Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: omegod on 10 February 2011, 19:04:37
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I was talking to a mate about stupid balls up's etc we have made when doing jobs on cars and I wondered what others may be honest enough to cough to...I'll start the confessions:
Taking a chance with a knackered ball joint splitter when doing the steering idler.....flew off, hit me right on the fod, knocking me clean out for a minute or two! came round to the neighbours staring at me :-[
Bleeding the brakes on an old merc and couldn't get the bleed tube into the jar so stuck some bits n bobs under the jar to raise it up, including a week old mobile phone which didn't appreciate being doused in brake fluid and never worked again!!
Misreading the EML flash code on the Mig and needlessly changing both 02 sensors when it was just the engine being off ;D I blame the missus for that one TBH as she was counting the flashes...
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I recall JayW playing with a chain tensioner when we were swapping heads once... ...powerful little tinkers :-X
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Hmmm, and wheel falling off 'that bloody elite'. Oppsie daisy.
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And cocking up an oil change on Ronald McBurgers car at first cambelt meets, resulting in lots of oil over Mark DTM's recently laid new driveway ::)
(In my defence, the cheap nasty filter than McBurger brought was faulty)
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And cocking up an oil change on Ronald McBurgers car at first cambelt meets, resulting in lots of oil over Mark DTM's recently laid new driveway ::)
(In my defence, the cheap nasty filter than McBurger brought was faulty)
Hmmm, same day saw MDTM saw through JohnM's washer bottle accidentally ;D
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Put alloy wheels on my ex partners car using a jack and the cars wheel wrench. Took ages as the wheel nuts were almost welded on. Took about 2 hours of faffing about getting them changed to then find out the rotation of the tires were pointing in the wrong direction ::)
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No, I've said enough... ...'what happens on tour etc' ;)
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only thing i did was drop a bolt into an engine bay of my mates skyline r34, took about half an hour of searching and i managed to locate it and retrieve it, and strangely enough, about an hour ago he himself has managed to drop a fuel injector O-ring into his engine bay, and its nowhere to be seen, and he cant seem to find a replacement in the right size!!
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Not myself, but know of a supposed mechanic who managed to balls up a battery change on a Fiesta :o :o
To be fair, he made a simple mistake as there was a black lead that had to be connected to the +ve terminal... Stupid design but even so :-X :-X ::) ::)
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Did an oil change on the estate and thought.... 'ah while that's draining out i'll pop the plastic cover off and check the leak off pipes.....'
Needless to say one of the fixings bounced along the cam cover straight into the oil filler!
Magnets are wonderful things!
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Put the leads back on one bank of the v6 the wrong way and cooked the cat, :-[ it was glowing cherry red
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I have a front wishbone bolt somewhere in my front subframe, it fell into it
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'Helped' my old man do an oil change on the family car when I was about 13. There was a pit in the garage so access to the sump plug was a cinch. :)
Was a bit surprised how little oil came out though...
Old man was driving the whole family somewhere later in the day when a strange whining noise started emanating from the engine bay.
Unfortunately I'd drained out all the gearbox oil. :-[;D
I remember thinking that it didn't seem to need much fresh engine oil to refill... ::)
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a few ....
fitting a cambelt at about 11:30 at night when I was tired and not checking for any stray bits of plastic etc. Something somehow got in and caused the cambelt to jump 3 notches forward :'( :'( :'(
Forgetting to change a water pump at the same time as doing the 40K mile belt/pulley change :'( :'( :'(
Welding up a cavalier wheel arch, without noticing that the fuel pipe was on the other side :o :o :o
Ken
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I have a front wishbone bolt somewhere in my front subframe, it fell into it
You & quite a few others I reckon! ;D ;D ;D ;)
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Not myself, but know of a supposed mechanic who managed to balls up a battery change on a Fiesta :o :o
To be fair, he made a simple mistake as there was a black lead that had to be connected to the +ve terminal... Stupid design but even so :-X :-X ::) ::)
I've done something similar, shower of sparks and buggered alternator on my old mini :-[
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I have a front wishbone bolt somewhere in my front subframe, it fell into it
You & quite a few others I reckon! ;D ;D ;D ;)
They aint small tho! :o
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Was just building the engine for the Westfield. Rebored with new pistons, rings, bearings, ARP rod bolts, lightened flywheel, you name it. Was going really well until it came to setting the cam timing with it all back in the engine prior to the lovely moment when it roars into life.
Got a dial test indicator on one of the cam followers to accurately time it up. Bolt falls off the adjuster on the DTI straight into one of the spark plug holes. >:(
Spent about an hour fishing around with magnets, grabbers, etc and eventually got it out without stripping it again but it did make me say "bother".
Not as bad as someone else I know who rebuilt a bike engine, which subsequently ran really well... for about a mile and a half before seizing solid. Had it had an oil pressure light he might have remembered to fill it. :-X
Kevin
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Was just building the engine for the Westfield. Rebored with new pistons, rings, bearings, ARP rod bolts, lightened flywheel, you name it. Was going really well until it came to setting the cam timing with it all back in the engine prior to the lovely moment when it roars into life.
Got a dial test indicator on one of the cam followers to accurately time it up. Bolt falls off the adjuster on the DTI straight into one of the spark plug holes. >:(
Spent about an hour fishing around with magnets, grabbers, etc and eventually got it out without stripping it again but it did make me say "bother".
