Your biggest DIY screwups

Mt Tam I am · 10-19-2011, 01:55 PM

My multitude of stories are from years ago. Bel Aire, Corvair and 280Z DIY accidents.

The 280 had the oil filter mounted on the side and I would take it off first, before drianing the oil pan, spill oil all down the side of the engine onto the ground.

But the part that sticks with me is, I did it more than once.

Ah to be 18 again.

onzedge · 10-19-2011, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeffblue

Lots of us work on our own cars and on this forum it ranges from people who change their own oil, to installing their own GTM twin turbo kits. Needless to say we all make mistakes so i figured this would be a funny place to post the results/mishaps (With pictures if you have them) or just tell the story of what you did wrong. I guess i'll start.

I had to install different springs in my BC coilovers because the original ones it came with were too short and i couldn't get enough preload on them. After finishing and installing everything, i forgot to take this vice grip off. It stayed there from november until march.

no harm done, since the suspension and wheel all move as one, but it was funny to see it there.

That is hilarious.

onzedge · 10-19-2011, 02:08 PM

One of my first was when I was doing an oil change on my Roadster when I was about 18 or 19. I was filling up the engine and a buddy pointed out the giant puddle growing from under the car. I learned then that the drain plug needs to go in before the refill (and to not drink beers and change oil).

MightyBobo · 10-19-2011, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onzedge

One of my first was when I was doing an oil change on my Roadster when I was about 18 or 19. I was filling up the engine and a buddy pointed out the giant puddle growing from under the car. I learned then that the drain plug needs to go in before the refill (and to not drink beers and change oil).

Tsk tsk tsk

spitfire9200 · 10-19-2011, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MightyBobo

Tsk tsk tsk

lol

Mt Tam I am · 10-19-2011, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onzedge

One of my first was when I was doing an oil change on my Roadster when I was about 18 or 19. I was filling up the engine and a buddy pointed out the giant puddle growing from under the car. I learned then that the drain plug needs to go in before the refill (and to not drink beers and change oil).

This almost sounds familiar, but I'd been drinking so my memory is a little fuzzy.

Spikuh · 10-19-2011, 02:54 PM

About 4 years ago on my old 240sx, I noticed that the steering responsiveness of the car had gotten pretty sloppy in the front and there was increasing amounts of body roll. Upon inpsection my father and I discovered that a sway bar bracket had broken off. We never figured out why, and ended replacing it assuming the bolts had loosened after almost 20 years of life. Then, about 3 months later I noticed the car was acting up once again and found that the same bracket was missing. This time, it had sheered itself in half with part of the bracket still bolted to the car and the other part missing. Knowing that something was wrong with the suspension, but not having the time to tear the front end apart, we crafted up a heavy duty bracket which has held up nicely.

Then about a year and a half ago, I had to replace the steering rack and bushings. Amidst doing all the replacement, I finally discovered why the sway bar bracket had been coming off. Apparently, the front right tension rod, which is held in place by three or four bolts (can't remember), had lost all but one of those bolts. That meant whenever the weight would shift to that side of the car, instead of it being properly shared, it would all shift into that single bolt and the sway bar which is what caused the bracket to sheer off. I got everything fixed pretty easily, but I was super lucky the suspension never collapsed on me in a corner.

I have a picture of the single bolt that was holding the car together somewhere and will try to post later. It has almost been cut in half.

onzedge · 10-19-2011, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mt Tam I am

This almost sounds familiar, but I'd been drinking so my memory is a little fuzzy.

scottIN · 10-19-2011, 03:19 PM

Friend and I decided to put an overdrive pulley on my super-charged Mercedes. Read all the DIYs on it and thought we knew exactly what we were doing. Turns out we didn't. Ran great (extra 3 lbs. of boost) for about 200 miles and then it happened. We had pushed the woodruff key out of the slot and the pulley spun, sheared the key and drove it into the timing chain. Pulley grenaded and took out a bunch of other stuff, too. $2600 fix.

gurneyeagle · 10-19-2011, 03:29 PM

When in college, I purchased a surplus Post Office delivery jeep. Since it wasn't cool, I cut off the roof and made it into a proper jeep. Being a Business, as opposed to Engineering, major, I didn't take into account the loss of rigidity in the unibody.

