the caprice to jump start it. Connected the cables, he got in the caprice, I poured some gas from a half full half gallon milk jug into the carb. He hit the switch and it cranked! so as it started to run out of gas I decided to pour some more into it to keep it running longer. BAD IDEA! I slightly poured too much and the carb back fired catching the jug and my hand on fire, I then hit the hood with my burning hand/ jug of gas and it splashed all under the hood and I slung the burning jug and it hit right beside my camaro catching the right rear tier on fire. I stuck my hand between my legs to put the flames out, jumped in the camaro jerked it in reverse and floored it which put the tire out (no damage thank goodness) and looked up to see my dad dousing the caprice engine compartment with the garden hose. Melted some wires, washer bottle and other stuff under the hood but at least it didn't blaze up because the caprice was only about 6 feet from the corner of my parents house! Lesson leraned the hard way, only real damage was my left hand was hairless for a while because I only got the car for the engine.

[special-K]

Nothing!..There was the time I was leaving for work in my`71,backed up,cut the wheels,and glanced at the house and noticed I left a light on.Don`t want to waste electric.So,I set the brake.You know the spring on the parking brake?Mine was broke.Don`t worry,you just hold the handle in while you push the pedal down.Did I mention the house was in the middle of a cow pasture?Or,that the truck was facing down a very big,steep hill,idling?Well,about 20`from the truck I hear a sound that closely resembles the sound my parking brake makes when you release it.There goes my truck barreling down the hill,knocked down a calf,ran over it(14.50x37"tires),kept going,jumped off the bank across from a shed,landed,and plowed through the wall where it was stopped(thank God)by a huge stack of dismantled barn lumber.Still idling,about warmed up now,with the front clip in the building,I hopped in and backed it out after locking-in the hubs so I could get one tire going up the bank enough to work it back`n`forth out of there.The only damage to the truck was whitewash marks on the windshield and both steering knuckle were bent at the arms where the tie-rods mount.Of course,I didn`t notice that until i tryed to leave later that day to borrow some stuff to butcher the calf(now veal)and the front-end was pulling right,the left,then right,anything but straight.My landlord was pretty decent about the calf and I just had to jack the building up to put the two posts that my tires hit back up on thrir piers and build a new section of wall,and whitewash.This was over 20 years ago and I never told anybody.So,let`s just keep this one under or hats.Don`t need any s/a comments about running little calves over,or tryin`to knock buildings down,or how much electric a bulb burns,or how much that spring costs,or...you know what I mean.Thanks,I knew you`d understand.

[Long Roof]

When I was about 14 we had an old toyota pickup we used for a yard truck. It was a complete wreck but I thought I was cool because dad let me drive it all over the property. Well it was a four banger 5 speed and the ignition switch was bad so the trick was turn the key on and then pop the hood and jump the silenoid with a screw driver to start. ALWAYS make sure that it is out of gear first.

Well one day it was IN gear when I started it. Lucky me I was standing to the side. It started right up and immediately rolled forward and over a 30' high hill with pretty steep grade. I picked myself up and ran after it to stop it before it hit a tree. Thank god it was in first which slowed it going down the hill. I did get it stopped but I think my heart was racing for a good while afterward.

The other dumb thing I did was forget to check the oil filter flange during an oil / filter change. The old filter gasket was still stuck on the flange when I screwed the new filter on. When I started the truck it pumped oil all over the garage floor. What a mess to clean up.

Aaron

[chief bobber]

so about a zillion years ago I was buying truck down south and running them north for resale and I pick up a 72 LWB 1/2 fleet. Nice truck very solid. After I hitch my 67 Volvo panel to the rear, I head north and start smelling gas fumes, so I pull off and park the truck at a gas station and investigate the situation.
No big deal just some rotted fuel line. Off comes the panel and to the parts store I go. Upon arriveing back I don't see the truck, so I figure someone stole it. I call the local cops and they arrive at "The scene" as they are taking the info, this old guy comes up askin if I'm lookin for a old orange chevy truck. The cops and I take immediate interest. With that, he points across the road at some broken wooden guard rails and my heart sinks. We mossey ovey and there the truck is about twenty feet off the road sitting with mud half way up the doors. It would seem in my hurry I forgot to put it in gear or set the brake and the truck decided it liked the south so it took off on it's own. No major damage except my pride

100 bucks for the guard rails, breakfast for the cops and the old guy, $100 for the wrecker, and more "stupid yankee" comments than any man needs.

[Green Machine]

I've done a lot of stupid things, but my latest was when checking the timing on my 70 the other day, the timing light fell from the radiator support and poked a hole in the radiator. Son of a dammit !!!

[mtdave2]

i was trouble shooting why my truck didnt run one time. i wasnt getting gas to the carb, so i pulled the gas line off and had someone turn it over. no gas. so i ended up changing a tank selector valve.

i just installed the valve, washed my hands because i knew i had fixed it. jumped in the truck and turned it over. after about 2 seconds i remembered the dam fule line was still disconected....about that time.. poooof! fire ball shot right up the window. i grabed the fire exst. and put it out...

dammage? a few wires, and a melted throtle cable.. doh! what a dumb ass

['71k-10]

I had my truck in the garage to replace the rear brake shoes, and when i was finished i was backing out with my driver door open watching as my rear tires rolled over the door storm seal. My door hit the side of the garage and bent it back all the way to the fender. It ruined both my fender and the door. Luckly i was planning to replace all my panels anyway.

[3 on the tree]

I was replacing the rear springs on my 64 Galaxie. Decided to save some time and unbolt both back springs at the same time. Had the axle free of the springs, knocked the rear hanger bolts out, springs slammed down, the axle came down and rotated. It pulled the shaft out of the tranny as it slid backwards down the springs. Did I mention that I was parked at the top of a dead end street??? After chasing the axle bout a block, I grabbed the driveshaft, and it pulled me off my feet, but I hung on. About three layers of skin later, the damn thing finally stopped. I pushed it back up the hill, removed gravel from the front of my body and went back to work.

[Dick Dale]

I had a 68 GMC stepside with the 3 on the floor for a high school truck. I had it up on ramps in my dads backyard to change the starter, I started it up, still on the ramps and heard a sound under neath the truck. I leaned out the door almost upside down, kicked the shifter into gear, and fell under my truck. It came off the ramps, ran my leg over and hit my dads 68 Cutlass. Bad Times.

[TN70C10]

Saw my neighbor jack up his chevy van on a sloped driveway. He was jacking up the rear of the van but hadnt scotched the front. I seen it was about to happen but before I could even react he got the rears tires up and it started rolling. His kid happend to be playing in the driveway and the van run him over. He ended up being ok. He was only 4 years old.
I used to bounce the front end up all the time (high school) and bounced my battery into my fan, bent it and busted the battery and radiator. Sweet.

[Sillyoldman]

I had my truck parked on a hill with my jeep in front of it. I knew the truck was close so I juiced her up to make sure there was no rollback. I let the clutch out. Did I mention it was in reverse? Yup reverse. I was told if you park a manual on a hill leave it in reverse. Nobody bothered to mention first gear makes it go forward. Cost me a inner and outer grille.

[55454]

Pulled the engine out of a truck, didnt cap the fuel line. I then started and I repeat started to cut the rearend off with a torch. My wife said she did not know I could move so fast.

Also: When I was still at home, my father wanted that old junked truck out of the yard, so I got in to steer, no interior of course including door handles with the windows up. My father stood there in shock watching me try to kick the door open not realizing I was being attacked by yellow jackets, it was funny after the swelling went down.