Let's hear your stories. I'm sure not all of you were born with a head full of car know-how. (except maybe Hank:) ) What was your most embarrassing/stupid car moment?

I'll start. (don't laugh)

Driving home from High School one afternoon and my 1981 Chevy Luv starts to act real funny. It kind of coughs some, and the engine was sluggish. Well, after driving the poor thing for 15 minutes to get home, I call my then-boyfriend at work. I tell him what the truck was doing, and he asks me, "Have you put oil in it?" I go quiet and say "oil?" :clonk:

I had no idea even where this "oil" went in at. So, I drive it some more. To the gas station. I walk in and I had to have the cashier open the oil cap, put the oil in, etc, etc......

Duh. I thought cars only took gas. :eek:

Alright, let's hear it. :thumbsup:

oh, you mean the "710" cap, lol


-wes

One day me and a friend were trying to change the brakes on his 87 IROC, we were trying to get the caliper bolts off, and we couldn't brake the bolts loose, we had a big ole long pipe off the end of the socket wrench, we used a hammer, nothing woudl crack the bolts loose! Then I had my mexican friend from down the street who was really strong and weight lifted give it a try. Even he couldnt' get it loose. Finally we realized we were going the wrong way!! Turned the wrench the other way and it cracked loose real easy!

I spent 45 minutes tightening a spark plug counter-clockwise :clonk:

I had a 79 Datsun 510 wagon... My friends and I would rally it through the woods and jump it... Towards the eng, the oil pan got bashed in so far that the oil dipstick read full all the time... So I was checking the oil one morning before I left for school. Checked out full, and headed off on my way. About 5-7 miles away from my house, going up a big hill the car locked up... I rolled it into the ditch and started walking home.

Towed it home, and it sat there for about a year and a half, I pulled the pan, replaced the rod bearings and the oil pump pickup tube (broken in half from all the jumping), and rallyed it one last time for a health project (a what NOT to do saftey video :D) then I sold it to a friend for $40, and he rallyed it a couple of times, but never checked the water in the radiator, overheated it, and it never started again.

If anyone ever drops the pan on a 327 and finds a watch, it's mine!! It was a graduation present and the band had a clasp that would catch on things and flip open. I knew to take it off before wrenching but forget one day when dropping the pan in the car. Finished up, fired it up and about a week later realized the watch was gone... Traced my steps and it wasn't where I would have put it if I had taken it off. Had my hand deep in the pan that day and figure that's were it ended up...

when i had all wheel drum brakes i put the rear shoes on the front and wondered why the fronts didnt fit the rear. I drove to the parts store with the rear shoes on the front and told them they gave me the wrong parts. He then told me the BIGGER ones go on the front.
I know now

i made a post here about how to add oil into the car....

Before i knew much about cars, i was like 10 or 11, and i was at a local car show, and there was this really cool black Fairlane. The hood was open, and i asked if it had a supercharger on it. Well I knew what a big roots blower looked like, but I also knew there were other kinds of superchargers, but didnt know what they looked like. The owner asked me in this "are you stupid?" tone if I could see a supercharger on it. This was infront of a crowd of people and several of my friends.

One time back in Minnesota in the dead of winter we got my frozen-in-a block-of-ice 73 El Camino started by filling a garbage can lid full of charcoal, getting it going, and sliding it under the oil pan.

That was the same El Camino I wrecked the first week I had it. I was driving with a buddy on a gravel road at about 40 mph and I said "look what I can do!" and started making it fishtail. On the third time, the car spun around and went backwards into the ditch, taking out an electrical transformer and just missing the pole. I told my dad I swerved to miss a dog in the road. I was 16 at the time.

I don't know is this thread is for former car idiots only, but anyway: My most embarrasing moment is every time I take my Chevelle to a car show and they wave me over to the parking lot. :)

Bought a new wiring harness, didn't fix the problem. Bought a new solinoid, didn't fix the problem. Replaced a fuse, fixed the problem.

when I was in high school I had a 78 Z-28 that was pretty stout and well known for the engine my DAD built for it. one day at the busiest intersection in town I stopped for the light and the car sputtered and died. I had a line of cars blowing the horn at me so my brothers and I push it off the road and start checking wires and connections and everything we could think of. Some people stopped to help us and one old man asked if we had gas in the car. I gave the teenage response of "Of course I have gas" then he reached inside and turned the key and the gas needle was pegged at E. so after we plugged everything back in we pushed it to the gas station:o and she ran fine

I ran out of gas three times in one day.

I already posted mine.. and after the response it got I'm not posting it again.. geesh. But Sean I want to hear more about that.. !

A friend of mine was complaining about how hard it was to get his lug nuts off his car. I was pretty young and car savy stupid at the time, but I had seen my Dad use Anti-seize on engine bolts. I suggested that he use a small amount of anti-seize on them, as I knew this would stop them from sticking.

A few days later I saw him driving his car and the front was bent up a bit. Appearently, one of his front wheel's lug nuts all came off, and the wheel/tire took off. His car slammed into the meridian denting up the front end. The tire hit the meridian, went almost vertical and landed in a windshield of a car coming in the other lane. Needless to say, he wasn't real happy with my suggestion.

Fred.

In 1964 my Buddies Girl friend bought a brand new 283 SS Impala. About
a month later he told me her car was in the shop. When I asked for what,
he told me that when she pulled the oil cap off, she didn't see any water
in there so she filled the motor up with water ..... :clonk

I have a few really good stories, but because I consider myself to be an "ongoing car idiot" rather than a "former car idiot", I will refrain.

Mike

I don't know is this thread is for former car idiots only, but anyway: My most embarrasing moment is every time I take my Chevelle to a car show and they wave me over to the parking lot. :)

I can relate.. sheesh

I have a few really good stories, but because I consider myself to be an "ongoing car idiot" rather than a "former car idiot", I will refrain.

Mike

I hear ya. At the rist of getting a rash of S***, I will admit to using a breaker bar, then a breaker bar with a REALLY long piece of pipe slid over the end, then BREAKING the breaker bar while trying to get the axel nut off my Escort, only to have my mechanic neighbor say "dude, those are reverse threaded..."

years ago was on a trip in the 70 chevelle. car suddenly started running like crap, couldnt get it over 20 or 25, missing and sounding awful. so i pulled in to a station and tell the guy i think i must have roached my points and could he check em out. he takes a look at the car and says "i dont work on stuff like that, and besides i dont think i would have points for it anyhow". so i hit the next station. that guys says well i got this car ahead of you and i can take a look at it in a couple of hours. so i said well can you just look at the distriobutor and tell me if you would have the points for it. the guy raises the hood and in one motion reaches to the back of the block and plugged in my vacuum advance line that was laying there loose on the manifold. man did i feel stupid. well at least i was thinking about the right area, if i had just used my noodle a little more i might have figured it out.

oh wait here is a better one for me, CB04 my brother and waited all day for the cruise. when they finally told the cars to line up for it we went back to the Chevelle and loaded up ,got in hit the key and the car turned over but wouldnt start. We ran the battery low trying to get it started, got some help from some other nice people there and couldnt figure out the problem. We took the distributor apart and check all the wiring to the ignition,, all was in good shape. after all the cars left I went and got my truck to start back to the hotel and decided to try the key one last time and the POS fired up on the first hit. We scrambled to catch up to the other cars but didnt catch them until they were cruising into the parking lot. We still have no idea why it didnt start and it hasnt done it since

Another one from me.........

I had a 1991 Ford Explorer 4x4 and I took it wheelin' one time so hard that when I finally stopped, transmission fluid was pouring out. Blew a seal - ran long enough to take it to a local dealer and trade it in.....lol