Not as bad as someone else I know who rebuilt a bike engine, which subsequently ran really well... for about a mile and a half before seizing solid. Had it had an oil pressure light he might have remembered to fill it. :-X
Kevin
Years ago my mate was a trainee mechanic in a Daewoo Garage, in that time he managed to over tighten a BMW alloy sump and split it, raise a Daewoo 4x4 so high up on a 4 post ramp that it creased the roof and serviced a 2 year old car and went on a road test without any oil the sump.
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Oh yeah, about 10 years ago I worked for a skoda garage and I was pulling into the yard in a brand new Fabia demo with about 50 miles on the clock. I hit the n/s rear arch on the gate and scuffed it quite badly. It had a large skim of filler on it a bit of paint and was sold to the local Vicar!
Am I going to hell for knowing about this or are the garage?
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A couple of years ago I was having problems with Mig cooling system, wanted to change the fan switch. I came home after a longish drive and decided to find the correct size spanner, so that I could change the switch when the engine cooled. Found the spanner, and then decided to loosen the switch a bit so I could just unscrew it by hand once everything had cooled.
Tugged on the spanner which slipped, hit the pipe into the rad just under it and sheared it clean off.
Result - very scalded arms from being drenched in very hot coolant.
Hence Pinkys thread in genchat a week or so ago"which members ,limbs are these ?".
Yes folks - those limbs were mine. :-[ ::) ;D
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1295910558
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Was just building the engine for the Westfield. Rebored with new pistons, rings, bearings, ARP rod bolts, lightened flywheel, you name it. Was going really well until it came to setting the cam timing with it all back in the engine prior to the lovely moment when it roars into life.
Got a dial test indicator on one of the cam followers to accurately time it up. Bolt falls off the adjuster on the DTI straight into one of the spark plug holes. >:(
Spent about an hour fishing around with magnets, grabbers, etc and eventually got it out without stripping it again but it did make me say "bother".
Not as bad as someone else I know who rebuilt a bike engine, which subsequently ran really well... for about a mile and a half before seizing solid. Had it had an oil pressure light he might have remembered to fill it. :-X
Kevin
Years ago my mate was a trainee mechanic in a Daewoo Garage, in that time he managed to over tighten a BMW alloy sump and split it, raise a Daewoo 4x4 so high up on a 4 post ramp that it creased the roof and serviced a 2 year old car and went on a road test without any oil the sump.
Guess he didn't stay there long ::) ::)
My mate and I nearly had a similar experience with a Renault Traffic Camper Van... That was because he was servicing it on the MOT ramp and I was rushing him to get then ext MOT in :-[
My confession... Worst was probably cracking a Mondeo Sump with a trolley jack when doing a cambelt :-[ :-[ That was for the second time as the first time the timing was slightly out... That's the trouble with being overworked and having to do breakdowns as well :-[ ::)
Also did a H/G on a Isuzu engined Corsa... Had an argument with the RAC man who's daughter owned it because he insisted we fitted a skimmed head to it... Now I knew that those heads never go back on right when skimmed (ever) but he insisted we did so... Needless to say, the head had to come off again, get binned and a brand new head fitted 2 weeks later
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Doing a service as a favour for a mate... Spanner slipped on the sump plug and smacked me on the eyebrow... Result - 3 "Butterfly" stitches and an eyebrow that doesn't grow properly :-[ ::) That made it match the other side done in a Rugby match ::)
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Around three weeks ago I helped a 'Mate' who had been struggling for 3 days to change the water pump on his '99 Megane, access was a bit tight and he couldn't fully remove the timing belt cover so he asked me to come and do the job for him.
The short version of the long story is that the damned French bag of s... ended up with 16 new valves, new stem seals, a new head gasket 5 newsecondhand injectors and I've gained a timing tool for doing stoopid Renault engines.
:(
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Around three weeks ago I helped a 'Mate' who had been struggling for 3 days to change the water pump on his '99 Megane, access was a bit tight and he couldn't fully remove the timing belt cover so he asked me to come and do the job for him.
The short version of the long story is that the damned French bag of s... ended up with 16 new valves, new stem seals, a new head gasket 5 newsecondhand injectors and I've gained a timing tool for doing stoopid Renault engines.
:(
You know when you wished that you had just said no?
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Not a repair but yesterday a work mate opened the header tank to look for oil, he was sure the engine was fooked when he spotted some mayo as i topped up the oil(told him he was a wrong) then he forgets to put the cap back on(i should have checked). Leading to loads of steam shooting out when I’m driving home! then i forget all that and start a thread
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1297283253
shameful :-[
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Not a repair but yesterday a work mate opened the header tank to look for oil, he was sure the engine was fooked when he spotted some mayo as i topped up the oil(told him he was a wrong) then he forgets to put the cap back on(i should have checked). Leading to loads of steam shooting out when I’m driving home! then i forget all that and start a thread
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1297283253
shameful :-[
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
So no panics about leaks then ::) ::)
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Welding a Sunbeam and melting the main front back loom - that took ages to stick back together.
Putting a head gasket on the wrong way on a V6 :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[
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Welding a Sunbeam and melting the main front back loom - that took ages to stick back together.
