Featherweight
Well-known member
What was the funniest thing you have ever seen someone do, trying to fix,repair,build or anything dealing with tools in the garage?
The Mechanically Declined.....
- Thread starter Featherweight
- Start date
OP
Featherweight
Well-known member
a buddy of mines wanted to use my shop to change his spark plugs and kept complaining that the plugs wouldnt go in....So i asked did he get the right ones....He said yes....so i took a look over the hood and said...pull the socket out...He had the plugs in upside down.....lmaoooooooooooooooooo
jklingel
Well-known member
You mean other than my wife complaining that the drill bit I gave her was too dull to drill in wood? Turns out she had the drill running backwards. Or my buddy, who used to be a plumber, tearing out more and more copper pipe trying to find “the last frozen section”, only to find he forgot to open the valve to let water in again? Other than those, no idea right now.
tcianci
Well-known member
My brother, who by his own admission, is mechanically declined, once did some quick troubleshooting on his Nova. (that tells you how long ago this happened) He decided since it was overheating that the thermostat had most likely failed. He let the car cool down, drained some coolant and removed the thermostat. Then he made a new gasket and re-assembed the car and topped off the coolant. He started it up and it ran for about 5 minutes till it started puking antifreeze everywhere again, so he let it cool, took it apart again and checked his work. Long story short...it did the same thing. That's when he called me. I backtracked all his steps and took the thermostat housing off again. "Did you make this gasket yourself" I asked. "Yeah" he said proudly, knowing that he hardly ever made anything from scratch, let alone repair a car. "Notice anything special about it?" I asked. "Nope" he replied. I took the gasket and held it up to his eye. "Look a that" I said. "What do you see?" "Nothing but a gasket" he replied, getting a little frustrated with me. "Next time, put a hole in it so the water goes through" I said calmly as I walked away.
Hurricane_Whisperer
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2009
- Messages
- 359
Who took them out?
OP
Featherweight
Well-known member
OP
Featherweight
Well-known member
Here is another good one.......
(from my buddy shop as i walked up)
A guy had a 72 monte carlo....and his radio went out....So my buddy gave this guy the test light and ground it and check all the fuses....after the guy poked a few of them....He said it wasnt lighting up at all....So my buddy said scratch it around maybe its not getting a good contact....(so my buddy listened and said to himself " that dont sound like steel") He went to the side of the car and saw the alligator clip on the ground and scratches on the concrete.......
(from my buddy shop as i walked up)
A guy had a 72 monte carlo....and his radio went out....So my buddy gave this guy the test light and ground it and check all the fuses....after the guy poked a few of them....He said it wasnt lighting up at all....So my buddy said scratch it around maybe its not getting a good contact....(so my buddy listened and said to himself " that dont sound like steel") He went to the side of the car and saw the alligator clip on the ground and scratches on the concrete.......
malibu101
Well-known member
1-The first time a brother of a friend of mine was by for an oil change.
Before he left I said let's check the tire pressure. He said no need, I add air every once in awhile. That sounded odd. I asked what??and he said I add some air every month or so. I asked what pressure he kept them at. Said I dunno I just add air. The tires were over 40 pounds of pressure.
2- I girl I knew who since moved away-I did most of the work to her car.
She noticed she picked up a nail and went to a local gas station that actually still has garage bays for service work to have it repaired. She called me almost crying saying that the young pimpleface broke her rim trying to take the tire off and it still wasn't off the car. I said wait I'll be right there.
Her car had plastic hubcaps with, what looked like, lugnuts. Kid put an impact on the hubcap and busted up the plastic that was the hubcap.
Before he left I said let's check the tire pressure. He said no need, I add air every once in awhile. That sounded odd. I asked what??and he said I add some air every month or so. I asked what pressure he kept them at. Said I dunno I just add air. The tires were over 40 pounds of pressure.
2- I girl I knew who since moved away-I did most of the work to her car.
She noticed she picked up a nail and went to a local gas station that actually still has garage bays for service work to have it repaired. She called me almost crying saying that the young pimpleface broke her rim trying to take the tire off and it still wasn't off the car. I said wait I'll be right there.
Her car had plastic hubcaps with, what looked like, lugnuts. Kid put an impact on the hubcap and busted up the plastic that was the hubcap.
