StreetRoc85 350

How many of yall have gotten injured while working on your car? How did it happen? What did you learn? Lets share some stories and discuss some safety practices that pertain to this..... Just keep it tech related please or the mods will lock it. Besides i dont care about your sports injuries or how you sprained your ankle, just if you did it working on a car.

Here ill start, One time i was working on my iroc pulling the engine and i had the motor/tranny up on the engine hoist. One of the legs on the hoist let go while i was positioning it in my garage. The entire thing literally collapsed on its side and down came the engine, tranny and all. Luckily i was able to jump out of the way just in time but unfortunately my dads PRISTINE 1971 MGB Roadster wasnt so lucky. Ever seen a fully restored classic car get pistol-whipped by a greasy small-block? It about made me cry. Not to mention that my dad was all kinds of happy when he came home and saw it.

The damage: 1 drivers side fender, 1 hard to find aluminum MGB hood, 1 rear view mirror, New paint job, and 1 very unhappy british car collector. This little spill seriously affected my supercharger fund

The lesson: 1. Always check ALL bolts on hoist before lifting 700lbs of iron
2. Never move 700lbs of iron around fully restored antique cars


So i guess there was no real injury but it was a close one. Lets hear your stories!

84z28350

So far so good for me. Just the usual draining of excess blood once in a while...

Zonda Man

excess blood is bad, but burns are worse. Words of wisdom: watch were u put ur hands on a running small block

yjischoking

iTrader: (3)

haha just the bloody/smashed knuckles when something lets go unexpectedly when you're trying to break the bolt loose (read: any suspension part basically). and cuts and scrapes from underneath as well.

AlkyIROC

No burns but lots of blood. Since my car is gutted and lots of the sheetmetal has been cut out, there's lots of sharp metal edges I always seem to cut myself on.

camaronewbie

Alot of blood and smashed knuckles - no real serious injuries, but alot of close calls. One I remember - I was porting/polishing my heads outside (my garage is missing walls and a roof), and the carbide cutter came out of the chuck of the die-grinder at 25,000 rpms - man did that thing fly! I heard it cut through the trees, and watched the branches fall as it passed over the rooftops of the neighborhood - either it went really really far, or it never hit anyone else, as I never heard any screaming.

Always check your chuck every 5 minutes or so!

ssean92

iTrader: (10)

i have been luck for the past 15 years or so. nothing major, just the usual, but i am in the military and i always think about saftey first. i always ck everything twice. but i can happen.

Project84TA

i've had a few close calls with a disk grinder. i was grinding off my crossover pipe (i broke 1 of the two bolts and rounded off the other!!) well anyway, after i had made a decent cut, i was working around and then it did that grabby flyie thing and almost flew in my face. that kinda woke me up. other than that nothing serious, the usual cuts smashed knuckles. this isnt really an injury but my pants cought on fire while i was grinding my floorpans. (geeze that grinder must not like me) thats all for me.

Matthew91-Z28

Of all the various **** i've dont to the car, my worst injuries were sustained during window motor removal and installation. My worst nightmare is having the car fall off a jack stand while i'm under it

87IROCZ350TPI

Bloody knuckles often. When I was about seventeen, I was learning the hard way with my first Z28. I was VERY inexperienced and didn't realize what was connected to what. Well, I wanted to change the endlinks for the rear swaybar. Had the car jacked up, stands under the frame. I slid under, unbolted the link, and BAM!The freaking rear slammed down on my hip. I actually got nailed by the tire, not the rear. Hurt like a bitch, couldn't walk right for a few days. At least from then on I payed attention to what was under tension, and what would result from removing a bolt. That was a tough lesson to learn, but I'm positive that it has saved me a lot of pain over the years. Aside from that, just today I was working on my wife's Accord trying to replace some suspension componants. I was working in the wheelwell, giving a bolt a lot of torque when the wrench slipped off. I went forward, and smashed my face on the side of the car(I know your laughing right now, bitch) I'm still not sure if I broke my nose. Anyway, I think I'll just use my arms for torque from now on, instead of my entire body. Live and learn.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

just the usual bumps and bruises, smashed knuckles and the like. i had been doing lots of fab work before i left for this current trip and let me tell ya, falling slag (full-out exhaust fab, subframe connector fab, etc.) is HOT and while it doesn't make you bleed, it sure as heck hurts a bunch...especially when you don't want to move for fear of messing up your bead. it leaves quite the scar too.