Putting a head gasket on the wrong way on a V6 :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[
I blame heat stroke
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Oh jesus, where do I start?
Removed a knackered old alarm from a car, didn't check it over properly which meant a couple of bare wires shorted and it caught fire.
Trying to get the back bumper off a MGB, which required a ring spanner and a lump hammer. One big belt and the spanner flew off and through the main bay window of the house.
Forgotten to tighten wheel nuts so many times it's silly.
Did an oil change on my Saab and didn't put the filler cap back on. The engine bay was given the best rust protection via a coat of Duckhams you could imagine.
Replaced a worn out piece of hose used on the fuel line on my SD1, started it up and saw this fountain shooting up between the vee. yes, I'd managed to find a bit of hose that was more perished than the one I'd thrown away.
Didn't watch was I was dong and used WD-40 instead of brake cleaner to wipe down some discs. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Took the wheel off a Rolls Silver Spirit using the car's jack to look at a bulge in the inside of the tyre. Car fell off jack.
Replaced the mirror casings on my old car as the originals were scratched for shiny new painted ones. Jumped in, flipped the drivers side one out, reversed back down the drive and heard the drainpipe on the side of the house rip the entire mirror assembly off.
I'm sure I can think of a few more! :D
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Oh jesus, where do I start?
Removed a knackered old alarm from a car, didn't check it over properly which meant a couple of bare wires shorted and it caught fire.
Trying to get the back bumper off a MGB, which required a ring spanner and a lump hammer. One big belt and the spanner flew off and through the main bay window of the house.
Forgotten to tighten wheel nuts so many times it's silly.
Did an oil change on my Saab and didn't put the filler cap back on. The engine bay was given the best rust protection via a coat of Duckhams you could imagine.
Replaced a worn out piece of hose used on the fuel line on my SD1, started it up and saw this fountain shooting up between the vee. yes, I'd managed to find a bit of hose that was more perished than the one I'd thrown away.
Didn't watch was I was dong and used WD-40 instead of brake cleaner to wipe down some discs. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Took the wheel off a Rolls Silver Spirit using the car's jack to look at a bulge in the inside of the tyre. Car fell off jack.
Replaced the mirror casings on my old car as the originals were scratched for shiny new painted ones. Jumped in, flipped the drivers side one out, reversed back down the drive and heard the drainpipe on the side of the house rip the entire mirror assembly off.
I'm sure I can think of a few more! :D
Brother in Law managed to knock his Passat off the jack when we were changing a puncture and it landed on my hand :o :o Luckily I already had the wheel under the disk so it just pinched (a lot!) >:(
But your list is quite frightening :o :o
Did have a customer come in once who had changed his pads and put copperslip all over the friction material :o ::)
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Oh jesus, where do I start?
Removed a knackered old alarm from a car, didn't check it over properly which meant a couple of bare wires shorted and it caught fire.
Trying to get the back bumper off a MGB, which required a ring spanner and a lump hammer. One big belt and the spanner flew off and through the main bay window of the house.
Forgotten to tighten wheel nuts so many times it's silly.
Did an oil change on my Saab and didn't put the filler cap back on. The engine bay was given the best rust protection via a coat of Duckhams you could imagine.
Replaced a worn out piece of hose used on the fuel line on my SD1, started it up and saw this fountain shooting up between the vee. yes, I'd managed to find a bit of hose that was more perished than the one I'd thrown away.
Didn't watch was I was dong and used WD-40 instead of brake cleaner to wipe down some discs. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Took the wheel off a Rolls Silver Spirit using the car's jack to look at a bulge in the inside of the tyre. Car fell off jack.
Replaced the mirror casings on my old car as the originals were scratched for shiny new painted ones. Jumped in, flipped the drivers side one out, reversed back down the drive and heard the drainpipe on the side of the house rip the entire mirror assembly off.
I'm sure I can think of a few more! :D
Brother in Law managed to knock his Passat off the jack when we were changing a puncture and it landed on my hand :o :o Luckily I already had the wheel under the disk so it just pinched (a lot!) >:(
But your list is quite frightening :o :o
Did have a customer come in once who had changed his pads and put copperslip all over the friction material :o ::)
I had to stop a mate of mine doing this :D
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Oh jesus, where do I start?
Removed a knackered old alarm from a car, didn't check it over properly which meant a couple of bare wires shorted and it caught fire.
Trying to get the back bumper off a MGB, which required a ring spanner and a lump hammer. One big belt and the spanner flew off and through the main bay window of the house.
Forgotten to tighten wheel nuts so many times it's silly.
Did an oil change on my Saab and didn't put the filler cap back on. The engine bay was given the best rust protection via a coat of Duckhams you could imagine.
Replaced a worn out piece of hose used on the fuel line on my SD1, started it up and saw this fountain shooting up between the vee. yes, I'd managed to find a bit of hose that was more perished than the one I'd thrown away.
Didn't watch was I was dong and used WD-40 instead of brake cleaner to wipe down some discs. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Took the wheel off a Rolls Silver Spirit using the car's jack to look at a bulge in the inside of the tyre. Car fell off jack.
Replaced the mirror casings on my old car as the originals were scratched for shiny new painted ones. Jumped in, flipped the drivers side one out, reversed back down the drive and heard the drainpipe on the side of the house rip the entire mirror assembly off.