OP
Featherweight
Well-known member
I delivered some furniture today for a customer. I told him we'd have to take his front door off to get the stuff in. He proceeded to start unscrewing the hinge plates from the jamb. I had to show him that you could simply tap the pins out. D'oh!!
markviii
Well-known member
I hire two guys from a temp agency to move furniture at my apartments every year. I never know who's going to show up, but the type is usually ex-con or long-term unemployed/unemployable. I drive the van and direct the loading/unloading. They're just labor. I even buy them lunch and drop them back at the temp center at the end of the day. We move double mattresses/box springs dressers, desks, sofas/chairs into apartments, up and down stairs, through doorways, set-up (I rent fully-furnished apartments to grad students). I use to be able to lift a double mattress and take it up stairs to be installed, but haven't in about 10 years due to a hip injury.
One duo showed up and looked to be strong enough for the job, so I thought we'd be able to get it done quickly. We loaded a mattress set into the van easy enough and got to the apartment building where they slid the mattress out of the van in a horizontal position and proceeded to the building. When they got to the door, they stopped and just looked back and forth at the door and the mattress. I came around to find out what was taking so long. They were completely confused about how to open the door then get it through the door because it was too wide. I had to show them how to turn it on end. After the third one, they finally got the hang of it, though I had to hold all the doors for them. They declined to work with me the second day, so I had to "train" two new guys. The temp agency now knows what I'm looking for and hand-picks my workers. I
One duo showed up and looked to be strong enough for the job, so I thought we'd be able to get it done quickly. We loaded a mattress set into the van easy enough and got to the apartment building where they slid the mattress out of the van in a horizontal position and proceeded to the building. When they got to the door, they stopped and just looked back and forth at the door and the mattress. I came around to find out what was taking so long. They were completely confused about how to open the door then get it through the door because it was too wide. I had to show them how to turn it on end. After the third one, they finally got the hang of it, though I had to hold all the doors for them. They declined to work with me the second day, so I had to "train" two new guys. The temp agency now knows what I'm looking for and hand-picks my workers. I
Walterchang
Well-known member
I have a friend who isn't stupid, but he screwed the pooch once. He spilled oil while doing an oil change and thought to use a hose to clean it up. Needless to say the entire driveway was water proofed. Years later anytime it rained it got real slippery.
sumner52000
Well-known member
A boy in automotive class back in high school decided to changed his own oil. He said his Toyota held a lot of oil. He just kept adding oil until it was full. Full to him was when he could see it through the hole in the valve cover where he was adding it.
nosnownogo
Member
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2009
- Messages
- 22
Years ago a co worker shop maintainence worker , asked if i could weld a storage box to the top of a trailer hitch frame .No problem take my mig and grinder prep the area ask him to ground the mig to the hitch . Try to strike an arc nothing . He attached the ground to the hitch ball on the car parked 5 feet away.
I'm a member of a local car club and the president has a good friend who has a shop in this area. Every couple of months he opens the shop on a Saturday and let's the club use his lifts (he has 4) and his expertise to work on our own cars. On our last visit there one of the members was doing some work under his car. This guy had the car on a lift 18 inches off the floor and was lying on his back working under the car. What's wrong with this picture?
Years ago I worked for a company that had 4 or 5 company cars and, naturally, it was the responsibility of our maintenance guy to see that they got maintenance. One of the cars was "making a noise". As he was leaving to take that car to the shop one of the guys in my dept said "Maybe it's the muffler bearings". He said "I'll have them check it out". We all looked at each in amazement. Apparently when the guy who followed him to the shop to bring him back to the office asked "Are you sure that car has muffler bearings?" "Yeah, all the new cars do." Needless to say, later on that day after he picked up the car from the shop, he was not happy with us. The woman who wrote the shop order had written "muffler bearings" and was still getting grief about it months later from the guys in the shop.
Years ago I worked for a company that had 4 or 5 company cars and, naturally, it was the responsibility of our maintenance guy to see that they got maintenance. One of the cars was "making a noise". As he was leaving to take that car to the shop one of the guys in my dept said "Maybe it's the muffler bearings". He said "I'll have them check it out". We all looked at each in amazement. Apparently when the guy who followed him to the shop to bring him back to the office asked "Are you sure that car has muffler bearings?" "Yeah, all the new cars do." Needless to say, later on that day after he picked up the car from the shop, he was not happy with us. The woman who wrote the shop order had written "muffler bearings" and was still getting grief about it months later from the guys in the shop.