also, a cutoff wheel on a hand-held grinder will cut through flesh easier than metal.

roachjuice

starter meets shoulder=pain.... and while changing shifter i accidently threw the trans out of park while under the car (the car was on a incline on a driveway and halfway in the street and half in the drive) well forgot to set e brake and my cat like reflexes i got my *** out from under there....

Joez88Camaro

3 stitches once, 1 stitch another time (pissed me off) and numerous first degree burns and little cuts, but they weren't on my personal cars. Pretty much usual crap.

Fast355

iTrader: (2)

Staph infection from getting oil/grease into cuts and scrapes.

rolling-robert

metal stuck in eye when grinding a rounded bolt of my y-pipe,
hurt my back while trying to fit a th350 on my new smallblock,
numerous burns and busted knuckles...

i always use at least 2 jackstands.

86t/a owner

i made the mistake of buying some cheap cutoff wheels for a 4in grinder, the first 3 worked great it was that forth that flew apart and hit my in my forhead, 9 stiches later, i was po about that for a while left a nice scar for a few years lol. other then that just the normal cuts and stuff working out in the junkyard everyday, lots of cuts lol

Air_Adam

Lets see...

- Burns from touching headers on a running small block
- Zapped by the spark plug when I touched it and leaned on the body with an old Flathead V8
- Alternator belt flew off at 4000rpm and slapped my arm around
- Burns from hot oil
- Burns from hot coolant
- BIG shock from not disconnecting the alternator from the battery before I unhooked the back wires, and the wrench touched the motor
- T5 falling on my arm when I thought just the pegs on the block would be enough to hold it up "for now"
- The usual knucle busters
- Hood falling on my head when the hood prop was knocked out

I'm sure theres more as well, but those are just the ones I haven't blocked from memory

si_camaro

You mean, haven't been knocked from memory....

Dropped a cylinder head on my foot once. All hail steel toe capped boots

Burned my arm on a y-pipe whilst trying to remove the starter...should have waited a bit longer.

Cuts, scrapes, touch wood that's all.

Chadster86S10

Yesterday afternoon, after discovering I'd probably have to pull my newly-installed motor, something fell into my eye underneath and ended the workday. This hasn't been my week!

rx7speed

women have their way of doing it.

so do us men.
----------

damn right I am. but can't say much I've done the same

rx7speed

working on friends car putting new shocks on. twisted the old bolt from 1979 too tight and broke it. told my friend and he kicked me.


got used to working on my honda with the hood taht opens in the back. well was working on my mazda getting everything setup and went to stand up after working on the back of the motor. WACK my head goes on the hood. never noticed how nice those hoods that open from the rear are.

working on g/f's car trying to replace the coolant hose. while I was under the car I kept getting pissed on by coolant ever so slowly leaking out so I figure screw this lets just get it over with. tried to stab the hose with the screwdriver and puncture it. well I punctured the hose but the hose clamp stabbed back.

doing a valve lash job on my 76 accord. thing was way off specs and kinda had the clacking sound of a diesel truck. well one of those nuts where tight as can be and so cranked like everyone else would till it gave. and the back of my hand went right across another valve stem and tore the hell out of it. still have that scar.



picking up a rotary motor out of the back of my rx7 and then having a little kid come run right up to you and the motor shifts in your arms to where one of the bolts start stbbing you. it was a junk motor more or less so wouldn't mind just dropping it other then the toes and the little kid under my feet. but having the weight of that thing going into a bolt into the arm sucks.


trying to time my 71 camaro. forgot you don't twist the dizzy from the top but rather do it from the middle. well I learned that day how to do it right.

kinda same thing on my 76 accord. found out how to tell which spark plug wires where bad reall quick. found 2 of them that were bad.

