Dumb stuff I wish I had NOT done

[Ulu]

I dropped a tiny screw while working on my mom’s engine. I Never found it . . . but I was working over a very rough floor and it would’ve been difficult to spot (though I did look for it, Unsuccessfully.) Anyhow, I had spares And I was in a hurry.

BIG mistake!

I was very fortunate that when my mom’s ignition system shorted out, from that screw bouncing around in her distributor, and it burned the primary ignition wire all the way back to the key switch, she was only about 5 miles from home. I hot-wired it (with a wire that fortunately remained cold) so we could drive home.

I re-wired it the next day. I took forever to strip down the wiring loom up behind the dash and put in new wires. A serious PITA.

Oh, but that’s not the only thing, or the dumbest thing, and I am certain to remember something worse.

 

[Ulu]

This was a big mistake when I bought it, and another one when I sold it. “Eddie”, the 1959 Edsel Ranger coupe.

I really didn’t have enough money at the time, I already had five cars a pick up truck and a motorcycle. I borrowed $700 from an engineer at work to buy this, and It wasn’t running, It had a big hole in the block with a connecting rod sticking out of it.

But I happened to have an engine for it. I was out in the garage busily putting this car together, while my first wife was making plans to divorce me. Fortunately I got it running and back on the road first.

I drove this car every day for about three years, and in the process I changed the engine twice and the transmission three times. This car was heavy and the engine had so much torque that it routinely ripped the first gears apart in the transmission.

Ford should have put the stronger Lincoln style transmission in it. This was a respected hot rod modification of the Ford camp, but by that time they had quit making Lincolns with manual transmissions.

I sold it in 2000. I didn’t ask nearly enough money for it, but I was moving and I was in “a situation.”

I spent a lot of time working on this car. Selling it was a mistake that I have not recovered from 23 years later.

This car had an in-line six and three speed with overdrive, and it got very good gas mileage for a vehicle of that era.

The frame and suspension under this car was heavier than any modern half ton pick up truck.

Big mistake.

 

[Kevin B]

At age eighteen I moved from Florida to Kentucky in 1976 and had never seen freezing weather. Procrastinated on putting antifreeze in a 327 Chevy race motor I had $600 of machine work done on. Fast, early freeze came in November, the block froze and both sides of the block split. I still mourn that one.

 

[Ulu]

The Edsel was a strange car. In 1990, people were trying to buy my ‘59, and eventually one did.

This is a replica of a ‘58 Hardtop Corsair. Mine was a coupe with a post.

 

[Son of Kradus]

The dumbest thing I ever did was ....When I was into weights and stuff yrs ago I was cleaning my blender, theres a build up of gunk underneath and between the blade and its mount, for some stupid reason I held the blade and held it loosley over the chuck and over rode the safety and started it,
ZING BanG, the blade flew out and I almost lost the end of my finger!, Deep cuts to index, middle and thumb....got a couple days off work though....still!!!
some 30 yrs later I still dont know why I did this and I still cringe at the thought!