Mistakes I made...That I won't make AGAIN!

[Haines Garage]

I think at the moment we all know mine..

Sir Jon had a great idea..
A thread, what mistakes I made rebuilding my Jeep, that I won't make again!

Don't be shy, lets hear it!

[Deleted]

Ummm...my biggest mistake was buying my first jeep! Haha! Too late now!

Seriously, I don't know what it is....I need to do some serious soul searching...I've made A LOT, but my memory sucks and I've forgotten just about everything.

I'll reference my "blog"...if I did it, I wrote about it, no matter how stupid it was!

Off the top of my head, I did install the transmission synchronizer backwards in a T84 a long time ago. That was my culprit for jumping out of 2nd..

But I'm sure I've done something dumber, give me time...

[Deleted]

 ONE TIME MY DAD & I HAD A M170 HERE THAT WE DID A COMPLETE RESTO ON...ANYHOW CAME TIME TO PAINT BODY ETC..DAD WAS AT WORK THE WEEKEND AND I TOOK ON THE PAINT..

I HAD A HELPER WHO WILL REMAIN NAMELESS FROM HERE ON OUT ..ANYHOW I ASKED HER TO GO GET THE GALLON OF PAINT THINNER I HAD TO MIX UP FOR SHOOTING..SHE DID I DIDNT LOOK

ENDED UP BEING TERPENTINE..DOES NOT MIX WELL WITH AUTOMOBILE PAINT ...   NEEDLESS TO SAY I DIDNT LOOK AND MIXED IT SPRAYED IT WONDERED WHY THE PAINT RAN OFF THE SIDE

ONTO THE FLOOR...   APPRECIATED THE HELP.... BUT MY FAULT DIDNT LOOK SPENT A WHOLE LOT OF TIME GETTTING READY FOR PAINT AGAIN..

[Deleted]

This will be a very long thread. My biggest and most expensive was when I built my MB's engine. Read the manual about the rod offset away from the nearest main bearing. I flipped the engine over upside down, and installed them all backwards. Even plasigauged them. At 105 miles, I suddenly noticed the oil pressure had gone almost away. Went home, pulled the pan, and found piles of rod bearing material under each rod. I found it early enough that all it took was a clean up and new rod bearings, polished the crank, checked the rod size and then back together. Still running strong. This escapade was when my machine shop owner coined the phrase: Education Is Expensive John" # 2 lesson: my Cj3A had a terrible buzz vibration coming from below. Sure sounded like the rear end. I pulled it and re-built the bearings, all of them. No change. I then put new intermediate bearings in the transfercase while in the Jeep. No Change. Eliminated the front end by removing the driveshaft. I now moved on to the transmission which I thought I had done well while building it. As I was almost ready to pull it, a transmission shop owner who knew what I was going through and had ridden and heard the noise, looked at me and said "Oh No'. What I said. He was looking at the rear driveshaft that had never been taken apart at the splines by me. The cap with the little bent tabs looked untouched. The u-joints were all in line. He said it's clocked wrong. I showed him how all joints were in the same plane. He said yes, but the ends of the shaft itself are not. Believe it or not, there are two very small arrows that are supposed to be aligned across the slider part. They weren't. In about 15 minutes, over at the workbench, the problem was solved. # 3 lesson. Do Not take your Harrison heater blower motor apart. You can oil it, and drill a small hole to oil the blind end, but the brushes are at the blind end with no way to hold them apart so you can re-assemble. You also will most likely pull the brass round bushing out of the spring steel riveted-on fingers. If it runs, oil it and live with it. There are many more, but sharing all these little tips with each other will save us all from making them again. No Turpentine, I got it. Next, John

[Deleted]

WOW, this will be a very long thread, myself I could write a book. The driveshaft out of phase, I had the exact same problem, po must have done a joint at one time and got it 90 deg. off on the splines, had everything apart to find no problems, lots of frustration . Painting would be volume 2, or my second book, LOL.

Lee

[athawk11]

Okay, here is one of many...

Thread sealer. In my case, the lack of thread sealer.

I was sure that I could seal all the fluid cases and have a leak free Willys. I worked very hard at it. Then, all the leaks started. I learned the hard way that many threaded attaching points penetrate these fluids cases. I just didn't know any better.

Now, I use thread sealant whether I need it, or not.

Tim

[Deleted]

installed 3 out of the 4 new bearings in my pto, got the shaft for the output on put the gear on, put the chain back on, put the darn popetball back in after many attempts and being hit in the face by it several times as it shot out. get it all ready for its clear coat and look down to see a spacer washer sitting in my parts pile. after 35 minutes of wacking the output shaft with a small hammer and drift to try and separate it i remembered i pressed it out. 10 minutes later the spacer was installed. tomorrow mom is going to work and i am baking the other case end to get the bearing out. hopefully i wake up early enough to finish before she gets home.