Hurricane_Whisperer
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2009
- Messages
- 359
Dear God. You must decontaminate the tools he used.
mech.reclined
Well-known member
YES,I HAVE ARRIVED!
My screen name honors all those folks that should not be trusted even with:THE RED CABLE GOES TO THE POSITIVE AND THE BLACK GOES TO GROUND!.Somehow,they still manage to screw that up.As an admitted overthinker,I envy people who can look at something and formulate a quick plan for dis-assembly or repair.Faced with something new,I'll break out the service manual and read the whole thing in fear of removing the one thing the factory says to never touch.Damn you Macgyver's for making the rest of us look like Troglydites!
My screen name honors all those folks that should not be trusted even with:THE RED CABLE GOES TO THE POSITIVE AND THE BLACK GOES TO GROUND!.Somehow,they still manage to screw that up.As an admitted overthinker,I envy people who can look at something and formulate a quick plan for dis-assembly or repair.Faced with something new,I'll break out the service manual and read the whole thing in fear of removing the one thing the factory says to never touch.Damn you Macgyver's for making the rest of us look like Troglydites!
PassnThru
Well-known member
A buddy was working on his old Land Cruiser in the hangar one day. I walked by and he was inside tearing the dash out. I asked him what was wrong and he said he was trying to get to the wiper linkage behind the dash - one of his wipers was just flopping around. I asked which wiper. When he pointed it out to me I popped the cover on it and tightened the nut. He wasn't really mechanically declined - just having a bad day.
PassnThru
Well-known member
Speaking of muffler bearings.....
A friend had to put a rebuilt starter on a tug at the airport which was in the maintenance hangar. He was severely mechanically declined and asked for our advice. Said sure - just let me know if you have any questions. It's an easy job - one wire and a few bolts - easily accessible. Well - he figured it out but I couldn't leave it at that. As he was tightening the last bolt I walked by and casually asked him if he had timed that starter before he put it on. Well, obviously he hadn't. I mentioned that if he didn't time it before he put it on that it might run 180 out. He wasn't sure whether to believe me or not when my boss walked by. So my friend stops my boss and asks him if he has to time a starter before he installs it. My boss, who had not been privy to the joke, said of course you do - if you don't it might run 180 out. At this point, he was a believer and asked my boss if he would show him how to time it after he took it back off. At this point I had to go outside because I couldn't keep a straight face.
A friend had to put a rebuilt starter on a tug at the airport which was in the maintenance hangar. He was severely mechanically declined and asked for our advice. Said sure - just let me know if you have any questions. It's an easy job - one wire and a few bolts - easily accessible. Well - he figured it out but I couldn't leave it at that. As he was tightening the last bolt I walked by and casually asked him if he had timed that starter before he put it on. Well, obviously he hadn't. I mentioned that if he didn't time it before he put it on that it might run 180 out. He wasn't sure whether to believe me or not when my boss walked by. So my friend stops my boss and asks him if he has to time a starter before he installs it. My boss, who had not been privy to the joke, said of course you do - if you don't it might run 180 out. At this point, he was a believer and asked my boss if he would show him how to time it after he took it back off. At this point I had to go outside because I couldn't keep a straight face.
Marty256
Well-known member
My son’s first car was a 1986 Lincoln Town Car. Shortly after he purchased the car he came to me and asked if I would be able to install a power amp and sub-woofer for him. I told him that I was busy but that I would get to it when I could. I came home one night to see him and several friends in the garage and all my tools scattered about the floor. My son was beaming with pride announcing I didn’t have to worry about it, he and his friends had installed the amp and speakers themselves. What they did was run the 8 gauge wire from the battery under the hood to a fuse block, one thing that they did right, then through a hole they drilled in the inner fender. They then ran the wire on the outside of the car along the rocker panel then drilled a hole through the inner rear fender into the trunk where they attached it to the amp. Needless to say I spent the next two and a half hours straightening out their project, but I give the kids an “A” for effort. Oh, what I forgot to mention was one of the boys involved was an installer at a local Circuit City who was supposed to know what he was doing! Makes you wonder.
DUDE WTF IS THAT THING?!?! I thought they said Neanderthal was extinct??
