Laugh now......But when it happened..F#*k
03-29-2008, 06:35 AM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: South Western Victoria Australia
Posts: 318
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Laugh now......But when it happened..F#*k
Replying to a PM regarding my hoist and it reminded me of an incident that happened when I first installed it that I neglected to share.
After getting the hoist into the shed and positioned I decided to see how well it worked and how high it would lift with the lock in the last position. So.........up it goes and I am impressed. I measure the height (1.6mtrs)..fantastic. The hoist has no car on it at present as I had not manufactured the ramps. Anyway that done I decide to lower it. I release the valve and................nothing. Now you have to picture this...it is a 400-500kg hoist at 1.6mtrs high and with the rams at almost full extension obviously required some weight on it to lower.
WTF am I going to do? I decide to loosen the hydraulic hose from the pump to the rams and let the fluid bleed off...........nothing, so I remove the hose............nothing. After a time of trying to figure out how I am going to get some weight 1.6mtrs up to lower it I remember an old trick we used to use when I worked for the airlines. I go and get my rubber mallet and give both rams a good tap on the body......SUCCESS! the rams start to move and the hoist is lowering........
HOWEVER....I had neglected to hook the hose back up and a 10ft stream of hydraulic fluid projected itself from the ram outlet landing squarely all over the back of NYNE11....Holy S#*T!!. I am running around like a headless chicken trying to reattach the hose and heading for the Porsche to remove hydraulic fluid dripping from the guards and rear deck lid.
After a frantic effort and a monumental cleanup job all turned out OK with no damage done except to my pride. My wife comes down after the event and wonders why I am sweating like a rapist! I can laugh about it now but it could have been a lot worse. How could I be so stupid!! I guess we have all had these moments. Anyway this is mine.....laugh Away
Cheers.
Dave.
After getting the hoist into the shed and positioned I decided to see how well it worked and how high it would lift with the lock in the last position. So.........up it goes and I am impressed. I measure the height (1.6mtrs)..fantastic. The hoist has no car on it at present as I had not manufactured the ramps. Anyway that done I decide to lower it. I release the valve and................nothing. Now you have to picture this...it is a 400-500kg hoist at 1.6mtrs high and with the rams at almost full extension obviously required some weight on it to lower.
WTF am I going to do? I decide to loosen the hydraulic hose from the pump to the rams and let the fluid bleed off...........nothing, so I remove the hose............nothing. After a time of trying to figure out how I am going to get some weight 1.6mtrs up to lower it I remember an old trick we used to use when I worked for the airlines. I go and get my rubber mallet and give both rams a good tap on the body......SUCCESS! the rams start to move and the hoist is lowering........HOWEVER....I had neglected to hook the hose back up and a 10ft stream of hydraulic fluid projected itself from the ram outlet landing squarely all over the back of NYNE11....Holy S#*T!!. I am running around like a headless chicken trying to reattach the hose and heading for the Porsche to remove hydraulic fluid dripping from the guards and rear deck lid.After a frantic effort and a monumental cleanup job all turned out OK with no damage done except to my pride. My wife comes down after the event and wonders why I am sweating like a rapist! I can laugh about it now but it could have been a lot worse. How could I be so stupid!! I guess we have all had these moments. Anyway this is mine.....laugh Away
Cheers.
Dave.
Last edited by nyne11; 03-29-2008 at 11:32 AM.
03-29-2008, 09:39 AM
#3
Team Owner
..... Hey John uou know i was thinking EXACTLY the same thing .... Dave you must be by brother for another mother .....
I have had exploding wax bottles, run away cars, ( on more than one occasion ) expoding belts .. bits of my car falling off.. l due to stupidity ... on my part ..
Actually my all time favorite thread is the one where i tell the very true story of 2 cars rolling away at once... and then guys all chime in about run away car stories ... that's what makes this forum so great .. everyone can relate and share a laugh without being ( too ) abused ) ... glad it all worked out .....lucky oil isn't corosive ....
I have had exploding wax bottles, run away cars, ( on more than one occasion ) expoding belts .. bits of my car falling off.. l due to stupidity ... on my part ..