[rudycon]

Welding with hydrogen chloride as a shielding gas:

I think it was shock towers on my 4runner or something. Dope-de-doe. Clean metal = clean welds! Little bit of brake cleaner...weld away with the mig using "gold gas." argon makes such a great shield... Little more brake cleaner, ope. This green can is empty. Ah, there's another red can right over there. don't read the label, it is just brake cleaner, right? Spray this down, looks clean...weld away. "Hey? what is that funny white smoke coming from my arc? Never saw that bef----" One whiff of it and I am in trouble.
Welder down, helmet off, out in the backyard, coughing. Running the garden hose in my mouth and wondering if I'll pass out.

2nd can of brake cleaner was the good stuff. chlorinated and with tetrachloroethylene. All by myself in my garage, I decomposed the brakecleaner into hydrogen chloride and probably phosgene gas. yep almost killed myself there. Got online and figured out what I had done and how seriously close I was to permanent damage/death.

What I did wrong: Didn't read the label.
What I did right: Noticed something was different, then got out of the dangerous environment without any hesitation at all.

Even a home garage has plenty of hazzards. The fast way is probably not the safe way.

[Deleted]

Was cleaning my pto case. I use acetone was in the basement and I don't have a parts washer so I use a bucket. Well it's to big for my bucket but I have a throw away polystyrene cooler. Drop the acetoned case in it pour in some more fluid. Start scrubbing and feel my face and lungs burning. Wtf is going on. Pick up the case see the cooler melting. Realized what I did and threw it in the trash. Bought a used sink off Craigslist that night for a new parts washing tub.

[Haines Garage]

WOW!!!! And I thought I made a Big Boo Boo. Rudy and Sir Shims...Thanks for sharing. Stuff like that is very important. I guess we all like to think that we "Know It All" NOBODY DOES...Think of a story you might tell that maybe the next guy didn't think of. Maybe you save a life!! That is why I love these forums...EXPERIENCE IS WHAT COUNTS!!! I love learning from you all.

[Deleted]

I got one that is off Jeep topic, but is a good one. I built a '46 Chevy pickup semi street rod. Dual tanks, electric changeover , 327, Nova rear end, on and on. I was having problems with the quadrajet carburetor. I cleaned it and it ran perfect. Then it messed up again. I did not disconnect the battery. Bad mistake. Always disconnect the battery when working in the engine bay or near fuel and electrics. My barber asked if I'd been in a fire after you read this story. So, I decided to clean it again right after I went for the test drive. While removing the carb, I disconnected the metal inlet fuel line and it arced on the rear of the alternator. I had gas coming out of the fuel line. It ignited. I now had a flowing pressure fuel fed fire on top of my engine, IN MY GARAGE!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy bucket boys, was this not good. So, if you do not have a 10 pound fire extinguisher by each door of your shop, do not work on anything until you go buy them! Seriously! I put the fire out 3 times. I then reached back to the fuel line and had to screw it back into the carburetor to stop the fuel flow. That took some guts. Fire is hot you know! Anyway, I found the problem. My fuel cap let air in, but not out. It overpressured the tank and pressure fed the carburetor at a rate the primary seat could not hold. Make sure your toys have the right cap for the fuel venting system. Luckily I didn't lose my garage and all the other cars in there. I did have to repaint my trucks hood! John

[Ryan_M]

A couple years ago I tried hammering, prying, and grinding the steel cup that holds that rubber transfer case donut mount thinking it was just rusted on. Got about half-way through before I realized that cup is actually welded to the crossmember and shouldn't be removed. Hammered it back into shape (sort of) and installed the new rubber mount. Good thing it's on the underside of the jeep.....

[Haines Garage]

HOLY SHIZNIT ...Sir John! That is one heck of a story! You are right about the fire extinguishers!
I am loving this thread!

Heres a fire one...
when I first was taking apart Grandpas Jeep, I was removing the fuel lines. I looked into the tank and saw no gas. We saw that they were rotted, and needed to be replaced, so just cut and threw them away...
Went to bed.
In the morning, I opened the door to my Garage, with my coffee in hand, grabbed a Marlboro....
I smelled gas..
Before I lit up, I flipped the light on and found my floor SOAKED with gasoline...Seemed they tank was not empty!
It had leaked out of what I thought was an empty tank..At least 2 gallons!
THANK GOD I DID NOT FLICK MY BIC!

