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Ever loose a Nut or Bolt while working on your car?

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LXCam

ALLIANCE MEMBER
Joined
Apr 23, 2013
Messages
19,155
Location
AZ
Pretty sure aliens in a cloaked vessel hover over my shop occasionally, periodically teleporting fastners out of my shop and chuckling together as they watch me on a monitor. I mean what else could it be?
That exact same thing just happened to me in the hardware isle at true value. Dropped a spacer and that thing wandered off to narnia faster then a 10mm socket in an engine bay

Aliens had to be responsible
 

HannibalLecter

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 26, 2023
Messages
402
When working on my e46, when doing work under the hood, I have lost; one worm clamp that goes to the lower intake hose, many 10 mm nuts, usually from the coils, 10 mm socket and one of the two clips that hold the maf attached to the intake box
 

WagonHo!

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 11, 2014
Messages
1,015
Location
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Although the washer and dryer are not located in the garage Wandering bolts nuts will migrate to them. The washer pump drain cavity is a favorite place as is the dryer which sounds like a mri machine indicating when it should be emptied. My late husky loved to mess with me by surreptitiously taking and 1/2 burying bagged parts and hardware in the back yard.
 

Kpaige

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 12, 2015
Messages
751
Location
Big Lake Minnesota
Although the washer and dryer are not located in the garage Wandering bolts nuts will migrate to them. The washer pump drain cavity is a favorite place as is the dryer which sounds like a mri machine indicating when it should be emptied. My late husky loved to mess with me by surreptitiously taking and 1/2 burying bagged parts and hardware in the back yard.
Lol
I have a dog that if I am concentrating on a repair and not giving her attention she will take my tools….
 

Steve_P

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 15, 2010
Messages
5,185
I lost a hose clamp once. A ~20 mm ID flat steel constant tension clamp. It flew off somewhere and I never found it. I looked for at least an hour. I had another one, so it didn't matter, but it drove me crazy. My main concern was that it was underhood somewhere and would end up in the accessory belt, or something like that.
 

engineer2

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 13, 2009
Messages
11,814
Location
Chicago burbs
Sure, I've lost the occasional fastener or plastic clip.
My favorite mid-length 10 mm socket is somewhere in the back of my Honda Fit engine. Or it fell out on the highway somewhere.
 
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tez929rr

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 26, 2005
Messages
3,765
Location
Welfare, TX
Once on a group ride to the Big Bend area, a friend had recently been working on his VFR and had lost an air box screw. He had loaned his bike to another friend who had flown in from California for the event. Riding the road to MacDonald observatory (curvy mountain road) the lost screw locked the throttle wide open. The rider was very skilled and managed to make it through the corner and shut down the bike. We trailered it back and fixed the problem in the motel parking lot. I always found the pictures funny - a few guys working and lots of unsolicited help. There were probably a dozen more guys drinking beer and offering comments that aren’t in the picture.
P2070001.jpeg
 

rust in the eye

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 2, 2017
Messages
2,795
Location
Chicagoland
An A&P mechanic friend taught me to account for tools and parts after every job.
That missing nut happened just yesterday and drove me nuts for quite a while. It was stuck to the magnet on a flashlight. Had I not accounted for all the tools used I'd probably not have found it.
The A&P guy said the running joke about anybody's tool gone missing was "Don't worry, it'll turn up in the wreckage".
 

APEowner

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 2, 2009
Messages
4,164
Location
Sunny, New Mexico
Anyone who has ever worked on Cars, has had something like this happen to them at some point…
This is my latest Rusty and Patch YouTube Cartoon.
Enjoy1
I'm reluctant to post this because I don't want it to be taken the wrong way but It's really intended to be helpful. I don't have the patience to sit through an almost three and a half minute video of a comic strip that would probably take me thirty seconds to read. from the minute I watched I think I'd enjoy reading it but the video ruins the experience for me.

Again. This is intended to be helpful. I may be in the tiny minority on this in which case please dismiss me as a crabby old guy and continue creating content in a format that most of your audience enjoys.
 
OP
K

KCarGuy

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 5, 2009
Messages
2,075
Location
50 miles outside Chicago, illinois
I'm reluctant to post this because I don't want it to be taken the wrong way but It's really intended to be helpful. I don't have the patience to sit through an almost three and a half minute video of a comic strip that would probably take me thirty seconds to read. from the minute I watched I think I'd enjoy reading it but the video ruins the experience for me.

Again. This is intended to be helpful. I may be in the tiny minority on this in which case please dismiss me as a crabby old guy and continue creating content in a format that most of your audience enjoys.
That’s OK…cartoons and Comics aren’t everyone’s cup of Tea.
But I appreciate the Feedback.
 

Steve_P

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 15, 2010
Messages
5,185
Actually, after reading my above post, it was a ~10mm clamp. I initially remembered it as a heater hose clamp, but it was for a throttle body hose. Still, lost is lost, but at least it was smaller than something I could fit on my thumb. It's probably on top of one of the trusses that hold up the next floor above the garage.

