Dumb Thing I do

[rick1954]

I know this isn't about my Trojan but I have to share this with you.

OK every one I am going to give you something to get an ”Oh my god I am glad that isn’t me” out of you.

Last year I decided to build a home around 26 miles from my business. Having my GMC diesel and the price of fuel, I got my hands on a Ford Conture that is, (well was getting) 28 miles to the gal. Well this engin is the 2 Liter TOC VCT . VCT stands for variable cam timing, this did away with the EGR valve.
The engin was a little tired but ran good, the other day on the way home it started to run a little rough, so after it cooled down I removed the valve cover to see if it had jumped time. That is what had happened, so I removed the plugs, rotated the engin to TDC locked the intake cam in place and loosened the exhaust cam so I could rotate it back to the notch and lock it down. Once you do that you need to rotate the engin two times to make sure that the notches in the cam line up. To make this easier, I removed the spark plugs ( can you guess where I am going with this) . After turning the engin over two times every thing looked well so I started putting the valve cover on. The last bolt to tighten the socket fell off the wrench and went right down in the number two cylinder thru the spark plug hole.
Hey, I didn’t even have a beer yet, I was able to muster up a few new words to add to my collection, shook it off and tried to remove the socket from inside, nothing works so I am going to replace the motor with a new one.
I have done some dumb things in my life but this one tops them all, so please have a good one me so it wont be wasted.

[Safari]

That is so Funny!!!!!! Reminds me of the time I was winterizing my old wooden Chris - I decided (following some instructions I read somewhere) to spray fogging fluid into each cylinder through the spark plug holes. I was wedged between the hull and the engine spraying away when the tube came off the can and blew right into the cylinder. I spent at least 8 hours wedged in there with a dental pick trying to retrieve the tube - I invented a whole new language..........

[Stripermann2]

Rick, can't you get it out with a magnet? Perhaps magnitizing a piece of wire and fishing it down into the cylinder will retreive it...

[RWS]

Rick,

there are a number of really nice retreiving magnets on the market, including those with flexible pickups.


Or you could just turn the whole car upside down and shake it !!!!

RWS

[rick1954]

I knew you guys would get a kick out of this. I tried the mag, I like RWS idea best LOL. I think it best to replace the motor anyway, Oh I will get my socket back.

[TADTOOMUCH]

That reminds me of the time I was in a high rise building in Chicago getting into the elevator when I dropped my fist full of keys which in no way should have fit between the elevator and the shaft but they all got together and arranged themselves on the way to the ground in a way that allowed them to slip between that 3/8ths of an inch crack and go all the way down 26 floors to the bottom of the shaft. Had to wait until the Otis elevator man could come on site and fish them out. Didn't cost me a thing but the hotel was probably pissed. That usually costs at least as much as a tow by Tow Boat U.S.

[wowzer52]

I used to be into sandrails and one day I was out in the dunes running the dog snot out of my very expensive custom built high performance VW motor when all of a sudden I heard one cylinder start banging away. when I looked it over I found one of the inside airfilter nuts was gone so I towed it back to camp and with a flashlight looking into the sparkplug holes I could see the little nut laying on top of one of the pistons. It was too small to do any real damage but it made a heck of a noise, so I spent the whole next day in camp pulling the head off, I removed the nut and was tickled to death when I finally got it all back together again. I was so happy because I did the whole project in camp, by myself, in only a day and a half total. As I was standing there looking at the nut and at the motor ready to go for a ride a guy came up and ask me "how did you get it out, with a magnet?"

[rick1954]

Yep we do dumb things
The new motor is in, with no sockets within.

[David Kane]

OK, I'll a dd my story. I am redoing the exterior wood (stripping, refinishing w/Sikkens Natural Teak) a few pieces at a time. Yesterday I was walking down the dock with a bundle of pieces in my hand when one from in the middle of the bundle slipped out the back of the bundle. I heard it hit a wood plank on the dock, then,...you guessed it..., I heard a ploop as it hit the water. It went right in between 2 planks, down through the crack & into the water under the dock. This is a floating dock w/ cylindrical hollow tubes for floatation. No way to get at it from the sides. I spent the next 2 hours trying to figure out a way to get that little piece back out through the crack. Tried the end of a fishing pole w/line, wrapping the line around the stick & pulling it up. That didn't work. Tried taking off a plank, but the bolt heads were Truex & neither myself nor a beefcake that came along could budge them. Another boater came along to help me. He had a retractible tape measure-wanted to get it on the end finger of the tape, but that didn't work. I made a loop with the tape & was able to get the loop unde the piece, but the piece wouldn't balance on the loop & kept sliding off. Got a 2nd tape measure to cradle it at both ends, but the 2nd tape measure was wider and kept wanting to twist & jam in the crack. Finally, I cut the line off my canoe (clothesline) & looping down & under the trim piece. With Jim, the other boater, cradling the one end with his tape measure and me cradling the other end with my clothline, and with all the delicacy of 2 brain surgeons, we slowly lifted the piece up. It turned itself sideways & slipped back up through the crack!!!

During the ordeal, a squall came through, soaking me to the bone. Had to reatreat to the boat & wait it out as water getting onto my glasses prevented me from seeing anything in the darkness below the crack.

Boy, did it ever hold on to that piece of trim & went straightaway to the boat and screwedit on!!!

[mr elevman]

were all victums of misshaps last year my sprinkler well stoped working lost psi so i dig up the well head i unbolt the flange (2" well) i start to pull up the down pipe witch was pvc not good but i get it out in one pice were good sofar i had some 1.5 inch polly and anought in length so i use it it worked great for about 40 minn then the polly colapsed in on it self ok so i repeat the removal prosses the top fitting to the well head had expanded anp pulled off of the head and droped down the 2" cassing i had to keep my cool my 5 year old son was my helper the polly had dropped about 2 feet down so now the mind is working what i came up with is this a .75 inch black pipe 3 inch long cut down the middle drilled bolth pices in the middel cut a spreader linkto attatch on the holes used 10d nails sa hinge pins used traction tape on the outside of the pipe drilled two more holes at the top s of bolth halfs tyed string to one hole on the top and .25 cable to the other hole on the top of the pipe now when lowerring the pipe extractor the half that has the cable on it is half the length lower then the one with the string i lowered it in to the polly then pulled up on the cable causing the pipe extractor to expand and grab the polly from the inside and it took a few tryes but it did work 1 5/8 x 65'ss thin wall pipe is now down the hole i now have a fire hose when i turned on the sprinklers i blew 9 out of 22 heads i have the max gph nozels and added 6 more heads for better coverage i will try to post a pic of my evil minds creashion

[mr elevman]

[rossjo]

I hate to get started, because I've had so many stupid things happen ..

On the carb thing - a bunch of us made a convertible out of a 1968(?) Buick Wildcat in high school. Well, we just torched the top off and went for a ride. The big block 455 engine sounded decent, until we dropped a bolt right down the Q-jet! What the heck - $150 junker kept running for weeks!

I spent an entire Saturday fishing a broken piece of retaining clip out of the differential on my Vette (the frame mounts to it, so you can't just remove it). My wife finally got it (saving me a stroke I'm sure) with - you got it - a small magnet!

I have 2 Leatherman tools - a Blue and an Orange Juice. I rotate between the 2, because they fall out of my pockets when I'm checking the shaft seals, and then sit underneath the Genny for a month or two (stainless with a little diesel in the bilge water - and they last). Somehow, I've never lost both down there at once (oops ....).

Too many stories - better go to bed ....

[mr elevman]

you are right too many tales of opps hopefully we learn from them for the next opps

[rick1954]

Remember, “ If it can happen, it will”