worst mistake you have made?
Turbo Mini Forums

now everyone has blank moments so what was your worst mistake.
Mine was when i was doing a headgasket change, put all the engine back together then noticed the headgasked sat on the workbench.

i also had to re-wire my starter, then when i went to re-start it, it didnt work. I spent 3 hours checking my wiring, just to find it it my cut off switch

Edited by Mini_Andy on 13th Apr, 2006.

Ive turned an engine over trying to get oil pressure not noticing that i left the copper washers from the banjo pipe out, most of the oil went on the drive :(

Manchester Minis

i think my worst one was when we fully built up my new rear subframe, just about to go fit it to the car and i found the 2 trunion nuts in my pocket, had to rip it apart again just to put em back on

my usual mistake though is forgetting to put the manifold gasket on.....d'oh.

Ive used bolts that were too long to bolt the engine mount to the bell housing. One of the bolts went through one of the holes in the flywheel and locked it in position so that the engine wouldnt turn over when i put it in the car, when i took my "siezed" engine out of the car it started to turn over again when i removed the wok, haha!

Previous Engine: 1040cc Morespeed engine, 1275 turbo head T2 Turbo Mirage Manifolds Megajolt
Previous engine: STD metro turbo, megajolt
Drives: 399bananahp (flywheel) Honda Civic Vtec b18c4 T28 Turbo 1968 Mini

Megajolt maps to download: http://www.jamesfawcett.co.uk/cms/index.ph...&gid=3&Itemid=3

Haven't you forgotten a certain "washer" incident feebs LOL!

I think my worst one was dropping a nut when changing a clutch on my old Pug, couldn't find it so assumed it had fucked off down the pit or something.
Finish job, fire engine up, it drives 1/2 a mile down the road and then there is an almighty thump and it stops dead.
After much fucking about we find that said nut had gone down a hole and was sat on the trigger wheel of the flywheel, and had somehow got shaken into the missing tooth, and had then gone round the bell housing and wiped out crank sensor. new crank sensor £150, all for the sake of a M8 nut..........

My dad once finished doing the head gasket on a customers Sierra Cosworth, and fired it up. I looked over from what I was doing and could see the full can of oil still on the floor, raced over and switched it off, and got a roar off my dad "What the fuck are you doing!?".
Held up the full oil can and he suddenly went rather pale in colour.
Pair or cams, 16 followers and another group A head gasket (£85) later and it was mended, this time put oil in.

my mistakes were called Emma then Natalie.

Team Racing

picking up my car on 2 trolley jacks and leaving the bits of wood sat on the floor next to them :( 2 nicely indented brand new sills and a creased floor

I've seen the future and tbh its Pie

i did exactly the same like you feebs!!!
good to know, that i am not the only one...

http://www.minifreunde.at

ive done the same as feebs. woops

Oh god, I'm going to be embarrassed now. I called the AA when my oil light came on, they towed me home as we were all unsure as to whether it was an oil pump failure or an electrical fault.

It was the water light :$

I don't tell that to many people! :$

I changed my front pads and didn’t pump the brake pedal. Jumped into my car, started it up and drove off, put my foot on the brake to stop and the pedal went straight to the floor. I ended up demolishing my neighbours garage door!

er...where to begin, my whole spanner wielding life has been a catalogue of mistakes, the best way to learn i hear....

started my old 1380 up with no oil pressure sensor in the block, covering my mate and the garage wall in oil.

the most idiotic thing ive seen as upside down followers im my mates rebuild.

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

oh, and i once let my mate have a few laps in my old cooper at a trackday.

i was in the passenger seat, on one bend he was screaming the bolloxs off the engine in 3rd, so i shout 'for fucks sake change gear' and so he puts it into 2nd...

new big ends and g/box please.

lesson learnt, be VERY careful who you let drive your pride and joy.

I guess everything happens for a reason though, that was my first rebuild, and thats when i realised i love tinkering with engines so...silver lining an all...

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

Most stupid (there are many) could be I spent ages looking at fuses, checking plugs and wires when the electric windows wouldn't go up on our subaru. Then a friend pointed out I knocked the 'lock' switch.

Most painful would be when I picked up a piece of metal that I had just cut using an oxy-acetylene torch, but I didn't realise there was a hole in the thumb of my glove...

Then there's the trike incident - both stupid and painful :(

Edited by Neil8p on 13th Apr, 2006.

Silliest mistake:
Me being a sensible type - whenever the turbo / intercooler / carb / whatever intake is open - I stuff a clean rag - or more favourably some clean sheets of tissue into the intake to stop dirt entering.

One time - 1 day before Avon - I was re-assembling the engine in the car. And because i'd got the tissue so well wedged in the intake, I couldn't see it from above. Intake hose on, carbn on, etc. Start er up, and it all sounds a bit funny!

Spent the next 6 hours stripping and washing out the turbo, intercooler pipes, intercooler, etc....


STUPIDEST mistake I ever REALLY made though - was this:
http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=4739
I was exceptionally lucky that day. Things could have been soooooo much worse.

Edited by turbodave16v on 13th Apr, 2006.

mine was dropping a bloody 17mm spanner into my clutch housing through the holes i'd bored into it. , who would have thought that cold happen eh!. goes to show though.
carl

WWW.FORCE-RACING.CO.UK PLEASE CLICK HERE

pmsl

Previous Engine: 1040cc Morespeed engine, 1275 turbo head T2 Turbo Mirage Manifolds Megajolt
Previous engine: STD metro turbo, megajolt
Drives: 399bananahp (flywheel) Honda Civic Vtec b18c4 T28 Turbo 1968 Mini

Megajolt maps to download: http://www.jamesfawcett.co.uk/cms/index.ph...&gid=3&Itemid=3

I'm with Jim on this one!!

Even the stig made a mistake

Metro turbo weekend driver,Mini turbo in the making again!

i think my all time biggest mistake ever has got to be whilst doing a 4 wheel alignment check on a shogun, id forgot to put it in park. and guess what whilst the said vehicle was about 5 ft up in the air on a ramp it rolled off the turn tables, rolled off the ramp, landed on the 4 wheel alignment computer, back end of car hit a beam on the ceiling smashing the the lights and the roof of the car, the towbar of the car hooked on the cross bit of the ramp and tugged the ramp and the ramp fell to pieces.

that was not a good day

p.s i did try to catch it but it was a bit to heavey for me

no longer a series, but still 1.3 turbo.

i would of paid money to see that!!!!!!!!!!

balls to the blower!!!



1330,stage3 head, gt1549, canems ecu, S/C box and drops

mine was at work. i work on tornado f3 fighter jets. my boss is a stickler for making sure split pins are vertical if possible. i was tightening a 35mm nut and bolt up and thought it wasn't quite straight, so i tried to turn it using an open ended spanner. (bearing in mind this jet was jacked up) so i was balancing on a wheel with my head not far from the spanner. then as i got to the point where i was lifting my body weight up, it slipped off and cracked me straight in the face.

20 mins later i'm in the back of an ambulance with severe concussion, a heavily broken nose and a 2 inch slice of my face peeled open.

i still havent lived it down!!!!

balls to the blower!!!



1330,stage3 head, gt1549, canems ecu, S/C box and drops

I've had a few wheel nut incidents..

Worst one was when I replaced the wheel on my Grandads trailer and fergot to do the nuts up. Two miles down the road, the wheel shot off and very almost took a few cars out. It caused a traffic jam, nightmare!