While not lost, and not a bolt, one time I changed a timing belt on a car the day before a long trip (yes, I know, I'm a genius). One of the timing cover screws wouldn't thread into the weld nut, so I ran a tap thru it. Finished the job, all is well, drive 1000 miles the next day and check the oil when I get gas. When I opened the hood, there's the M6 tap sitting on the top of the fender, that 1" wide area where it bolts to the body, right below where the hood closes. Evidently, when the hood was closed it trapped it there :LOL: I'm way more careful about setting things down like that since then.
 

duneslider

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Joined
Jan 20, 2013
Messages
2,262
Location
Riverton, Utah
I love the art work! You definitely have a talent. I have always found it so interesting that society finds so much enjoyment in the arts yet largely are so unwilling to pay for it (hence the starving artists). I wish you the best of luck!
 

rockettauto

Well-known member
Joined
May 12, 2023
Messages
745
Lol
I have a dog that if I am concentrating on a repair and not giving her attention she will take my tools….
Not mine but a friend's dog would just eat any nuts or bolts left within reach for his first three years or so, as well as random rocks from the driveway. Now you just can't leave anything rubber in reach or it gets chewed.
 
OP
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KCarGuy

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Joined
Feb 5, 2009
Messages
2,075
Location
50 miles outside Chicago, illinois
I love the art work! You definitely have a talent. I have always found it so interesting that society finds so much enjoyment in the arts yet largely are so unwilling to pay for it (hence the starving artists). I wish you the best of luck!
Thank you.
And Yes. A lot of talented Artists out there, that don’t get paid correctly.
That’s all I wanted to do growing up…but once I finished High School, worked for a Graphic Studio for several years…and then became an Electrician, and a Field Tech….
Since retiring earlier this year, Only now am I playing more with my artwork. And enjoying it.
 

MBfreak

MEMBER EMERITUS
Joined
Dec 10, 2010
Messages
2,301
Location
Linkoping , Sweden
Old Landrover with a 6 cyl 3,2 l engine. The intake manifold was part of the head, and a single SOLEX bolted on.
I managed to dump a 3/8 nut into the manifold.
But was lucky enough to fish it out with a magnet on a flexible rod.
Thus , the day was saved.
The car had a low compression engine, could run on kerosene once warm and idled at 55o rpm on low octane fuel.

Lesson:
Push rags into any engine opening that eat nuts .

Ola
 

JRC3

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 30, 2014
Messages
12,481
Location
Southwestern OH
Old Landrover with a 6 cyl 3,2 l engine. The intake manifold was part of the head, and a single SOLEX bolted on.
I managed to dump a 3/8 nut into the manifold.
But was lucky enough to fish it out with a magnet on a flexible rod.
Thus , the day was saved.
The car had a low compression engine, could run on kerosene once warm and idled at 55o rpm on low octane fuel.

Lesson:
Push rags into any engine opening that eat nuts .
For me machined things like intake runners get double taped. Open cylinder heads get a rag. Spark plug tubes get a wadded paper towel. I do have an inspection camera but I can't imagine the suckage to have something make its way into a cylinder even with one.

20231008_121334.jpg
 

imagineer

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 13, 2015
Messages
1,017
Location
Ohio
In the middle of a carburetor rebuild on the '72 MG, I accidentally dropped a small circlip into the intake manifold. It would not have been a big deal to pull the aluminum manifold, but I figured I'd first try using a magnet to retrieve it.. I used heat-shrink tube to hold a small neodymium magnet onto a length of bicycle cable and went fishin'.

I did recover the circlip . . . but also pulled out a small hex nut. I figure the prior owner must have accidentally dropped one of the nuts that hold the carburetor down, and the valve lift was not enough to allow the 1/4-20 hex nut to fall into the valve seat.
 

duneslider

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 20, 2013
Messages
2,262
Location
Riverton, Utah
Thank you.
And Yes. A lot of talented Artists out there, that don’t get paid correctly.
That’s all I wanted to do growing up…but once I finished High School, worked for a Graphic Studio for several years…and then became an Electrician, and a Field Tech….
Since retiring earlier this year, Only now am I playing more with my artwork. And enjoying it.
Curious, but how do you produce your art? It looks digital, are you drawing on an ipad, or a digitizer on a computer? Or on paper and then transfering to computer? Super fun stuff.

My sister is quite a good artist but essentially has given it up due to not really being able to get anywhere with it. It's sort of sad but its extremely hard to pay the bills.
 

Bad Eye Bill

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 15, 2017
Messages
5,031
Location
New Brunswick Canada
I'm reluctant to post this because I don't want it to be taken the wrong way but It's really intended to be helpful. I don't have the patience to sit through an almost three and a half minute video of a comic strip that would probably take me thirty seconds to read. from the minute I watched I think I'd enjoy reading it but the video ruins the experience for me.

Again. This is intended to be helpful. I may be in the tiny minority on this in which case please dismiss me as a crabby old guy and continue creating content in a format that most of your audience enjoys.


Well said.

I wanted to say the same thing but couldn't put it together as succinctly as you have.
 

Bad Eye Bill

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 15, 2017
Messages
5,031
Location
New Brunswick Canada
I love the art work! You definitely have a talent. I have always found it so interesting that society finds so much enjoyment in the arts yet largely are so unwilling to pay for it (hence the starving artists). I wish you the best of luck!


Yes, great art work and fully agree with your assessment of society.
 
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