I have a friend who is very mechanicaly declined. His first attempt at a car repair was a tune up and oil change on his pickup truck two hours before his wedding rehersal. He calls me up in a panic saying he crossthreaded the plugs. I go over to help him, after the plugs were done, he pours the oil into the engine. He realizes that he forgot to put the drain plug back in after the 5th quart leaks out onto the ground. He asks me what he should do, I respond with, "Let's start with putting the drain plug back in." He then wanted to pour the waste oil back into the engine for another 3000 miles. 
I said, "No, get in my car, and we'll go buy more oil."
LMAO
I have a friend who is very mechanicaly declined. His first attempt at a car repair was a tune up and oil change on his pickup truck two hours before his wedding rehersal. He calls me up in a panic saying he crossthreaded the plugs. I go over to help him, after the plugs were done, he pours the oil into the engine. He realizes that he forgot to put the drain plug back in after the 5th quart leaks out onto the ground. He asks me what he should do, I respond with, "Let's start with putting the drain plug back in." He then wanted to pour the waste oil back into the engine for another 3000 miles.
I said, "No, get in my car, and we'll go buy more oil."Examples I can think of:
Guy swamped out his truck, got water in the engine. Between all of us there was enough stuff to change the oil (3 day camping trip). He was under with a pan and some sockets to drain the engine oil. I could hear him ratcheting away for quite a while on the oil pan bolt. Asked him if it was stripped, he said nope, it's just slowly coming out. Ratchet ratchet ratchet......
I got down in the dirt with him to take a look. He had one of the nuts on a rusty muffler clamp on the y-pipe just about off.
Had a girlfriend who's car died on her way to visit me. She knew enough to check the oil, and there was none. She said she got 5 quarts at the gas station and it still wasn't showing, but nothing was coming out the bottom.
Grabbed a truck and dolly and ran down there. She looked like this when I pulled out the dipstick (which showed about 3" above the full mark). She had just been looking in the valve cover and wasn't seeing it full of oil. Ended up being a fuel pump relay.
Guy swamped out his truck, got water in the engine. Between all of us there was enough stuff to change the oil (3 day camping trip). He was under with a pan and some sockets to drain the engine oil. I could hear him ratcheting away for quite a while on the oil pan bolt. Asked him if it was stripped, he said nope, it's just slowly coming out. Ratchet ratchet ratchet......
I got down in the dirt with him to take a look. He had one of the nuts on a rusty muffler clamp on the y-pipe just about off.
Had a girlfriend who's car died on her way to visit me. She knew enough to check the oil, and there was none. She said she got 5 quarts at the gas station and it still wasn't showing, but nothing was coming out the bottom.
Grabbed a truck and dolly and ran down there. She looked like this when I pulled out the dipstick
(which showed about 3" above the full mark). She had just been looking in the valve cover and wasn't seeing it full of oil. Ended up being a fuel pump relay.I was running a quicky lube and the fellas came and got me, customer problem. Little asian dude was having a hissy because he could not see the oil level with the cap off. I mean he was getting ready for a throw down. I finally got his kid to explain about a dipstick(insert comment here), but hell no he insisted on oil up to cap. The kid explained to him what would happen and if he really wanted it that way he had to sign a waiver. So you guessed it I filled that some ***** right up... I was pouring out when he left the place...now that's a dumb ***.
wantedabiggergarage
Member Emeritus
The kid whose mom, buys a total pos at one of those finance anyone places. The mom paid 2 or 3K for an $800 van. The kid manages to convince his mom to give him the keys. He goes out and spends 2K on stereo equipment and some neons, and the check engine light comes on. Well he stops and gets a quart of oil. Next day, same thing, and he adds another quart. Next day, I believe he adds 5, whatever the total was, they came down to find what was the problem, and the oil was all the way up the dipstick. The kid blew the motor and 2k, in his mom's not paid for van.
One more.
When I was a kid, the people who had Corvettes, were car people (knew what was what). I am doing a tune up on the bosses car, and get told to stop it and come in. (I was still early) This is in works parking lot and he sends out a coworkers father, who is from a GM family. (Vette, driver, father built cars, etc).
A few days later I hear the boss bitching about his car repair bill. Turns out (and I have NO idea how), the guy managed to find a way to put the rotor in, upside down.
Now others can fill the gas, but I am the one (other then the dealership, since they buy new), that can touch the motor.
One more.
