What puts you into a tool-throwing rage the best?

Will wrote: The worst for me is when I remove whatever it is I'm replacing (which is usually in pretty good shape) in order to "upgrade" with a part that it turns out doesn't fit, doesn't work, isn't threaded, etc. Bonus points for when I destroy the perfectly good OEM part in the course of its removal.

Ah yes, like the plugwires I ordered online that are like half a foot too short.... I conveniently forgot the other thing that doth truly pisseth me off. Bolts that break, usually below the surface, AFTER they've been cracked loose and are on their way OUT... Yep. That does it.

Just a thought on reducing frustration changing tires. If you look to see where the drop center is on the wheel you'll know which side of the rim the tire's supposed to come off of. If you don't you have a very good chance of effing up the tire or rim or both.

multi belts / V-belts (or whatever) on FWD imports with tiny engine bays and no access through the wheel well to the accessories...nuff said

audifan wrote: ...my best damage story was replacing the starter in my 78 fiesta (stop laughing it had double 40 DCOE's on it) ...

You're new here. This crowd would never laugh at a 78 Fiesta, even without the cool carbs.

ArtOfRuin wrote: What angers me the most is when a seemingly simple job turns into a major undertaking, whether its due to a broken fastener, my inexperience as a mechanic, or an unexpected new problem that pops up out of nowhere.

That statement pretty much sums up every single time I work on the car! I dread telling my wife I need to do something to the car. I don't believe I've ever thrown a tool, but I've come really close on many occasions. I have screamed myself hoarse, tho.

My latest was just a couple weeks ago. My upper strut mounts and bearings were toast. Actually, the driver's side had no bearing left at all, it had disintegrated. I bought stock replacements, not realizing they would not work with the coilovers I had. This was a Friday afternoon and I had to have the car running by Monday, so I ordered the correct bearings for Saturday delivery. You can imagine the shipping costs on that.

Bearings came on Saturday and I went to work. Got both sides done and all put together quickly. That's always a danger sign... when things start going well. Sure enough, on the first side I did, I noticed that I had screwed up and mangled the brand new bearing!!! Fortunately, the old bearing that wasn't destroyed was still in decent shape, so I reused it. I'm sure I'll have to replace that again soon, but I made it to work Monday!

Walking into the garage and realizing that my parents "cleaned up" the workbench and put "my tools away". Happens everytime and I always end up losing misc. parts and a lot of time looking for MY tools in their toolbox mixed in with Standard sizes.

And that's why I keep the Garage Majal locked up tight. It might look like a war zone in there but dammit I can find everything I need (eventually).

Wearing gloves to avoid small cuts and scrapes on your hands, only to have a frame rail take half the skin off the outside of your forearm (still have the scar!).

That happened while replacing the Saturn's clutch...I had the one halfshaft out of the trans so I could slide the trans sideways, and I was pushing the halfshaft back up towards the diff case, and it got caught on something I couldn't see, and I pushed and pushed and it finally got uncaught and flew upwards.