I'm sure I can think of a few more! :D
Brother in Law managed to knock his Passat off the jack when we were changing a puncture and it landed on my hand :o :o Luckily I already had the wheel under the disk so it just pinched (a lot!) >:(
But your list is quite frightening :o :o
Did have a customer come in once who had changed his pads and put copperslip all over the friction material :o ::)
I had to stop a mate of mine doing this :D
We did have a laugh over it, although the customer wasn't so amused when we told him the pads were knackered and he'd need another new set :-X ::) :D
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welding a patch on a fiesta sill forgetting that the silly tinkers at Ford stick a wad of foam under the seatbelt mechanism :(,the car survived but the seatbelt didn't :o ;D
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I spent an entire bank holiday weekend many years ago taking an engine out of one of my Mini Cooper S's twiceand splitting the gearbox from the engine and "checking I had built the LSD properly" as there was a whine only to discover it was ...........
a front wheel bearing. GRR
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I've done the oil filler cap thing, too (found it three years later nestling in the space between the arch liner and bumper).
Here's a fun one - helping a friend push his VXR220 out of his garage the other week and somehow managed to push the (back wheel of the) car over my own foot. Wearing trainers.
I'm glad we weren't pushing an Omega!
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Not a repair as such but still funny......
I used to work for a car/truck hire company and the manager and myself had to pick up a car from the tyre fitters down the road.
We also had to take the car transporter trailer down to have a new tyre fitted so we hitched it up to a hilux and set off.
We were laughing and joking about something as we pulled into the tyre depot (Down hill) when all of a sudden the trailer carried on going past us. :o :o :o
Now there were 3 things that the trailer could of hit
1. A really large patch or hedges\bushes and small trees
2. The large area where all the scrap tyres were
3. A large brick wall inbeween both of these things
It hit the wall and demolished it :-[ :( :-[
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Not a repair as such but I was at a kit car show a couple of years back, watching a mobile rolling road. He parked it up in an area of gravel, with his van parked behind the rollers.
First car onto the rollers and it's just warming up. Hear a "tick tick tick" sound and realise the back wheels are full of gravel. Motioned to a couple of guys behind the car to get out of the way, and they realised what was happening and legged it. Rolling road operator seemed oblivious until "tish" there goes the window on his van. ;D
Kevin
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Not a repair gone wrong as such, more of a dirty trick. I shoved a stack of Redex down the throat of a carb on a friend's mini once and told him to take it round the block. I knew what would happen having already done it to mine a few weeks previously, albeit with a far smaller dose.
Needless to say, the smoke that bellowed out the back of his car as it sped off was pretty spectacular. ;D
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fairly some.. :-[
the last one was a broken EGR whan I cut the insulating metal a bit thick and hurrying up..
but nothing I did was serious like friend mechanics dropping a friends car from the lift when changing the clutch >:(
as you can guess result was a real mess.. shop had no insurance at that time and the insurance dont cover repair shops.. the mechanics pay all repairs and sold the car..and fired the boy who debase the lift on the wood buttress more than enough :(
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Changing the oil in my van at 5 pm yesterday .
Oil emptied , filter off , new filter out of box , OOps wrong one ..........
Heavy rain starts , van parked in front of garage blocking in two cars , wife at work with her car , nearest motor factor 35 miles away , need van in morning . >:(
Do I just put old filter back in with fresh oil knowing that I could never be happy and would change it again today /tomorrow ............ :-/
Frantic phone calls & a friend ,who runs three similar vans, had a spare correct filter , Well done that man........
9pm all up and running .......Bliss :)
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I remember having the head off of my dad's Marina, back in the day. I was putting the collets back on the valves on a bench and a roll of insulating tape looked ideal for holding the valves tight into their seats.
Putting it back on the car, all torqued up and feeling very professional about myself, it turned it over by hand to discover that it would not spin all the way round.
After much logical head-scratching I looked down the spark plug holes to see, yes, you guessed it, my roll of insulating tape laughing at me from its perch on top of one of the pistons.
Many years of therapy have since transpired, and I am now happy to relate the sorry tale on an open forum. :y
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Great thread by the way.
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When fitting the intake trumpets one bolt dropped below the sandwich plate.. Well, off again and start over... until I dropped the same bolt to the same pit :D
Lost the 10mm ring spanner to "somewhere in the engine bay". Never found.
Used the original Omega jack to lift the car. Took the wheel off and it fell off the jack. Really nice one. The jack is really worthless and useless.
Well, the list is endless... :-X
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some years ago, when I bought my first polisher, being a newbie tried to a sand and polish a friends newly painted car.. sanding was ok but when I started polishing some strange bubbles pop up (paint) on the bonnet..
nobody told me not to polish a newly painted bonnet (especially if it has some extra wet layers under) under the hot sun ;D :-[
result car back to paint shop :-/
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many years ago helping my cousin do some body work on a mk2 fiesta,low speed knock needing radiator,front panel and bonnet,anyway,all painted and fitted up he reversed out of the workshop with the bonnet still up to park behind a chrysler alpine (told you it was a long time ago ::)). only he didn't see where the alpine was and stuffed its towbar through the new front panel and rad,oh and damaged the new bonnet as well just for good measure :D ;D ;D
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Other than the ones of mine already mentioned:
Re-assembling a fiesta engine and part stripping it again because it wont start.....to then find the rotor arm in the tool box!