IROCThe5.7L

I just got a ton of cuts doing my plugs, and then doing my headers. Got bloody a few times.

87IROCZ350TPI

I've got more time now to continue telling my stories, but I've decided that there are just WAY too many. Long story short, burned, cut, smashed, scuffed, scraped, rashed, bumped, banged, hit, dripped, hacked, crushed, punctured, and mashed. I know there's more, I'll get back to ya.
----------
I knew your were, bitch

StreetRoc85 350

- Zapped by the spark plug when I touched it and leaned on the body with an old Flathead V8



You aint kidding!!! My dad still has his first car, a 1928 Ford Model A. No spark plug wires, but instead bare copper strips going from dist to plugs. That thing will hit you like a stun gun every time!

87IROCZ350TPI

Oh yeah, that reminds me, zapped, shocked, jolted, dropped, clipped, flipped, slipped, bit, kicked, snapped, and slapped. I'm sure there's more. Talk at ya soon.

TreeFiddy

Last week while working under front end on ramps - weld spatter under bandana into my ear, under helmet into eye, set hair briefly on fire - dropped steering box 6" onto second knuckle middle finger on concrete floor - sat up hard into balancer with forehead - grabbed 500W spotlight to reposition with no glove - no harm done but twas a good day for ow'ies

recaroguy

...

bobdole369

Was trying to get the power steering pump off, hadn't yet found the bolt thats up high under the A/C compressor, was prying with a crowbar with my knees up on the driver side fender. I let her have it, she gave way and I cracked myself in the nugget FULL FORCE. I fell back and hit my head on the pavement, crowbar went jangling away. I sat there for a second waiting for the pain to hit, then I saw red so I jumped up, thats when I saw the gusher of blood from my cranium. It made a quick puddle and it was a steady stream so I knew it was bad. Figuring I just cracked my skull open I jammed my shirt into the wound (which strangely didn't hurt much at all, and in hindsight was probably a bad idea if I HAD fractured my skull, but whatever.) and ran up to my wife yelling "I need help!"

Once I calmed down and she looked at it we realized that head wounds just bleed more since theres more blood up in your head than anywhere else. Bleeding had stopped with the pressure from the shirt. Nice exactly round 1/3 smile wound on the forehead that turned into a wicked scar.

EvilCartman

iTrader: (1)

I did this little number not long ago. Welding the LCA brackets on and went to swipe away a bit of wire. Went right through the leather glove and through my finger. Next day it was starting to get infected, opened it up and cleaned it out. Got a couple good scars on my hands, one from a Cadillac and another from a Toyota. Cadillac scar was from a bracket slicing a layer of skin off when a bolt finally busted loose. The Toyota one was from breaking loose a double nutted deal on the e-brake bracket. Then of course the regular little cuts, scrapes and bonking of head against objects that don't move easy, nothing really serious. The Camaro has been pretty good to me, most serious thing was the hot welding wire making a tunnel in my finger. What have I learned? chit happens

CrazyHawaiian

Things I've learned: Always use 2 or 4 jackstands, Always make sure the floorjack is creeping properly when you lift the car, Once the car is supported by jackstands try to physically push it off the stands before getting under the car, Always chain your front coil springs to the k-member when removing them, Always keep hands away from the torque arm when removing it, Always wait for the car to cool down if possible, Always wear eye protection when working with air tools, Always wear the proper breathing mask when painting or stripping paint, Always use the proper tools instead of whatever works, Always consider what gravity will do before doing it, Always properly torque bolts when required with a torque wrench, Always research what you're doing before you do it, When in doubt take a break and think about it, and last but not least, wash all cuts/burns ASAP, and wash out your eye/mouth if you spill something by accident (transmission fluid tastes like crap)

rolling-robert

scars on your face looks BADA$$!!!

shaggy56

Just the usual busted nuckles and what not. I had a person in my office tell me of someone in their family who used cinder blocks to hold up a car while working underneath. To make a long story short that person no longer is living and proves to always use the proper equipment. When I was younger I have been guilty of doing dumb things like this. I always use heavy duty jackstands that overly exceed the weight im putting on them now.

rx7speed

just wondering what is so bad about cinder blocks?