[Deleted]

More: do not jack the front of your vehicle up and put on jack stands, remove the front wheels and start messing around near the starter. Disconnect the battery boys!!!!!! If you happen to short the starter terminal while under the car that is in gear, it walks off the stands and kills you! If you are lazy like me and don't want to take the time to disconnect, buy the cheap battery disconnects that have the green turn knob. You in nanno-seconds turn it and off it goes! More: do not grind steel or metal near a battery. I was grinding on a spring post that held a kick stand return spring on one of my motorcycles. Clear down on the bottom of the bike. BOOM!!!! I stood up and wondered what was that noise? The battery vent tube was right next to where I was grinding. Water started dripping down on the cement. I realized it was battery acid and ran for the garden hose and flooded everything. I blew the whole side out of the battery. More: wearing your wedding ring near a hot power post is not recommended. Guess what, disconnect the battery! I was changing oil on my Austin Healey 3000. It has a cartridge type oil filter mounted just ahead of the starter solenoid. I screwed out the center bolt and pulled the steel cover rearwards with my ring contacting the bolt. When it all contacted the hot post, a large spark occurred and for the first time in my life I saw Gold glowing red on my finger. You turn it very fast and say words that come to mind like: You Dumb Shizpotz! I could write a book on the trials and tribulations of owning and driving old cars and motorcycles. Many chapters about how they trained me. The dos and don'ts of the collector world. How not to make your wife happy. Never buy one of these because. If you buy one, expect this to happen. Never travel with a friend that owns one of these. Crap, I got 30 years of this in my head. I sure did have fun though. John

[Haines Garage]

Sir John Of The Black Hills...You are killing me....
I am glad you are still here my friend!

[Haines Garage]

This is a good one as well...
It needs to be added to.

[Deleted]

Ohhhhh....I never read the bit about the wedding ring! Wow!!

[Deleted]

Physical and financial pain are excellent educators. Get in a routine in your shop or garage that works. Put away tools where they are safe and sound. For instance, if you have a floor jack. Store this with the handle facing away from nice cars or objects that could get damaged when the handle cams over and falls. I left mine between my fiberglass garage door and car one time. Forgot about it. Pushed the car back to get some room and bang! The handle cammed over and fell on the fiberglass door punching a hole through the lower panel. All the colorful words in the world would not fix it either. Ever try and find one door panel that matches a 10 year old door?

[Deleted]

I have a few oops - actually too many to mention.
1. Most expensive - deciding to "restore" my new to me Willys before I had time to properly evaluate it. When you do restore it have a written game plan from the start. I have owned the Willys about 15 years now and have driven it a total of about 25 miles. Hopefully this summer it will be finished or at least road worth.

2. Most painful - battery in my 65 Mustang is in the trunk. While replacing it I managed to weld the wrench to my ring when it ground to the 6x9 speaker above it. Ring was bright red and stuck on there good. 15+ years ago and I still have a nice scar.

3. Most embarrassing - No matter how much your friends and family encourage you (with a little liquid courage added) a Top Fuel John Force style burnout leaving your wedding in your restored 65 Mustang is not a good idea. First ass chewing as a married man came before the drive shaft was finished beating the hell out of the floor boards, brake lines, fuel lines and exhaust. Who would have thought side stepping the clutch at 6,000 RPM on a freshly paved parking lot could go so wrong? Instead of enjoying my wedding night with my smokin hot wife I laid there worrying about my idiot drunk brother, cousins and friends winching my car that I spent years restoring (first car and still have it) up onto my trailer without me there. Luckily they only put one small scratch in the front valance - that I never have fixed as a memory to that night.
Last page in our wedding album is my friend since 4th grade holding the driveshaft in one hand and his other arm around my shoulders - still in his tux but now covered in dirt and grease from laying under the car. Lol

[Haines Garage]

Carsandguns!

Funny Funny Stuff!!!
I read it twice!!
That is too much!!

I gotta see the wedding photo!!

Your making this stuff up!!!
Holy Crap!!!

[Deleted]

Sent you a couple pics on Facebook since I am technically challenged.

[Haines Garage]

Dec 2, 2014 21:26:02 GMT -5 @carsandguns said:

Sent you a couple pics on Facebook since I am technically challenged.

And These!!!!
Too funny!!!

[Deleted]

TOO FUNNY!!

[Deleted]

I look at that picture 13+ years and 2 more kids later and I think damn I was worried about them scratching my car on my wedding night!! Forget that damn POS broken Ford! Oh for my wife - I mean for us to us to be young again. Lol