When I was a kid, the people who had Corvettes, were car people (knew what was what). I am doing a tune up on the bosses car, and get told to stop it and come in. (I was still early) This is in works parking lot and he sends out a coworkers father, who is from a GM family. (Vette, driver, father built cars, etc).
A few days later I hear the boss bitching about his car repair bill. Turns out (and I have NO idea how), the guy managed to find a way to put the rotor in, upside down.
Now others can fill the gas, but I am the one (other then the dealership, since they buy new), that can touch the motor.
Dust
Well-known member
Friend of mine works at my shop's sister dealership that tends to go through one tech per month. He told me the story of one guy who filled a Chrysler 3.5L V6 with 30 quarts of oil because he was talking on his cell phone and holding down the oil gun trigger. Dude finally caught himself, and redrained the engine.
However, he forgot that the intake plenum can hold about six quarts.
Lets here of some things we did when we didn't know any better. I was lucky enough to have my dad around to teach me how to work on things. But boy I have done my fair share of stupid things when I was a kid and he wasnt around to guide me lol. Probably one of the funniest was building speaker boxes. One day me and my buddy was trying to build a few and my parents had to run to the store or some place. Well they come out and told us not to be using the saws while they were gone for a few mins. Well on one box, the only thing left to do was to cut the hole for the speaker. I figured I could get it done quickly before they got back and caught me in the act of using the saw. So, I throw the speaker up there, trace a line, drill a hole, and went to town with a jig saw. It looked pretty good. I attempted to lay the speaker up on its new home, and it fell through lol. Yep I traced the line with the speaker grill on the speaker. My buddy still brings that up today and still gets a good laugh out of it. Never mind it was almost 20 years ago, I still kinda get embarrassed by it lol.
wantedabiggergarage
Member Emeritus
My father did quite a bit when he was a kid. Unfortunately, it was mostly unsupervised, and what he learned stuck with him. (think Red Green and Tim Taylor DNA)
I learned most of what I learned, from the babysitter, TV, and the family mechanic.
Sometimes they are NOT a good example.
woody 73
Well-known member
My wife works with a brilliant colleague,who had just bought a brand new car. Well he had no sooner drove it off the car dealership,when a bird **** all over the front of the car. That night I happened to see him cleaning his car,it turns out that the best way to get bird **** off the car is to use extremely coarse steel wool !
I must say , it does a good job of getting all the bird **** off the car,it does an even better job of taking all the new paint off .Oh well you live and learn !
I must say , it does a good job of getting all the bird **** off the car,it does an even better job of taking all the new paint off .Oh well you live and learn !
I used to work for a local auto parts store, and was great friends with the manager. One day a young couple walked in the door and the man said, "my wives car needs some blinker fluid." Without missing a beat the manager grabbed a gallon of RainX windshield deicer, and another gallon of RV antifreeze and responded what color do you need yellow or red? The wife looked at the guy and said I told you I knew what I was talking about. I had to go in the back cause I couldn't keep from laughing anymore.
By the way thanks for such a great site where ideas, and knowledge are shared so willing. I have learned a lot from you all.
By the way thanks for such a great site where ideas, and knowledge are shared so willing. I have learned a lot from you all.
nate379
Banned
I helped a guy at work put a new motor in his Jeep. Just was going to lend a hand deal.
First day we are working on it... 5 mins into it....
So... which way do you go to get bolts loose again??
I ended up doing 99% of the work.
First day we are working on it... 5 mins into it....
So... which way do you go to get bolts loose again??
I ended up doing 99% of the work.
panel pete
Active member
Read some good ones here, thought that I'd share a memory.
Setting: High school auto shop class, fellow student who happened to be a complete numbnut about cars brings in his "new" 1975 camaro for an oil change. He racked the car, lifted it and drained the oil (so far so good, right?).
After removing the oil filter, he commented on "not looking forward to re-filling the oil". I ask him why, his reply had something to do with the size of the oil fill port. At this point, I shrugged it off and walked away ( I was an R.O.P. student and had two classes of auto shop back to back) as I had other projects to attend to/help with.
The kid ends up taking the next 30 or so minutes to "refill" the engine oil, I come by to check in. There's less than 10 minutes of the class left and he only has 2 of the 5 quarts in, when I noticed he had what was the smallest funnel I have EVER seen stuck in the dipstick tube! After a good laugh at his expense
, I introduced him to Mr. Oil fill cap - needless to say the remaining three quarts were much easier to add.