Fitting a gearbox to a Nova and getting frustrated because it wont move, turns out then when the end plate was off I had kncoked the selector fork so it engaged 5th gear.....of course selecting 1st and reverse resulted in a locked up gearbox!
Not of my own making but:
Biggest kick in the balls was Jimbobs cambelt tensioner failing shortly after a full top end re-build.
Hunting for an hour to try to find two stat bolts for a V6 only to later discover Laidback66 had them inhis pocket!
Crappy Ford pushrod engines with tapered plug seats....which face forward.....which get wet and covered in salt and grime.....and then corrode....resulting in stuck plug which snaps off......requiring head removal >:(
Anything on a Land Rover
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Other than the ones of mine already mentioned:
Re-assembling a fiesta engine and part stripping it again because it wont start.....to then find the rotor arm in the tool box!
Fitting a gearbox to a Nova and getting frustrated because it wont move, turns out then when the end plate was off I had kncoked the selector fork so it engaged 5th gear.....of course selecting 1st and reverse resulted in a locked up gearbox!
Not of my own making but:
Biggest kick in the balls was Jimbobs cambelt tensioner failing shortly after a full top end re-build.
Hunting for an hour to try to find two stat bolts for a V6 only to later discover Laidback66 had them inhis pocket!
Crappy Ford pushrod engines with tapered plug seats....which face forward.....which get wet and covered in salt and grime.....and then corrode....resulting in stuck plug which snaps off......requiring head removal >:(
Anything on a Land Rover
always beaten a spline bit into whats left in the plughole and undone with a nut gun,not failed me yet :y
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Many years ago I rebuilt an MGB Roadster, when the job was finished it went for its MOT (without a passenger seat but thats another story) and failed, just the one item. One of the new lever arm shock absorbers was leaking. :(
Panic phone call as the following weekend we were off to a very big MGOC meet and I wanted to go in the car. Finished the seat and fitted it .. no problems ..new shock absorber arrived Thursday .. we were due to leave Friday PM. Got home from work to find it .. so quick change and get started .. in a rush so grabbed an openended spanner instead of a ring .... it slipped off ... and I break 2 fingers in my right hand.. ring & little :( Somehow managed to finish the job -ish - and get it all reassembled before SWMBO drives me to A&E.
Next morning I drive the MG to its MOT (less than a mile to the garage) and the folks all laugh at me with me bandaged hand ... until I ask them to actully do all the nuts up tight for me .. as a favour ... 'cos I couldn't !! They then, kindly, checked all the work, tightened things up and passed it. An hour later we left for the meet with me driving with 2 fingers and a thumb !!
Moral = More haste less speed .. always use the right tools :(
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Hunting for an hour to try to find two stat bolts for a V6 only to later discover Laidback66 had them inhis pocket!
I wasn't there.. but a bunch of friends were, and did something similar.
Only it was someones car keys they couldn't find.
They even hunted through the barrel of (used) engine oil in case they'd fallen in there..
Only for them to find them .... in [the key owners] coat pocket. ;D ;D
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always beaten a spline bit into whats left in the plughole and undone with a nut gun,not failed me yet :y
Had tried that and had even resorted to an easi out.....no go.....and thats happened three times (on different cars)
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always beaten a spline bit into whats left in the plughole and undone with a nut gun,not failed me yet :y
Had tried that and had even resorted to an easi out.....no go.....and thats happened three times (on different cars)
I just been lucky then :y
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Well as the OP I feel much better about my balls up's !! some real funny confessions ;D
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Changing a wheel on a Fiesta (not mine) and the Jack slipped, pushing a nice dent in the sill before the car came crashing down...
Doing an oil change on the Miggy, drained old oil, replaced the sump plug, fitted new filter, filled with new oil, started the engine, left to tick over for 10 minutes before reversng the car off the ramps... A strange crunching noise and I realised that I forgot to remove the bucket of oil from under the car...
Blanking the EGR and dropping a bolt straight into the back of the belt tensioner pulley... Removed said pulley, removed bolt, sheared pulley arm attempting to retension the belt!!! Replacement pulley arm sourced from a BMW specialist scrap yard as I couldn't find an Omega anywhere...
Changed the brake pads... Spent 2 hours trying to push the piston back, before realiseing that I was sitting on a G-clamp which enabled me to push piston back in 10 seconds...
Servicing Hand Brake... Removed caliper, did necessary work, replace caliper, put wheel on, noticed 2 bolts under where the wheel was... Yes, they were the caliper bolts...
After changing Brake pads, I had no hand brake as the cable had snapped.. I forgot to pump the brake pedal vefore starting the engine, car rolled backwards down the drive and redesigned my garage door with the Tow Bar!!!!
and lots more!!!
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Changing a wheel on a Fiesta (not mine) and the Jack slipped, pushing a nice dent in the sill before the car came crashing down...
Doing an oil change on the Miggy, drained old oil, replaced the sump plug, fitted new filter, filled with new oil, started the engine, left to tick over for 10 minutes before reversng the car off the ramps... A strange crunching noise and I realised that I forgot to remove the bucket of oil from under the car...
