[CSpace]

So, I'm installing a stock exhaust manifold on the drivers side of my class A motorhome. (I know, headers as soon as I have the cash.) All scrunched up in the wheel well with a ratchet, a long extension, a shorter extension and a 9/16 socket.
Doing OK. Then, I moved, the shorter extension and the socket fall off.....right down into the exhaust pipe. Clunk, rattle, roll. (It does help to be a contortionist to work on engines in the vehicle - I am not,)

At first I wasn't sure. I wiggled the pipe - nothing. So I searched everywhere else for a half hour. I figure, if it's in there, and I bounce this pipe up and down real good, I'll hear it. So I did...and I heard it all right -roll way down the pipe.

Mind you, this is twelve feet of pipe with 2 rusty hangers between the manifold and the muffler.

I laughed. It was just such bad luck I could hardly believe it. So now I get the fine job of dis-assembling this monster of a pipe, just to dump out my socket and extension.

The good news is that the manifold is secured on now. A cross thread forced me to make one of the holes in the head a 7/16 stud. I actually drilled, by hand, with a drill bit and a pair of vise grips, with the head on the engine - there was NO WAY I was tearing it all up again. A 7/16 tap and stud later and I was on my way again, but already frustrated. Then on the last bolt, the socket thing....

Chris

 

[CSpace]

Anyone else have any dumb-luck stories that caused undue stress and frustration? Somehow, it might make me feel better.

 

[Cambi]

A friend and myself were adjusting the valve lash on my daily driver, a 1995 Honda Civic. Afterwards while driving around we heard a loud ticking noise from the engine bay. After much investigation, we tried to re-do the valve adjustment. It was then that we found that the adjustment screws had broken. They snapped because we set the lash 180 degrees off. It was already very late at night at this point. Luckily, we happened to have a spare motor, and since Honda's are built like legos, we popped the whole valvetrain out of the spare motor and dropped it on to my motor. Yes, you can unbolt the whole valvetrain. But, due to the slightly different parts motor, it took quite a while to hunt down the correct cam gear in our pile of parts and get it timed right. Finally, as the sun was rising, we fired the car up and bought iced teas at Walgreens to celebrate.

 

[95lightiningguy]

I was putting the rebuilt C-6 in my 73 Torino wagon and was almost done, mind you it was december and 71*F and I'm outside in the driveway. Well didnt get tranny lined up right and was in a hurry and tried pullin tranny up to block with bolts and you proly guessed what I did. Yep broke an ear off the tranny. After sayin every cuss word I know I pulled it out and realized it was 6 pm on friday and there is not a welding shop open anywhere around here until monday, meanwhile a front moves through and it gets down to the high 30's. I finally get to put the tranny in, in the driveway, with it snowing the following week. Needless to say I will never try to force a transmission into place again, too much of a headache.

 

[old-n-sloow]

Not auto related, but here ya go. Working as a carpenter on a crew of thieves, so I carried a can of blue spray paint to mark new tools. One day I tossed my hammer into my toolbox from about 5 feet back. The claw of the hammer poked a tiny hole in the bottom of the can of spray paint, and flipped it out of the tool box, so now I have a can of blue paint spraying away, rolling along the side of a very nice house painting a row of lower case "e" as it moves along. I ran up to the can, getting painted blue as I approached, and caught it just before it made it into the open garage. I took 3 gallons of laquer thinner and 2 hours of cleaning to undo the damage of 10 seconds of spray painting caused, and the blue tint stayed in my hair until I got it cut out...

 

[mysticowner]

A few years ago we built up a 460 for our jet boat. Had a machine shop check the rods and press on the new pistons. Finished up the motor and took it to the lake to break in the cam. Ran it half hour, changed the oil then took it out for a run.

It ran about 45 minutes but seemed like it was having a problem seating it's rings. Boy was it, a wrist pin came out and cut the bore about 1/8 inch deep.

Well the machinest said he'd make it right. I had another spare 460 waiting in the wings for rebuild. He bored it 30 over, cooked it decked it, got it ready to build. We only used the block from that engine.

I got a new set of forged pistons and H beam rods. We benched everything doing the clearances and all looked well. The cam was just a tad snug but was very turnable by hand. He said it would be fine. I expressed my doubts.

Put it together and off to break in the cam. Yea, it ran about 5 minutes before it sheared the cam dowl.

Pulled it out again... Turned out "3 cam journel was a touch egg shaped and snug side to side.

He fixed the block, cleaned etc....

Built the motor and put it back in for the 3rd and final time.

See, you just THOUGHT you had a bad day

When things look bad, rejoice in knowing someone somewhere is having a heck
of a lot worse time than you are.

 

[js460]

WELL,BEING A MECHANIC FOR 30 YEARS I GOT STORIES THAT MAKE YOURS SOUND LIKE A WALK IN THE PARK.NOW I OWN MY OWN BUSINESS AND IT JUST GETS WORSE.HERE IS MY LATEST.CUSTOMER BROUGHT IN 03 MITSUBISHI GT 3.0 FOR 60,000 MAINTENANCE TIMING BELT PLUGS WIRES ECT.ON THE 3.0 YOU HAVE TO REMOVE THE UPPER PLENUM IN ORDER TO REMOVE PLUGS I GET IT BACK TOGETHER START ENGINE AND RATTLE RATTLE RATTLE HMMM I'VE HEARD THAT SOUND BEFORE SOMETHINGS ON TOP OF ONE OF THE PISTONS MUST BE CARBON (AS I DID NOT HAVE ANY EXTRA OR MISSING BOLTS AND NUTS) I'LL JUST REV IT A LITTLE AND MAKE IT SPIT IT OUT THE EXHAUST VALVES (4 PER CYLINDER) IT REALLY GETS LOUD NOW AND DROPS A CYLINDER.FOUND MISSING CYLINDER PUT BORE SCOPE DOWN CYLINDER TOP OF PISTON LOOKS LIKE A CHEBBY HOOD THATS BEEN IN A HAIL STORM PUT REVERSE MIRROR ON BORE SCOPE TO LOOK AT VALVES,VALVES LOOK OK BUT CHAMBER LOOKS A BIT CHEWED UP PRESSURE UP CYLINDER WITH ROCKERS ON HEEL OF CAM AIR RUSHES OUT THOTTLE BODY REMOVE INTAKE AND PUT GRINDING COMPOUND ON SMALL PAINT BRUSH TO GET COMPOUND ON VAVLE FACE LAP TILL I,M BLUE IN THE FACE.PRESSURE CHECKS GOOD PUT IT BACK TOGATHER THE MISS IS GONE NOW BUT THERE"S A DISTINCED NOISE AFTER MULLING IT OVER WITH A COUPLE OF TECHS DECIDE IT"S THE PISTON.AFTER A CYLINDER HEAD NEW PISTON WITH RINGS 2500 BUCKS AND 50 HOURS OF TIME ALL IS WELL.AFTER READING THIS YOU SHOULD FEEL REFRESHED.