You know when it is time to stop working on the car when...

So I took the trans for the AspireR/T over to a buddys to make sure there was no damage to it, JTP had put Festy guts in the OE Aspire case but when they assembled the car it made lovely noises in neutral, 1, 2 and 3. Sam checked it out and found one too many spacers on one shaft so he figures that is the problem. He is rushed by the non paying assbag of a buddy so he doesn't get to actually "test" it out. Sunday around 10:00am I get it to the garage and notice that there is no neutral. So I crack the case back open and notice the shifter mechanism is a little wonky, I found a burr on the gate selector kaaping the T from bottoming like it should. I reassembled it and hooked it to the engine, put the engie and transmission in the car and get the axles and lubricants in for the big test...

Fire the car up and it runs like a top with the clutch i! Woo Hoo!

Place shifter in Neutral and let out clutch,,, no sounds!!! Hell berkeley yeah!

Place shifter in first and let out clutch... Steel marbles in a sealed tin can being shaken by a paint shaker... BOOO!

Check celly for the time: 1:00AM

Berkeley this E36 M3 I need a shower and a bed.

Apparently the only Aspire transmissions left are made of unobtainium and are $500.00 each minimum so I am looking for alternat drivetrains and came across this:

http://detroit.craigslist.org/cto/903468305.html

We all know I am a class A idiot but what are the chances peg 3 will acually fit into hole A?

A 1.8L V6 AspireR/T would be fargin helarious

JmfnB wrote: what are the chances peg 3 will acually fit into hole A?

Who cares as long as you're good with a sawzall and a welder!

Great with a sawzall better with duct tape.

HA! You know its time to stop working on the car when....

Saturday I am alone in the garage fitting the front passenger down tube to the main hoop on my E30 cage... have it tied in place while I measure the angle the notch needs. All is well... bends are good, nice and tight to the roof... climb in and crawl up to mark it with the soapstone OUCH, kneeled right on a piece of cut steel. I jump up, hit head on pipe, string breaks, pipe falls on the back of my head... I fall backward... ebrake rapes me.

So, bloody knee, two lumps on the head, big bruise/scratch on an azz cheek. Break time!

you know its time to stop when:

last week i was pulling the now seized alternator out of the 924, couldnt get the rear cover off to disconnect wires (it has a "ram air" type cooling duct on the back of the alt, fed by an air tube) I get frustrated, set it on the lower rad hose and wiggle further under the car to put the clutch inspection plate back on. alt falls on my crotch, causing me to sit up bashing my head into the oil pan... i may start wearing a cup while working on the car, and a helmet....

This is too funny! Only because now it's someone else, instead of me. Been there, done that.....

Bypassing the heater core on a '94 Ford Tempo 3.0L V6 in a dark parking lot on a cold night, with only a pair of slip joint pliers to grip the Satan-himself designed spring clamps (which were of course rotated towards the firewall). I couldn't get my hands where I wanted to be, so I screamed a primal scream, thrust the pliers in and wrenched one of the clamps free. I then repeated the same procedure to remove the other clamp. Finally put in the heater hose joint (with proper worm clamps).

I went inside and looked at my hands. I looked like I had been in a bare-knuckled boxing match with a brick wall. My wife about fainted. I spent the next while cleaning out the cuts and gashes. It was then I realized that it wasn't grease that kept making my grip slip, it was blood. My hands were useless for a few days after that. I should have just driven the car another day or two until I could get to my toolbox and let the heater core leak.

I walked head-on into the arm of an engine hoist once while going to set the lift chain on a 302. Probably got a concussion and I still have the notch in my forehead. I just sat down in the driveway and told my dad I'd put the engine on the stand tomorrow.

slefain wrote: I walked head-on into the arm of an engine hoist once while going to set the lift chain on a 302. Probably got a concussion and I still have the notch in my forehead. I just sat down in the driveway and told my dad I'd put the engine on the stand tomorrow.

Ohhh... I know that feeling - I slipped in antifreeze and rung my bell on the hoist pulling the motor out of my friends M3 last winter. It is amazing how hard you can hit your head in 3'. I had blurred vision for about 10 minutes.

It might be easier if I tell you the one time I didn't cut, bruise or fall when working on a car

it is time to stop when the beer fridge is empty or the wood burning heater runs out of wood to burn for heat.