Blanking the EGR and dropping a bolt straight into the back of the belt tensioner pulley... Removed said pulley, removed bolt, sheared pulley arm attempting to retension the belt!!! Replacement pulley arm sourced from a BMW specialist scrap yard as I couldn't find an Omega anywhere...
Changed the brake pads... Spent 2 hours trying to push the piston back, before realiseing that I was sitting on a G-clamp which enabled me to push piston back in 10 seconds...
Servicing Hand Brake... Removed caliper, did necessary work, replace caliper, put wheel on, noticed 2 bolts under where the wheel was... Yes, they were the caliper bolts...
After changing Brake pads, I had no hand brake as the cable had snapped.. I forgot to pump the brake pedal vefore starting the engine, car rolled backwards down the drive and redesigned my garage door with the Tow Bar!!!!
and lots more!!!
;D I spilled the tea everywhere ;D sorry :-[
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Not on a car but, after rebuilding a small block chevy engine that was in a boat could not get it to fire up, then found out that as it was in a boat it revolved the other way ro ofset the prop rotation, altered the firing order and away it went.
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dropped a polo gearbox on my head while trying to refit after a clutch change blood every where and a very strange feeling. the box slipped off the jack. very first clutch change on an anglia put clutch plate in wrong way round. is there a theme here!!!!
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dropped a polo gearbox on my head while trying to refit after a clutch change blood every where and a very strange feeling. the box slipped off the jack. very first clutch change on an anglia put clutch plate in wrong way round. is there a theme here!!!!
Someone's telling you you need to drive an auto instead. ;)
Kevin
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strangley i do now however not the younger members of my family who all come to me with there problems :y
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I have a front wishbone bolt somewhere in my front subframe, it fell into it
You are not the only one ;D
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Not sure if this is a confession or not but 12 months ago, after loads of building up my confidence and asking probably 1000 questions on here, I tackled the headgasket on my tractor.
After spending upwards of 6 hrs in the freezing cold I started her up (she started on the button) and let her heat up. Feeling rather pleased with myself I took her for a drive, got back, gave her one final checkover and, balls, noticed water seepage from the front of the head where the gasket meets the block.
After trying a few fixes to no avail and putting off the inevitable thought of having to do it all again, I did it all again >:( >:(
Once off the problem was pretty clear, other than the usual model sticker on the HG packaging, the only other piece of paper in the packet was one that showed a picture of the gasket with very clear instructions on exactly where you need to put some instant gasket :D of course I had 'overlooked' this piece of paper.
On the plus side, I had the head off, on and running in under 3 hours on the next try and its still running perfectly to this day :y
Wayne
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changed steel wheels on a mondeo for alloys, but used the original wheelnuts (which are smaller than ones for alloys)
I drove out of my driveway and all four wheels fell off.
(When I first got a car - Carlton 2.0i)
Spent 20 minutes looking for the carburetor cos the haynes manual said it might be causing the rough idle.
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oh.
spent three hours and £20 to get an indicator stalk to fit the
transit. (after 6 different scrapyards)
Then finding out that the old one had just come unplugged.
Then refurbishing some alloy wheels for the MV6.
The flexible drive for the polishing mop siezed, and I was laid out cold by the drill
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I have to admit that reading some of these confessions, as nasty and infuriating as they are at the time when they happen are very humerous...
Similarly they certainly make me feel more comfortable about some of the stupid things that I have done when fiddling with the car....
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Oh I think this topic should be pinned too...
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Oh I think this topic should be pinned too...
Agreed :y :y :y
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I have a front wishbone bolt somewhere in my front subframe, it fell into it
You are not the only one ;D
I am glad of that :y
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I have a front wishbone bolt somewhere in my front subframe, it fell into it
You are not the only one ;D
I am glad of that :y
Thanks,I still don't know where it went to.I gave up looking after about half an hour and borrowed one off my 'spares' car.
Stupid f%*king design anyway
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Not sure if this is a confession or not but 12 months ago, after loads of building up my confidence and asking probably 1000 questions on here, I tackled the headgasket on my tractor.
After spending upwards of 6 hrs in the freezing cold I started her up (she started on the button) and let her heat up. Feeling rather pleased with myself I took her for a drive, got back, gave her one final checkover and, balls, noticed water seepage from the front of the head where the gasket meets the block.
After trying a few fixes to no avail and putting off the inevitable thought of having to do it all again, I did it all again >:( >:(
Once off the problem was pretty clear, other than the usual model sticker on the HG packaging, the only other piece of paper in the packet was one that showed a picture of the gasket with very clear instructions on exactly where you need to put some instant gasket :D of course I had 'overlooked' this piece of paper.
On the plus side, I had the head off, on and running in under 3 hours on the next try and its still running perfectly to this day :y
Wayne
I remember that, glad to hear it's still going :y
Not on here much lately mate?
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I remember that, glad to hear it's still going :y
Not on here much lately mate?[/quote]
Fraid not, im so knackered when I get in I rarely get the time to come on here, it was different when I was redundent, then you couldnt keep me away.
Fraid it will be less frequent soon too. Sold the Omega this morning, got another thread running about my new Toyota Lucida (sorry)
Wayne
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I remember that, glad to hear it's still going :y
Not on here much lately mate?