Actually my all time favorite thread is the one where i tell the very true story of 2 cars rolling away at once... and then guys all chime in about run away car stories ... that's what makes this forum so great .. everyone can relate and share a laugh without being ( too ) abused ) ... glad it all worked out .....lucky oil isn't corosive ....
03-29-2008, 11:31 AM
#5
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: South Western Victoria Australia
Posts: 318
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
03-29-2008, 10:30 PM
#7
Racer
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 477
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
That is funny... 
my stupid moment was when I bought three ignition switches from the dealer... because none of them worked... then I realized that the springs were just super tight... I just wasnt turning them far enough / hard enough... try to explain that to the porsche dealer...
my stupid moment was when I bought three ignition switches from the dealer... because none of them worked... then I realized that the springs were just super tight... I just wasnt turning them far enough / hard enough... try to explain that to the porsche dealer...
Trending Topics
03-30-2008, 01:31 AM
#10
Drifting
I finally get a shed, (not finished yet, needs a concrete floor) and now she's talking about selling up and buying 2 acres out at Stanley. (Near Beechworth)
And guess what? No F**king shed there either!
My car will never get finished.
And guess what? No F**king shed there either!
My car will never get finished.
03-30-2008, 01:32 PM
#11
Team Owner
rent a helicopter .... move the shed ....
when i built mine my wife asked about my construction of the roof .. I said the helicopter needs somewhere to grab ,,,, she laughed .. sort of ....
when i built mine my wife asked about my construction of the roof .. I said the helicopter needs somewhere to grab ,,,, she laughed .. sort of ....
04-01-2008, 04:56 AM
#13
Instructor
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
Posts: 138
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
great story Dave! I feel your pain with the clear-up. I once blocked off a breather hole on a hydraulic fluid reservoir and had it explode all over me and the car. Its very difficult to clean that stuff up!
here's another one that might make you chuckle...
about 9 years ago I had a 7 style kit car (my only transport at the time) I was franticly working on changing out the ignition switch (that had a snapped key in it... another story in itself)
As was par for the course, I was running very short of time to pick up my new girlfriend from her University.
Just about completing the job with minutes to spare I was doing the last part of the job... bolting back on the steering wheel. In my haste to get it on, pun intended, my ratchet wasn't near at hand so I grabbed my torque wrench, which is about 2.5 feet long, and begun tightening the big nut holding on the steering wheel. (big mistake)
5 seconds later and my over exuberant ratcheting sent the end of the torque wrench straight through the windscreen
Something that couldnt have happened if I had been using my regular ratchet which is about 10 inches long. The air swiftly turned blue.
There was only one thing for it; whip the screen off altogether. It was in an Ali frame held on by 4 bolts, so off it came and off I went to meet my girl, late.
after explaining the broken bits of glass to my girl, she seemed to see the funny side and as the weather was lovely for once, she said it might be fun driving around with no screen. this all turned sour 10 minutes later as I was doing about 50 and a May-bug, which is a large beetle-like flying insect with a very hard shell kamikaze's straight into my girls forehead.
Following an immediate and catastrophic sense of humor loss on her part, I was swiftly ordered to turn the car around and take her back to her Uni.
I had a new screen cut the next day
The lump on her head didn't go down for 2 days and I was in the dog house for weeks!
here's another one that might make you chuckle...
about 9 years ago I had a 7 style kit car (my only transport at the time) I was franticly working on changing out the ignition switch (that had a snapped key in it... another story in itself)
As was par for the course, I was running very short of time to pick up my new girlfriend from her University.
Just about completing the job with minutes to spare I was doing the last part of the job... bolting back on the steering wheel. In my haste to get it on, pun intended, my ratchet wasn't near at hand so I grabbed my torque wrench, which is about 2.5 feet long, and begun tightening the big nut holding on the steering wheel. (big mistake)
5 seconds later and my over exuberant ratcheting sent the end of the torque wrench straight through the windscreen
Something that couldnt have happened if I had been using my regular ratchet which is about 10 inches long. The air swiftly turned blue.There was only one thing for it; whip the screen off altogether. It was in an Ali frame held on by 4 bolts, so off it came and off I went to meet my girl, late.
after explaining the broken bits of glass to my girl, she seemed to see the funny side and as the weather was lovely for once, she said it might be fun driving around with no screen. this all turned sour 10 minutes later as I was doing about 50 and a May-bug, which is a large beetle-like flying insect with a very hard shell kamikaze's straight into my girls forehead.