After about six months, it literally broke in two while driving one day and burned to the ground.

From there, it was on to my first new car, a 1977 Datsun B210, aka "the penalty box". Kinda wished that P.O.S. had burned to the ground. It was replaced by a 1980 VW Scirocco, one of the all-time favorite cars I ever owned.

toxik · 10-19-2011, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gurneyeagle

When in college, I purchased a surplus Post Office delivery jeep. Since it wasn't cool, I cut off the roof and made it into a proper jeep. Being a Business, as opposed to Engineering, major, I didn't take into account the loss of rigidity in the unibody.

After about six months, it literally broke in two while driving one day and burned to the ground.

From there, it was on to my first new car, a 1977 Datsun B210, aka "the penalty box". Kinda wished that P.O.S. had burned to the ground. It was replaced by a 1980 VW Scirocco, one of the all-time favorite cars I ever owned.

lol @ the jeep story. must've looked something like this:

Red__Zed · 10-19-2011, 03:34 PM

Gurney that's epic.

onzedge · 10-19-2011, 03:37 PM

Awesome, Gurney.

Kirkster · 10-19-2011, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeffblue

no harm done, since the suspension and wheel all move as one, but it was funny to see it there.

ROFL....

Reminds me of my dad and the tube of p-tex that he left in a cylinder while reassembling a triumph TR-3 and discovered the problem after he had the head back on and was looking for it. Best part was that his dad watched him do it and when my father finally asked him if he had seen the tube of p-tex he calmly said that you might want to check inside cylinder 3...

My only gaff lately was not realizing that the Akibono brakes have two bleeder valves on each caliper... Wasted a lot of Motul trying to "bleed all the air" out of the system...

b1adesofcha0s · 10-19-2011, 04:34 PM

Hahaha crazy story with the Jeep!

10-19-2011, 01:55 PM	#16 (permalink)
Mt Tam I am A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: California Posts: 10,709 Drives: 370Z T/S/N 6MT & XKE Rep Power: 3843	My multitude of stories are from years ago. Bel Aire, Corvair and 280Z DIY accidents. The 280 had the oil filter mounted on the side and I would take it off first, before drianing the oil pan, spill oil all down the side of the engine onto the ground. But the part that sticks with me is, I did it more than once. Ah to be 18 again. __________________ "Does the carpet match the drapes? NO!!! I don't date bald women." Nissan Motorsports 34R Oil Cooler. Stillen CBE. Hotchkis Sport Sway Bars. KW Variant 3 Coilover System. Stillen Gen3 CAI. Michelin Pilot Super Sport. Stillen Brake Ducts. Carbotech™ XP10/XP8 Pads. Z1 Front Rotors. Z1 Stainless Brake Lines. Two degrees of camber

10-19-2011, 02:08 PM	#18 (permalink)
onzedge A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Battle Lake MN Age: 64 Posts: 183,964 Drives: 370Z 240Z Rep Power: 2684736	One of my first was when I was doing an oil change on my Roadster when I was about 18 or 19. I was filling up the engine and a buddy pointed out the giant puddle growing from under the car. I learned then that the drain plug needs to go in before the refill (and to not drink beers and change oil). ZMan8 and eastexZ like this. __________________ Koni\|Swift\|Michelin\|Motordyne\|Berk\|RJM Performance\|Gates\|SPL\|Motul\|Technafit\|Ate Super Blue\|Hawk Tommy Kaira\|Momo\|Optima\|Hella\|Hotchkis\|Red Line\|ZSpeed\|Stillen\|B&M\|H&R