Setting: High school auto shop class, fellow student who happened to be a complete numbnut about cars brings in his "new" 1975 camaro for an oil change. He racked the car, lifted it and drained the oil (so far so good, right?).
After removing the oil filter, he commented on "not looking forward to re-filling the oil". I ask him why, his reply had something to do with the size of the oil fill port. At this point, I shrugged it off and walked away ( I was an R.O.P. student and had two classes of auto shop back to back) as I had other projects to attend to/help with.
The kid ends up taking the next 30 or so minutes to "refill" the engine oil, I come by to check in. There's less than 10 minutes of the class left and he only has 2 of the 5 quarts in, when I noticed he had what was the smallest funnel I have EVER seen stuck in the dipstick tube! After a good laugh at his expense
, I introduced him to Mr. Oil fill cap - needless to say the remaining three quarts were much easier to add.That's a relief, I thought you were going to say he was putting oil in the transmission tube.
At a supply yard I used to buy from, this guy who worked there was trying to get his keys out of his truck from the drivers side with a coat hanger cause he locked them in the truck......His boss walked by the pass side and noticed the pass window was down.
steve63
Active member
Many years ago we were sitting at the autoparts store and an old man walks in and asks for a can of freon, they sell him one and he goes outside and pops the hood on his car and looks around. Five minutes later he comes back in with the freon and asks for a can opener. The parts guy takes the can of freon and puts it back on the shelf and gives him his money back, and tells him he is to dumb to have freon. end of story
keflaman
Well-known member
I used to work at a military auto hobby shop and my favorite memory is of a kid who rolled in with a car straight off of "Pimp My Ride". We set him up with a stall and brief him on shop operations. We watched him open the hood and stare inside the engine compartment for a while, then he came over and asked to check out a wrench.
I ask him, "What kind of wrench?"
He replies, "Um...a little one."
I ask him, "What kind of wrench?"
He replies, "Um...a little one."
Charles (in GA)
Well-known member
The kid ends up taking the next 30 or so minutes to "refill" the engine oil, I come by to check in. There's less than 10 minutes of the class left and he only has 2 of the 5 quarts in, when I noticed he had what was the smallest funnel I have EVER seen stuck in the dipstick tube! After a good laugh at his expense
Next door neighbors (have since moved), well Tex has to travel out of town for a month or so for his company. Donna is a mailcarrier and has to drive her Tempo about 50 mile round trip every day to work, and it uses some oil. So Tex reminds her to be sure and check the oil and keep it full.
When Tex returns home in a month or so, Donna comments on how difficult it is to add oil to that car. Turns out she checked it and then, not knowing there was a oil fill cap, had made a funnel from an old file folder and poured the oil in the dipstick hole.
Charles
GeorgiaHybrid
Well-known member
This thread brings back a lot of fun memories of the days spent at dad's Texaco station and garage. You young guys don't remember them but back then, before self serve (unless you are from NJ), most gas stations also had service bays. You would be surprised at what came in the door at times....
You would be surprised at the number of people who put oil in the radiator, antifreeze in the oil, diesel in the gas tank (it was cheaper back then) or the best of all, the lady who added rubbing alcohol to the brakes because it was "clear fluid". Have you ever wondered what alcohol does to a brake system? It sure isn't pretty (or cheap).
Some were funny like the pair of ladies who came in after fixing their own brakes to get them "adjusted".... Both short shoes on the left rear and the long shoes on the right rear.... They got pissed off because I would not let them watch me "fix" the brakes on the car.
And then we had the old gal who came in because her headlights would not go "bright". This was an old Falcon with the dimmer switch on the floorboard. After checking it out, I walked back in and told her that the dimmer switch was out and she needed a new one. The old gal left in a huff and a few weeks later, dad received a letter from the better business bureau wanting to know why I "stole" her dimmer switch because her car had one when she came in and I told her that it was "out".....
What about the guy who drove in with a LOUD knock.... I raised the hood on that old Ford (straight 6 170) looked at the rod hanging out of the side of the block and told the guy that he needed a new engine. He then proceeded to tell me that I only looked at it for a second and I didn't know what I was talking about. He DROVE it off the lot. Still knocking like hell but running nonetheless. They don't build them like that anymore....