Following an immediate and catastrophic sense of humor loss on her part, I was swiftly ordered to turn the car around and take her back to her Uni.
I had a new screen cut the next day
The lump on her head didn't go down for 2 days and I was in the dog house for weeks!
04-01-2008, 07:42 AM
#14
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: South Western Victoria Australia
Posts: 318
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Good one mate.............speaking of new girl friends. I had one that lasted all of one night...........many, many years ago I had a worked Mini Cooper S. I used to work for the national Airlines and the official BMC Racing Team used the airlines machine shop resources for their engine and running gear works. I was an engineering inspector back then and needless to say got quite a few freebies from the team. Anyway back to the story at hand. This Cooper S was impressive running high compression and using 3/2 racing fuel. I chatted up this chick at a dance the night before and convinced her to go out for dinner the next night and I would pick her up in the beast. Well I picked her up on time and she jumped in the car wearing this white mini skirt and matching top..........I thought Ohhhhhhh Yesssssssss! Anyway to impress her I took off at full noise and full revs and at about the top of the rev range in second and pushing 80PSI on the oil gauge.......the line blew off the back......the oil gauge was on her side of the car and the line snaked all over the place saturating her from head to foot with F*#ken hot oil. I can still hear her screaming at me now..........needless to say she didn't see the funny side and I never saw her again.....bummer.
04-01-2008, 08:16 AM
#15
Instructor
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
Posts: 138
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
hahaha, thats classic! Gotta love minis. They were the perfect car for courting in. Forever breaking down in the middle of nowhere the minute there is a bit of damp in the air, leaving you to 'keep her warm'
Your boiling hot oil incident reminded me of a similar episode that unfolded on a petrol station's forecourt in a Triumph spitfire I had, again, my only transport at the time. Luckily I had been going out with the girl in question for a few months and it only took about a week, some flowers and a replacement dress before I was forgiven. We were on our way to a black tie dinner, so I was dressed like a penguin and she was in a very nice dress that she had bought that day, specifically for the occasion.
The Spitfire's temp gauge was headed skyward and I pulled over to give her a drink.
being in a rush because we were late (running theme) I popped open the bonnet and loosened off the rad cap, a bit too briskly... the ensuing mighty eruption of rusty, scalding water & coolant did a pretty good job of wrecking the new dress.
The bonnet was tilted at just the right angle, not just to deflect, but to actively channel this torrent, diffusing it into a wide spreading sheet of brown, ensuring maximum coverage, directly over the windscreen at my girlfriend.
She was decidedly unimpressed, and in her mind, my absolute guilt and accountability was further compounded by the fact that I had managed to leap out of the way and not get a single drop on myself.
a fortnight later when I was laughing about it in the pub, she scowled at me that it was still too soon. It was never mentioned again in her company
Your boiling hot oil incident reminded me of a similar episode that unfolded on a petrol station's forecourt in a Triumph spitfire I had, again, my only transport at the time. Luckily I had been going out with the girl in question for a few months and it only took about a week, some flowers and a replacement dress before I was forgiven. We were on our way to a black tie dinner, so I was dressed like a penguin and she was in a very nice dress that she had bought that day, specifically for the occasion.
The Spitfire's temp gauge was headed skyward and I pulled over to give her a drink.
being in a rush because we were late (running theme) I popped open the bonnet and loosened off the rad cap, a bit too briskly... the ensuing mighty eruption of rusty, scalding water & coolant did a pretty good job of wrecking the new dress.
The bonnet was tilted at just the right angle, not just to deflect, but to actively channel this torrent, diffusing it into a wide spreading sheet of brown, ensuring maximum coverage, directly over the windscreen at my girlfriend.
She was decidedly unimpressed, and in her mind, my absolute guilt and accountability was further compounded by the fact that I had managed to leap out of the way and not get a single drop on myself.
a fortnight later when I was laughing about it in the pub, she scowled at me that it was still too soon. It was never mentioned again in her company