I know my friend only uses big old pieces of wood. like ol' railroad ties. is that bad juju?

shaggy56

When I said the person was no longer living I was hoping you would get the clue. For those that didnt get it the cinder blocks caved and so did the relatives head to put it bluntly.

gray89vert

iTrader: (3)

cuts, bruises, multiple burns, lots of blood...One time I was working on brakes on my sisters grand am and the shop that did them last put them on so tight that when i broke a bolt loose i slipped forward and hit my adams apple on the fender. thats not fun.

pmpn

Turning flexplate with a common screwdriver resulted in 10 stitches on my thumb; screwdriver slipped off, those teeth are sharper than you'd think. Been zapped a few times adjusting my timing.

rx7speed

sorry didn't mean to ask what could happen to the person but rather what could happen to the cinder blocks

urbanhunter44

iTrader: (3)

my hands are totally scarred over from scrapes and cuts. I've been burned on exhaust pipes a few times (catalytic converters are HOT), I've breathed in freon and got all ****ed up and high off it (accidently lol), arc welded off the battery a couple times.

Most of the bad **** I did when i was more inexperienced, either that or I've been lucky recently

ResurrectingZ

Okay I know this has not much relevance here, my friend got 17 staples across his scalp from my old 86' IROC, I just got one hell of a rash across my forehead. All in less than 2 seconds... If ya want pics I could get one.

84z28350

How about a bit of the story?!

iroczracer07

iTrader: (2)

I've just gotten the usual cuts and scrapes, but I know of a guy who was probably more unlucky than anyone else. This is not Two guys were working on an 89 chevy pick up. The problem was a clunking noise coming from underneath the truck. Neither of them can tell if it was the universal joint or the trans mount. You'd think that one of them would have thought to push up on the driveshaft to see if the mount would move, but nope, never occured to them. Instead, one of them decided that his buddy should drive the car down the expressway while he hung on underneath, so he'd have a better view to diagnose the problem. To make a long story short, he lost his grip and his friend wound up running him over. Worse, he didn't even know he'd done it until he got back to his house and his friend was nowhere in sight.

87IROCZ350TPI

Hell yeah I want pics.

12SecondTA

wow, i've had metal lodged in my hands from removing the transmision, got the scar.

Cuts/burns usuall...

Threw out my back more then once.

Cut the tip of my finger off with a drill.... dont ask, but you dont need special bit to cut a semi straight line... I have the bit framed with the leftover unreattachable tissue!

had to get eye surgery from not washing rust out of my eye, coolest thing is, they do eye surgery while your awake!!! you can see them drilling the rust out!

urbanhunter44

iTrader: (3)

That's slightly dumber than this:

87IROCZ350TPI

HOLY S***!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JB22

I love the block behind the rear tire.

priceless

87IROCZ350TPI

LOL! I didn't even notice that!

Air_Adam

Brave.

iceman02

iTrader: (1)

Porting a set of iron heads, I was using some old school safety glasses that were only clear glasses with wire mesh at the sides, I got metal in my eyes. I toughed it out, but days later it was worse. Turns out the iron rusted away, but left rust rings on my eyeball. An eye doctor had to use a tool to grind the remaining rust spots off my eye....not fun at all!

StreetRoc85 350

not quite thirdgen related but 12secTA, i feel your pain, literally. I was once frustrated with my car and in one of my moments of infinite wisdom, i stabbed a butterfly knife into a table. The knife stuck in and my hand slid down the blade, off comes my pinky at the first joint. 3 1/2 hours of reconstructive surgery and 32 stiches later and now i can kinda wiggle it again. Nothing beats watching your finger swaying in the breeze though.....