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Post the mistakes you made that you'd probably not want people to know about.
We'd all like to think we're the best at what we do, but in reality we're all human and make mistakes. Share your stories so we can all feel a little better about being human.
I'll start.
Swapped a 6.0 in my 1500. This was the first motor swap I did all on my own. While I had the old motor out, I figured I'd upgrade the wiring for the alt and starter.
Well I had to mess with the starter cables a bunch of times. I went with 2/0 wire because it was on sale and cheaper than 1/0. Brilliant right? Wrong. Nothing fit right and it was a bear to work with.
Anyway, I was pulling the cable off the starter for the millionth time and forgot to disconnect the battery. My 1/4" drive ratchet arced against the header and was stuck arcing. Again, I used a fancy terminal block that had an allen head screw holding the clamp on. So as quick as I could I got the battery disconnected but the arc blew a hole in my cheap chinese header.
Dropped the header, welded it up and had an ugly blemish on my brand new build. Luckily the ratchet survived with only a little damage.
I've got more stories to share but I'll hold onto those until I have pictures to share.
@ me first bro
That is an awesome ratchet though! Glad you still have it because that is one of those souvenirs that has a great story behind it.
I work IT and sometimes I make some silly mistakes. The one that I hate above anything else is when I install the wrong printer driver and print a test page.
See this may not sound like a lot, but when the building is dead quiet you can hear a printer printing off 100 pages of random symbols for what seems like hours, it is a pretty red in the face moment.
And yes you can try and cancel it but sometimes it will only cancel one page and then keep printing. It is the suck
Id have a long list of screw ups, but those are lessons that wont soon be forgotten. I was always ok with something going wrong, its just stuff and can be fixed after all, but learning the lesson of why the thing messed up so it can be prevented in the future was the most important.
My first cam swap, really first time ever digging into an engine, I misaligned the cam gear to the oil pump so the cam was out of time. I lined the dot up to the knotch on the cam gear instead of the hole by the gears. Couldnt figure out why it wouldnt start so had to tear it back down to find that. No damage, couldve been worse with bent valves but was not a super aggressive cam. That may have been the first thread I ever made on this forum actually.
Since I'm an old ****** I've probably forgot more fk ups than remember... not far gone as sleepy joe though.
Working at my first body shop in the mid 70's I was using a swivel socket with an extension on a 3/8 butterfly throttle air gun... ripping apart some mangled sheet metal. The butterfly is a little hotrod that tachs up really fast.
Well anyway with a wobble impact socket you have to cup the socket in your hand as it spins. Reeeeeee.... Reeeeee.... Reeeeee (air tool sound) Feeling a little sting in my hand. Looking down I see this red stuff seeping between the fingers of my left hand! The dang pivot pin slipped out of the socket and ripped a 360* deep gouge in my palm & middle finger!
Years ago, when I was first working on my pickup's stereo, I kept taking out the main fuse so I wouldn't have to disconnect everything. I know I put that thing in and out 20 times or more. I'm not sure why, but I must have reinstalled the fuse using a screwdriver and not a ratchet. It probably took 6 months for it to come loose. One day, just got in my truck to go home, and no power. Went and checked the cables at the battery with no tools, and after wiggling one, I heard the door open and other chimes start. Got in started driving home. When I went and looked I found the fuse was burnt like that. The screw had come loose and was creating resistance/ a bad connection. (1/0 cable)
I have SEEN a truck in Phoenix burn half way to the ground (plus 3 others next to it and a carport), because of something similar. It has since hung over the top of my tools. Its looking right down at me as I'm working, as a constant reminder, to take the few extra seconds or minute, and stop doing simple things, half-***.
Apr 21, 2022 | 07:33 AM
We're all human