Fraid not, im so knackered when I get in I rarely get the time to come on here, it was different when I was redundent, then you couldnt keep me away.
Fraid it will be less frequent soon too. Sold the Omega this morning, got another thread running about my new Toyota Lucida (sorry)
Wayne[/quote]
Aye, just read about the Lucida, hope it serves you well :y
No need to leave tho, enjoyed your posts :)
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Cheers Jonnycool
I will still be popping in, somebody may want to know what silly mistakes you could make if attempting such a crazy thing as the HG on a tractor.
When I had my Audi S2 I remember I told them all on the S2Forum when I sold it and within a week my account had been frozen. So I thought stuff you then and never went back. They were nowhere near as welcoming as you lot have been. You have all really helped me through some dark times both with the car and with a few more serious (usually family) issues for which I am eternally grateful.
Joined the Estima Owners forum tonight, they seem like a good bunch too, but cant help feeling that im being unfaithful ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Joined the Estima Owners forum tonight, they seem like a good bunch too, but cant help feeling that im being unfaithful ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Splitter >:(
:P ;D :y
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As an 18 year old I stripped my Dolly 1850 engine, more out of interest and adventure than need. Had some machining done, lapped the valves etc and put it all back. Started soon as and idled really smoothly. Gave it a blip and the cam chain jumped off with the obvious outcome.
Seems i had forgotten to release the hydraulic chain tensioner.
Stripped it down again and took the head back to the engineers. 2 oversize valve guides later and we're back together. Starts and runs fine, but check the oil and it's immediately turned to cream. There is a square plate on the end of the head that lets oil and water transfer to different channels without mixing, sadly I had put it back on turned through 90 degrees.
Like most people I have failed to seat an oil filter canister properly. Reversed off the drive all loaded up to go on holiday, then straight back on again with thoughts of missed ferries.
Set breaker gaps with oily feelers and wondered why it wont start.
Topped up brake fluid on an xr3 with ep90. Watched it go in thinking that seems a bit stiff.
My brother in law saw something shiny and let go the rope holding a Sierra gearbox, dropping it on the father in law who tried to catch it only for the bellhousing to nearly severe two fingers against the concrete floor. He spent new years eve and day in hospital getting his tendons rejoined whilst I topped up the brownie points by finishing the job and picking him up in his own car.
Steve
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Not really a repair - but checked the oil on SWMBO's Nova years ago. It needed topping up so off with the filler cap an in with the oil.
Just as I was "about" to put the cap on I was called indoors to take phone call.
Call finished and went out to the car and closed the bonnet.
Went out in the car later, after a bit "whats that smoke"!
Eeks - luckily the cap had fallen down side of the block and was wedged next to the starter motor.
No harm done :-[
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Last month SWMBO's headlight had stopped working,no problem I thought.
After cursing at her car being French and skinning my hand extracting the bulb I went and got a new one, put it in and nothing happened - bugger.
Checked the fuses still nothing.Mmm what's going on removed new bulb filament was ok scratched head.
Looked at old bulb and that filament was ok as well.
After two hours around the electrical system it was the other end of the lead that had become disconnected from the main loom - Fu*%ing French Shite.
Refitted original bulb and all working went inside to tell SWMBO I had 'been to the scrappy' for some bits for her car as they were in a dangerous state'
I wasn't going to tell her that it had just come undone and needed reconnecting :-X
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This thread is epic, makes me feel good about confessing :)
Upgrading an Avenger from single to twin carbs, no torque wrench so just did the bolt one last turn, snapped off the portion of block that it bolted to. Still ran ok.
Helping a mate change his bonnet and wings on a Supermirafiori after a prang. Early start after a night on the beer, socket on the bonnet bolt that is stuck solid, hand slips and rips a gouge in my wrist that bled for ages. Take another look and i'm trying to undo the welded nut on top not the bolt that comes up from underneath.
Not mine but helping my neighbour do his first ever oil change on a MK1 Manta, easy job all it needs is the oil adding so I go in to make tea. Come back and he says "wow takes a lot of oil", I see two empty containers on the floor. He filled it up to the top of the filler cap, he then did his 2nd sump plug removal :D
Helping a mate who was an engine fitter by trade. MK2 Granada engine out and new one in done in record time, only thing left is the carb linkage and air filter. He decides it's now pub time can finish that in the morning, drops the bonnet onto the upturned air filter that still has all 4 bolts in. Made a real nice pattern on the bonnet!
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This thread should have sad background music playing!
Much like the "Our Tune" spot that Simon Bates used to do on his radio show, (for those old and sad enough, like me, who remember). ;D :y
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Much like the "Our Tune" spot that Simon Bates used to do on his radio show, (for those old and sad enough, like me, who remember). ;D :y
Apparently he's started doing it again on Smooth Radio. I've yet to hear it again ::)
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This thread should have sad background music playing!
Much like the "Our Tune" spot that Simon Bates used to do on his radio show, (for those old and sad enough, like me, who remember). ;D :y
i wonder if he looked forward to his bank statment coming thru the post in his much younger days ::)
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Helping a friend swop engines from one car to another:
Take engine 1 out of car 1
Take engine 2 out of car 2
Put engine 1 in car car 2
all done, start it up car still smokes ????? oh s**t we have only put engine 2 back in car 2 !!! :'(
many moons ago when a nipper, had to take head off my 1600 cortina MK2, after getting it back from the machine shop set about building it up and putting back on car, only to find I coud not get the tappits set corectly.