10-19-2011, 03:29 PM	#25 (permalink)
gurneyeagle A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Houston/Saint Augustine Posts: 2,681 Drives: '18 Audi TT RS Rep Power: 20215	When in college, I purchased a surplus Post Office delivery jeep. Since it wasn't cool, I cut off the roof and made it into a proper jeep. Being a Business, as opposed to Engineering, major, I didn't take into account the loss of rigidity in the unibody. After about six months, it literally broke in two while driving one day and burned to the ground. From there, it was on to my first new car, a 1977 Datsun B210, aka "the penalty box". Kinda wished that P.O.S. had burned to the ground. It was replaced by a 1980 VW Scirocco, one of the all-time favorite cars I ever owned. MyKindaGuise likes this. __________________ Waiting on the Z35! SOLD - 2011 Gun Metallic Touring 7AT w Sports Pkg & Nav, Nismo Bumper and Rims, RC Grille, RC Brake Ducts, H&R Spacers, Painted Door Hdls, GTR Start Button, Nav By-Pass, EVO R Fog Light, CF Ducktail, CF Interior Trim

10-19-2011, 03:37 PM	#28 (permalink)
onzedge A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Battle Lake MN Age: 64 Posts: 183,964 Drives: 370Z 240Z Rep Power: 2684736	Awesome, Gurney. __________________ Koni\|Swift\|Michelin\|Motordyne\|Berk\|RJM Performance\|Gates\|SPL\|Motul\|Technafit\|Ate Super Blue\|Hawk Tommy Kaira\|Momo\|Optima\|Hella\|Hotchkis\|Red Line\|ZSpeed\|Stillen\|B&M\|H&R

10-19-2011, 04:34 PM	#30 (permalink)
b1adesofcha0s A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: MD Posts: 40,963 Drives: HypeTrain Choo Choo! Rep Power: 141	Hahaha crazy story with the Jeep! __________________ Project: b1adeZmobile (2009 370Z) \| Uprev Tune by AAM Competition \| Berk Exhaust Project: b1adeZmobile 2.0 (2014 C7 Z51) \| Corsa Xtreme Exhaust

10-19-2011, 02:54 PM	#22 (permalink)
Spikuh A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: The Ark Posts: 2,357 Drives: '09 370z Rep Power: 21	About 4 years ago on my old 240sx, I noticed that the steering responsiveness of the car had gotten pretty sloppy in the front and there was increasing amounts of body roll. Upon inpsection my father and I discovered that a sway bar bracket had broken off. We never figured out why, and ended replacing it assuming the bolts had loosened after almost 20 years of life. Then, about 3 months later I noticed the car was acting up once again and found that the same bracket was missing. This time, it had sheered itself in half with part of the bracket still bolted to the car and the other part missing. Knowing that something was wrong with the suspension, but not having the time to tear the front end apart, we crafted up a heavy duty bracket which has held up nicely. Then about a year and a half ago, I had to replace the steering rack and bushings. Amidst doing all the replacement, I finally discovered why the sway bar bracket had been coming off. Apparently, the front right tension rod, which is held in place by three or four bolts (can't remember), had lost all but one of those bolts. That meant whenever the weight would shift to that side of the car, instead of it being properly shared, it would all shift into that single bolt and the sway bar which is what caused the bracket to sheer off. I got everything fixed pretty easily, but I was super lucky the suspension never collapsed on me in a corner. I have a picture of the single bolt that was holding the car together somewhere and will try to post later. It has almost been cut in half.

10-19-2011, 03:19 PM	#24 (permalink)
scottIN Track Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: New Castle, Indiana Posts: 764 Drives: '12 370Z Rep Power: 55	Friend and I decided to put an overdrive pulley on my super-charged Mercedes. Read all the DIYs on it and thought we knew exactly what we were doing. Turns out we didn't. Ran great (extra 3 lbs. of boost) for about 200 miles and then it happened. We had pushed the woodruff key out of the slot and the pulley spun, sheared the key and drove it into the timing chain. Pulley grenaded and took out a bunch of other stuff, too. $2600 fix.

10-19-2011, 03:34 PM	#27 (permalink)
Red__Zed A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: window seat Posts: 28,940 Drives: Mostly on two wheels Rep Power: 120	Gurney that's epic.

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