Dumb Axx

My starter gear chewed up this past week. Can you guess why? I was confused and perplexed till I figured it out. Now I realize it was a dumb mistake. The fact that I post this photo is a clue in of itself:

To give you some background. I have not always been a gear head so to speak. I built r/c model airplanes for a long time. I am not talking about buying planes from Hobby town and flying them, I built planes from scratch.

Often things worked out well but often things did not. It's funny because when things would fail I would always blame the "G)@ DA)# builder (which was me).

But along the way I would learn; and learning and expanding your skills is the fun of it.

Here is a 34lb 100cc 10hp scale airplane built from scratch. The first one I built I planted over a foot into the ground.

The point being.....

If you do nothing you will never do anything. Sometimes simple mistakes which are not that hard trip us all up. SOOO I ask,

What are some stupid mistakes you have made we all need to know about!!??

Ok, I'll take a guess. I see you have a 400 block there; maybe wrong size / # of teeth on the flywheel?

Neat airplane too.

quote:

Originally posted by UFO-LOW:
Ok, I'll take a guess. I see you have a 400 block there; maybe wrong size / # of teeth on the flywheel?

Neat airplane too.

Nope. I'll bet someone has done it though.

forgot to take the tennis balls off?

Well. It was a dumb axx and simple mistake. At least I feel better no one sees it yet.

No..but believe it or not, the answer is in the photo.

Your dust shield has dropped to the right---looks like a dowel pin is out. I doubt if that was the problem since the starter bolts to bell housing studs. Hard to see details.

It's just loose from being unbolted.

It is difficult to see. What kind of flywheel is that? Something looks strange with the surface but it's hard to see in the picture. It looks like the flywheel is on backwards---I have never seen one that could possible be installed wrong or even if the holes would line up on the crank since they are not symmetrical. The gear is flush with the disk surface but there are so many variations of parts now, maybe the flywheel is thinner than normal or the picture is not reading right. Hints? I love puzzles.

Yep, flywheel is on backwards. I still can't figure out how or why I did it. I googled the starter depth/ engagement and that was the first question wich kept coming up. As soon as I looked at it I just smacked my forehead!

Winter is coming up and I have the transaxle out so I am going to get the pinion gear changed. This is a tq based engine with 15" gr4 wheels. 60mph in 5th I need to shift again.

I contacted one company and they said I needed to change my tire to a 17-18 inch tire. I was kind of insulted. I thought no..the car rim and tire is what I want...I need the gear ratio changed.

You are my hero for posting this. And yes I have done worse to the level of double "Dumb Axx"

Looks like the BOO-BOO didn't destroy the any big ticket items so congrats.

If you own a Pantera long enough, $#!T happens!

Sometimes when you branch out to new things simple unknown things can trip you up...so ... what are other simple things that have tripped you up?

My mechanical fuel pump was dead, and on replacing it with a new one, the bolt was a bit difficult to get screwed into the block. Afraid I was cross threading it, I took the new fuel pump off and was trying to screw the bolt into the block to confirm all was O.K., when fumble, fumble, plop, it falls through the hole in the block. I can just reach it with my finger tips, when oh, no... it falls into the sump... So that little exercise ended in a marathon of taking off the sump, cleaning it all out, new gaskets and getting and 3 hours of getting it back on again whilst laying under the car - the clearances with frame rails, shifter rod, baffles etc in the sump, pickup etc meant the planets had to be alligned perfectly to get it on. And following the normal 'whilst I'm in there' syndrome, new heater hoses, shut off valves new radiator hoses throughout, new fuel lines... Good news was, the threads weren't cross threaded and there is not a trace of leakage from the sump gaskets a year later.

I had one of those! Lucky on an engine stand I was turning the oil pump with a drill. I had a socket on the end of a drive. Pulling it out the socket fell off. After an hour of lights and magnets it was no where to be found. I had to disassemble the front of the engine to find it and it still took a long time to find. Turns out it was hiding behind the timing gear. Glad the engine was not in the car.

I welded the socket on after that.

The first engine I rebuilt (at 16 years old, in my defense) I put the caps on the rods backwards. After torquing up the first three or four the crank wouldn't turn. Apparently the stampings on the caps were much more easily read than on the rods. Not realizing they were stamped in both locations, and lacking the experience to know it made a difference, on they went.

Fortunately it only cost me a few bearings, and a bit of pride when my buddies found out.

God, so many where to begin? rebuilt the engine (I am currently on engine #5) 20+ years ago, installed it and something was not right, now you know how long everything takes, I was ready to turn the key and through the windshield, hanging on the wall a single head gasket, NO it can't be
but it was, humility is a learned behavior.

Lol

"No! It can't be!"

I have definitely been there!

God my first was when I decided to do my own brakes on my 70 Torino all by myself when I was 16 years old. Rear drums to be exact. I was so proud when I got the car back together with everything back in place, and no extra parts to boot.

In Virginia we had safety inspections(well they still do) after getting the car to the inspection station they pulled the car into the bay to check it. Everything was going well till he removed the drum to look at the shoes. The mechanic turns and looks at me and asks if I did the brakes, I said yes. He sternly tells me "The PRIMARY SHOE ALWAYS goes to the front!"
Well I did feel like the dumb axx.

UPDATE:

Flywheel NOT on backwards! Looks like flywheel was for rear mount starter with gear aligned with aft side of flywheel.

Learn something every day.

On behalf of a friend...

Back in high school a buddy had just got his first car, a 1966 Mustang couple with a 289. Like most first cars, it was imperfect. Lots of rust (we found a license plate laid up in the Bondo to add structure), an old battery and it seemed like gas was working its way down into the oil.

On this particular afternoon, the Mustang didn't want to start. A debate ensued among us 16 year olds as to the proper way to jump-start a car. My friend pointed out going to the battery with ground could cause an explosion if the battery was defective now due to its age. I pointed out that his engine compartment smelled like the inside of a gas tank, and sparks might not be a good idea.

Ultimately we decided his car, his choice. After pulling several sparks on his first attempt to hook the ground to the engine he made a second effort and snapped into place. Almost immediately the gas in the oil ignited and exploded inside of the engine. Flames blew out maybe 18" from around the head gaskets, the valve covers, out the carb and around the intake. I'm guessing they came out lower down on the block, too, but fortunately I wasn't close enough to see. In addition to the flames, the dipstick shot out hitting one of our friends, and the press-on breather shot off the valve cover, ricocheted off of his hood, then mine and finally lodged in the hood hinge. Then the oil slowly drained from the engine into a puddle on the ground.

Fortunately, nobody was hurt beyond my one friend being hit in the head with the dipstick, but the Mustang was a mess. We still laugh about that day, some thirty years ago.

If it's OK to post other people's dumb ass actions, here goes. The first car we bought for my wife was a Renault 5, first year, where the engine turns the other way than later models. Had it a few years, then it started acting up in the transmission. My neighbor bought it, installed a later gearbox, and all was fine, except he now had a car with 1 gear forward and 4 gears reverse. True story