After many hours there was nothing for it but to take it into a garage to sort it out, it turned out i had put the valve stem seals on top off the valve spring. ;D
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A few years back decided to attack the leaking water pump on SWMBOs Cav 1.8 SRi, half way through I decided might as well change the Cam Belt while Im here, so off I went to the local VX Parts, took the belt with me to make sure I was getting the right one.
Walking out of Vx get a phone call from Her in doors, asking me "are you coming back soon, as need to pop to the shops and use your car, for some reason my car wont start".
:-? :-[ >:( :'(
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;D ;D ;D ;D.......Love that one Zirk, so typical. ::) :-X ;D :y
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When I was doing some general routine stuff on a company car, I was topping up the oil and also the washer bottle... At the wrong moment, I was distracted, leading to a nice healthy squirt of fairy liquid being plunged into the Oil....
Of course I did the right thing with regards to the company... Kept my mouth shut and hoped nothing would go wrong until the next oil change...
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;D ;D ;D ;D.......Love that one Zirk, so typical. ::) :-X ;D :y
Obviously my fault Albs, should had mentioned what I was doing to Her Car, lost all my brownie points that day and for the rest of the week while the head had to come off.
Got lucky though, managed to bang the valves back into shape on my mates lathe, did a complete de choke on the head as well, must admit the Car ran a lot better afterwards.
;)
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Last month SWMBO's headlight had stopped working,no problem I thought.
After cursing at her car being French and skinning my hand extracting the bulb I went and got a new one, put it in and nothing happened - bugger.
Checked the fuses still nothing.Mmm what's going on removed new bulb filament was ok scratched head.
Looked at old bulb and that filament was ok as well.
After two hours around the electrical system it was the other end of the lead that had become disconnected from the main loom - Fu*%ing French Shite.
Refitted original bulb and all working went inside to tell SWMBO I had 'been to the scrappy' for some bits for her car as they were in a dangerous state'
I wasn't going to tell her that it had just come undone and needed reconnecting :-X
:-[ Just had a look at her car this evening I've put the bulb in the holder upside down,no wonder the beam pattern was off ::)
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Not car related (plenty that are) - must be 20 years ago in the old job, boss bought his lawn mower in - 'see it you can get it going Rick'...
Did the usual, spark plug and so on and then set to to see if it would start.
After several pulls on the starter cord...it broke and I punched one of my front teeth out on the follow through.... :-?
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I started this and feel I need to update for 2 reasons:
1. It was a good laugh and some corkers were confessed to, new members can contribute if they wish to.
2. I electrocuted myself today while soldering the door loom on a Zafira outside, failing to notice a split power cable perilously close to a puddle :o . Incredibly stupid idea, but hey, at least the central locking works on the rear doors now ;D
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As its been resurrected time to confess :'(
Fully ground up, restored Jensen FF interceptor, looked stunning in its fresh gloss paint work, £8k bill for the work in the early 90's. Customer due to collect his birthday present from the garage who brought it to us for exhaust and mot. I gets in car to put it on ramp,not paying attention, Jensen scraps down side of the ramp piller. Whoops. and sorry. :-\
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My lad mistaking the clicking of a torque wrench for the shearing of a oil cooler banjo bolt and NOT telling me about it until I had dumped a gallon of nice fresh oil all over the road >:(
That's his excuse anyway :(
Personally, I think he used the piggin strong arm >:(
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Pushing a dead car of ramps, straight into the garage door... impressive only because it was uphill and I wasn't expecting a two ton Omega to move that far uphill ::)
Not forgetting the time I reversed Dads Sierra into the garage door post because I was paying absolutely no attention whatsoever to anything :-[ was hard enough to dent the tailgate :-X
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In the late 80s I had an Auto Triumph Stag. On this particular occasion it was parked in my parent's garage with the engine running and with reverse selected. I had it held on the handbrake while I fiddled with some temperamental reverse lights. Fixed. Now that V8 exhaust burble is addictive, so forgetting it was still in reverse I hopped in the drivers seat leaving the door wide open and gave it a bit of a rev. Of course the car shot back smashing the drivers door on the garage pillar. In a state of confusion and blind panic I selected Drive while my foot was still on the throttle. The car shot then forward destroying the cupboard doors at the other end of the garage. I had to replace the driver door but the front end only suffered a creased up bumper.
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Cortina engine OHC , engine change- distributor drive pin underneath that drove oil pump fell off, -Engine seized not surprisingly,
starter motor swap on cortina - spare (s/h one from loft) - original removed , original refitted, original removed, 'new' fitted - then engine started.
first and only time - went to a car mechanics course in evening- car park on leaving - timing belt on 1.6 cortina broke- transported back home - timing belt off of spare engine, 2 hours to remove pully on car - ( waiting for train to go past before hammering at midnight) -
omega - keys in ignition, after ~2 hours locked itself - 30 secs to remove small window - nearly got it back in - then broke, perspex to rescue whilst awaiting new glass
polished motorbike- seat as well, took it out, nearly fell off back of seat as it was slippery