Horror stories/lessons learned

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

OK, here's one. Don't use heat to free up a CMP brass fuel tank change switch. The heat is doing it work until...BANG...a 3/4" diameter section of the switch body bursts free and shoots upwards with enough force to make a hole in the corrugated metal roofing above. Your head is inches away from it's trajectory which is much like standing down range during target practice.

Bloody switch was NFG afterwards too.

[Robin Craig]

Stay away from stupid people and their activities.

I have found to my cost that some stupid people can not be helped and need to be left alone to collect their own Darwin award.

When you spidey senses trip and you think the bloke in front of you is an idiot for doing what he is doing he likely is.

R

[chris vickery]

Flathead Ford water pump bearings... do not try to remove shaft from bearing.
Bad things happen. Bearing become hand grenade, shrapnel goes everywhere. These are not meant to be pressed out as they are a double groove shaft with ball type bearings running the circumference of said shaft.
Bad bearing, bad.

[Rob Dyba]

Do not cut sheet steel or use a grinder if you have a battery on charge in the vicinity, lots of grinder sparks, that 1 metre cut is nearly finished when BOOM! bits of battery hit you in the back of the head, and battery acid is running down the back of your neck...

Hydrogen from the battery charging process and grinder sparks do not go well together...

A lesson already known, but forgot it was there on charge... won't forget that one again!

Rob.

[rob love]

Originally Posted by robobmc

Do not cut sheet steel or use a grinder if you have a battery on charge in the vicinity, lots of grinder sparks, that 1 metre cut is nearly finished when BOOM! bits of battery hit you in the back of the head, and battery acid is running down the back of your neck...

Hydrogen from the battery charging process and grinder sparks do not go well together...

A lesson already known, but forgot it was there on charge... won't forget that one again!

Rob.

Same goes for sparks and open solvent baths...especially when you strengthen the solvent with naptha. She goes WOOF.

Keep the solvent bath lid closed.

[charlie fitton]

Originally Posted by chris vickery

Flathead Ford water pump bearings... do not .........
Bad bearing, bad.

One of the easiest things I've ever rebuilt...

[RichardT10829]

Cover up when doing hot jobs.... My pal was branded last week helping me set some rivets into plate work for a mate.... Told him to wear coveralls and gauntlets he refused and wore a T shirt and now he is scar'd for life.

[Lionelgee]

G'day All,

Horror Stories and Lessons learnt - do not visit military restoration forums, prior to this I only had two cars in the family; one the long distance good car and the other my wife's nip around town car. Oh and I had a 1935 civilian truck.

I happened to buy a 1940 Chevrolet Holden built cabin truck which I was going to drop a big block Chevy motor into and customise. However, someone sent me an email to say look out for military markings on the truck. I looked and there were and before I knew it I became infected with a khaki paint disease. Now I have the Chevrolet truck and 3 ex military Land Rovers which I will make one good one out of. Oh and I have some civilian Land Rovers too of numbers I am not prepared to admit to.

So Horror Stories and Lessons Learnt - be very careful about visiting such friendly and really helpful sites as this one. Before you know it you are addicted to 74 to 68 year old pieces of rusty metal and the pursuit of trying to breath life back into them.

Kind Regards
Lionel

[Dparker]

should have read the "F" ing manual- I got my M37 stuck up to the axles tried to tow out with 95 Bronco- not even close. decided to draw out 100' of winch cable and looped around base of good size tree- engaged winch and took up the slack and awaited the result of 10,000lbs of winch-then explosive snap! cable completely blows apart in all directions- good thing i was in the cab a buddy was well back ( he must have the sensible gene) im thinking those WWII winches dont have shearpins. tied broken ends of cable together, should have used gloves as metal is very sharp, but this time after being questioned by other survivor put the truck in first gear to help the winch a little and viola truck out of bog. I should read more

[CWO (ret) Gilles Aubé]

Black Sunday for 3BAM

What follows is a recap of our mission and I am certain never to forget it! No sooner had we arrived at the armoury then we found we had a problem with our transportation. We had planned to take both 25-pdr howitzers to salute the Korean destroyer Dae Jo Yeong that was visiting the port of Montreal that day. I wanted to take no chances whatsoever; if we had a problem with one gun, we could transfer the unfired ammo to the other one. Unfortunately, as neither FAT wanted to start up we had to content ourselves with using a pick-up as a gun tractor, meaning we could take only one gun. En route with our lone gun, the 5lb fire extinguisher in back of the truck went off as a result of the truck braking too suddenly, leaving a snowy white coating of dry chemical powder over EVERYTHING.

Arriving at the port, we took up our place near the old clock tower, thinking our problems were finally over. The ship duly arrived and fired its allotted 11 shots and it was our turn to reply. Again, no problems until the 8th shot was loaded and the firing lever pulled. We had a misfire right in front of the navy boys with Commodore at the head of the delegation. We had no choice but to enact misfire drill and 30 minutes later, upon examination of the misfired cartridge, that the cause of the misfire was a complete absence of gunpowder in the casing. The person who prepared the 12 cartridges obviously forgot to load the powder into that one.
The lesson drawn from this event: from this moment on, the person preparing the ammo will always be watched over by another member when preparing the ammo.

Aside from these little problems, everything was fine.

P.S. I forgot to mention that I am the one who prepared the ammo.
Gilles

[chris vickery]

Originally Posted by Dparker

should have read the "F" ing manual- I got my M37 stuck up to the axles tried to tow out with 95 Bronco- not even close. decided to draw out 100' of winch cable and looped around base of good size tree- engaged winch and took up the slack and awaited the result of 10,000lbs of winch-then explosive snap! cable completely blows apart in all directions- good thing i was in the cab a buddy was well back ( he must have the sensible gene) im thinking those WWII winches dont have shearpins. tied broken ends of cable together, should have used gloves as metal is very sharp, but this time after being questioned by other survivor put the truck in first gear to help the winch a little and viola truck out of bog. I should read more

Winching can be one of the most dangerous operations done incorrectly. People die or are seriously injured.
Next time throw a chain over the taunt cable, it will act like an arrestor if the cable should snap. Also, shear pins are your friend.