You know when it is time to stop working on the car when...

...the Challenge is over. Duh.

you bought the car and it didn't fit in the garage (well it fits but you can't do anything in the garage without climbing on the car or under the car) Maybe it's time for a new garage.

While drilling out pop rivets on the racecar, I figured I'd help the drill bit out by pushing a little harder. Yep- the bit broke, the drill motor and stub slipped, and I drilled right through my thumb nail and out the other side. Ever try to manipulate the chuck key to pull the bit out of the drill motor using one hand? When I finally got the bit out of the drill, I had to figure out which way to pull the bit out of my thumb-continue going through, or twist it in reverse to back it out. It didn't hurt(or bleed)too much until I finally backed the bit out. You know that sicky feeling you get, along with the sweats, when you really hurt yourself, before the pain starts? It was then that I knew it was Miller Time.

It's time to stop when your wife catches you cursing a storm and kicking the garage door @ 1 am..

I was finishing up the front suspension on the J-H recently, there are two big cup shaped washers on the suspension tension rods that somehow were bent almost flat on one side. The cup needs to be there for centering puropses, I didn't have any extras and my brain said ' just hammer it back into shape'. So I grabbed a pair of Vise Grips, laid the washer on my vise and went to smackin'. I couldn't get the angle just right with the Vise Grips so my brain said 'Hold it with your fingers'. And that's why my brain should be locked away where it can't do me any more harm, I had been working on stuff so long that I was dog tired and my aim was off. I just got the blood blister removed last night and I did this almost 2 weeks ago.

Minimac, I totally relate:

You know it's time to stop working on the car when you're grinding out an aluminum intake by yourself with no one to call 911, the titanium bit snaps off and grabs at your jeans and twists it until it stops the motor. If I'd been wearing shorts I'd be 1-legged, or dead...

(yes I was doing this all on the floor because I didn't have a proper vice on a bench to work, shame on me)

Another time I had to stop working on the car was when rewiring the XR4Ti with the old wiring I connected the battery to have a bright white arc come across and wires started melting and burning in the engine bay, we had a couple of crossed connectors (not my fault) but man was it scary having to disconnect the battery while all this was happening...

Come to think of it I've had more near-death experiences working on our Merkur than the rest of my life combined, and we've only had it a couple years, things don't bode well...

JmfnB wrote: http://detroit.craigslist.org/cto/903468305.html

The rims on that MX3 are kind of rare and fit well and look good on a Miata. I used to have a set. In the US that rim was only offered on the high end model for 1994 & 1995 (the last two years of the model in the US and the years of its lowest sales numbers.)

The look of the rims sort of mirrors the rims on the final RX7's

http://www.mx-3.com/rims/

slefain wrote: I walked head-on into the arm of an engine hoist once while going to set the lift chain on a 302. Probably got a concussion and I still have the notch in my forehead. I just sat down in the driveway and told my dad I'd put the engine on the stand tomorrow.

Nice.

While running a Goodyear tire store I decided to help out the techs by doing a flat repair. I used the service jack and popped the tire off, repaied it and the phone started ringing off the hook. I grabbed 4 calls in a row and noticed the techs didn't finish putting the wheel back on the car. I got all huffy and stomped out to the car. Now to protect our customers cars we modified the jack handles to not fold too close to the car, funny thing is that at the angle the jack was at you couldn't see the top of the handle if you were (1) mad (2) rushing around (3) not looking... As I came flying in I grabbed for the hose of impact gun on the ground and blasted myself in the forehead.

The customer had to go over to the techs smoking on the side of the building to tell them I have been laying on the ground with blood pouring out of my head for a half an hour!

JmfnB wrote: ....and blasted myself in the forehead.The customer had to go over to the techs smoking on the side of the building to tell them I have been laying on the ground with blood pouring out of my head for a half an hour!

Good thing it was your head-you might have hurt yourself if it got you in the goulies.

minimac wrote: You know that sicky feeling you get, along with the sweats, when you really hurt yourself, before the pain starts? It was then that I knew it was Miller Time.

That has to end up in the magazine!!!

Joey (who just realized this summer that Miller Lite makes a good substitute for Hacker Schorr. Well, not really, but its about twice as cheap)