Best of all was the kid who came in and wanted to "borrow" a jack. Dad let him use one of our floor jacks and told him to go to the church parking lot next door (got him off our lot) and to make sure to be careful after he assured dad he knew what he was doing. We heard a load "CRACK" about 10 minutes later.... Turns out the kid had a 68 Corvette convertible from up north with a rusted out frame. He had jacked the car from the side dead center between the wheels and , you guessed it, broke that Vette into two parts.
He had been jacking it up with both doors open, the frame rusted in two, a big block in the front and then had a buddy bounce up and down on the rear bumper to see where the "popping" noise was coming from (frame rubbing the cracked ends together). Poor kid cried like a baby for 30 minutes.
You would be surprised at the number of people who put oil in the radiator, antifreeze in the oil, diesel in the gas tank (it was cheaper back then) or the best of all, the lady who added rubbing alcohol to the brakes because it was "clear fluid". Have you ever wondered what alcohol does to a brake system? It sure isn't pretty (or cheap).
Some were funny like the pair of ladies who came in after fixing their own brakes to get them "adjusted".... Both short shoes on the left rear and the long shoes on the right rear.... They got pissed off because I would not let them watch me "fix" the brakes on the car.
And then we had the old gal who came in because her headlights would not go "bright". This was an old Falcon with the dimmer switch on the floorboard. After checking it out, I walked back in and told her that the dimmer switch was out and she needed a new one. The old gal left in a huff and a few weeks later, dad received a letter from the better business bureau wanting to know why I "stole" her dimmer switch because her car had one when she came in and I told her that it was "out".....
What about the guy who drove in with a LOUD knock.... I raised the hood on that old Ford (straight 6 170) looked at the rod hanging out of the side of the block and told the guy that he needed a new engine. He then proceeded to tell me that I only looked at it for a second and I didn't know what I was talking about. He DROVE it off the lot. Still knocking like hell but running nonetheless. They don't build them like that anymore....
Best of all was the kid who came in and wanted to "borrow" a jack. Dad let him use one of our floor jacks and told him to go to the church parking lot next door (got him off our lot) and to make sure to be careful after he assured dad he knew what he was doing. We heard a load "CRACK" about 10 minutes later.... Turns out the kid had a 68 Corvette convertible from up north with a rusted out frame. He had jacked the car from the side dead center between the wheels and , you guessed it, broke that Vette into two parts.
He had been jacking it up with both doors open, the frame rusted in two, a big block in the front and then had a buddy bounce up and down on the rear bumper to see where the "popping" noise was coming from (frame rubbing the cracked ends together). Poor kid cried like a baby for 30 minutes.
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one time a friend off mine was at my house and found out he add a flat tire and started bitching cause he just add them change over to is summer tire at sears and that it cost him good coins.... so i go on to tell him if the guy at sears might of forgot to put summer air in is summer tire??? and its was a common mistake from those guys...he look at me with a confuse look then he ask an other friend of our if it was trhu and the other was in on it ,so he said yes off course....lolllllll the next thing you know is he book and other apointement at sears to have the tire check out and once there he ask the tire guy if he put summer tire in them and that was probably y they leaked.....lmao and a few minute latter i get a phone call....lolllll imagine that a few years after a guy came to me and told me the exact same story and i gave him a description of the guy in question and he could not belive it that i was the one that pull the prank on this guy and we started to talk about him .....still lmao just by wrighting these lolll summer tire = summer air
scrumpy
Well-known member
Here is another good one.......
(from my buddy shop as i walked up)
A guy had a 72 monte carlo....and his radio went out....So my buddy gave this guy the test light and ground it and check all the fuses....after the guy poked a few of them....He said it wasnt lighting up at all....So my buddy said scratch it around maybe its not getting a good contact....(so my buddy listened and said to himself " that dont sound like steel") He went to the side of the car and saw the alligator clip on the ground and scratches on the concrete.......
FW, I ended up with a good bump on my forehead because of something like this. My soon to be wife was holding the negative lead as far away from her body as possible while stickng it in the hottop (ground) when I was troubleshooting why the saddle tank on the camper would not switch over. I banged my head when I started laughing. I did tell her to hold this on ground.
Scrump
engineer2
Well-known member
A gas station owner tells the new kid to jack up that car and change the flat tire. Kid put the jack under the car and started pumping. The car stayed on the ground. The kid keeps pumping the jack and the car is barely moving. The owned looks over and sees the top of the driver's seatback is now touching the headliner. Talk about a bad day!