What are some opportunities missed, wrenching fuckups, or any other "that's a shame" moments?
>sister offers to get me a '91 Toyota Celica GT through another distant relative
>cool price of $1000
>con: no pink slip
>pros: manual, totally clean interior, AC and heater and all other electronics still working, 100k-some miles, no accidents, all it needed was brake adjustment
>car sits in my driveway for four months because I can't legally drive it on roads
>end up falling for the BMW meme and buy a '81 E21 for $1300, spend at least the same amount on repairs and it still has problems to this day
>AC, heater, and defrosters don't work, have had to replace: ignition lock cylinder, control arm bushings, water pump, starter relay kit, muffler tail end
>one notable incident included the sunroof ripping off on freeway, drove it with a gaping hole on top for about 3 months before finally getting the thing welded on
>still think about Celica to this day
>replacing head gasket
>put new gasket in, spray with copper spray to make sure it sticks and torque head down
>forgot timing cover that needs to go on before the head
>have to buy another head gasket and put another hour of my time into sanding the copper coat off the head
fuck it ill bite
>working on pic related
>doing valve cover gaskets
>pain in the ass to get the valve cover on and off because the back of it is under a lip above the firewall
>also removing the "eccentric shaft sensor", which is accessible once the valve cover is off.
>its held in by three screws, guide i'm reading says the screws are set such a way that they cant fall into the engine during removal
>during removal, one of them falls into the timing chain valley at the front
"FUCK OH FUCK FUCK ME FUCK FUCK SHIT FUCK"
>freak the fuck out, thinking it's lodged somewhere in the chain guides and if i ever start the engine again it'll rip itself apart.
>break every speed limit going to lowes to get one of those grabby claw things for picking up screws
>VERY carefully extract screw (it was perched perfectly where two of the chains crossed)
funny part was that i could have just shaken the chains to make the screw fall down, then taken the oil pan off to get the screw out. i wasn't thinking of that at the time amid the PANIC
>not getting my license until i was 21
honestly I've gotten laid a good amount in life but I've missed out on a lot of pussy for having a license or car. same with job opportunities
>>16663913
'salright, didn't get mine until 23 after i had a proper job post college
>not getting into diesel trucks earlier
Bought a 10mpg gas truck at 18... could have saved alot of $$
>>16663913
same man, had to wait and now I'm about to turn 23 and my insurance is still raping my shit.
>>16663906
You'd never get that oil pan off with the subframe in the vehicle. Ask me how I know.
>>16662840
>changing oil on mom's car
>dont check block for oil filter gasket coming off with filter because I was tired/ forgot
>install new filter
>install plug
>lower it off hoist
>fill with oil
>start up
>dont look under
>reverse
>see oil puddle
>shut off
>check oil filter in bucket
>realize what I did
>fix mistake
>top up oil
>shamefully clean floor
>mom still thanks me for doing her oil change
>live in salt belt
>lug nuts rusted on
>trying to break them lose with breaker bar
>not budging at all
>put all my weight on it
>finally comes loose
>smack into the side of the car and scratch it with my glasses
w-woops
>removing engine in Miata
>undoing accessories
>get to a/c compressor
>unbolting things
>absentmindedly unbolt one of the hard lines 99% of the way
>lift compressor out of the w-KABOOM
>fucking jesus
>Usain Bolt halfway across the neighborhood at incredible hihg speed
>don't touch car for 3 days afterwards
Thankfully i was not in the blast radius of the freon.
>>16664363
lol
>>16664152
I'm a mechanic.
I did this once, thankfully realised before it left work.
Just had to engine wash it and it was all good.
Now check every filter for a gasket and every housing for one too no matter what.
>>16662840
>install new fuel pump
>overfill tank by quite a bit
>o-ring bursts and causes the fuel pump to unseat itself
>change oil
>dont prefill the filter because it sounds like a pain in the ass
>start engine and watch the oil light stay on for 15~ seconds
>cringe
Wrenching with friend, he was supposed to tighten the inlet manifold bolts up, he only put them in, not even finger tight.
When I finally saw they weren't in right and I tightened them up properly I had constant stalling problems on idle because the the air / fuel ratio must have been changed by the ECU to match the shitty vacuum pressure or some shit, had to disconnect the battery for a while to get it working again.
Do everything yourself.
>>16664634
You didn't overfill, you just installed the pump wrong
>Buy MX83 Cressida
>Thought it would be hellatyte JDM luxobarge snowflake
>Turns out it's a car with no parts or manuals in this dimension
>Powered by a hand grenade
If my friends weren't all JDM I'd be buying American like a sane human being.
>could have bought my friend's 360 Modena for £20k 10 years ago
>did just 5k miles, no previous owners
>priced cheap because divorce settlement and he didn't want to get too much money for the car because he didn't want his wife Mel to get a single penny from the sale
>tempted but refused because maintenance costs
>car is now worth £100k
>could have stored it in a council garage for £10 a week, totalling just £5.2k in those 10 years and driven it every so often and paid just 500 a year for a Ferrari oil change for muh Full Ferrari Service History
>would be sitting on a cool 100k right now, probably more because of the low miles
Fuck
>>16662840
my friend bought a Tesla
>>16663913
>tfw got my P's at 25
You're not alone mate. Least I didn't have to do the 100 hours bullshit.
>>16662840
Tried to unscrew an oil filter the wrong way, had to call breakdown recovery to fix my fuckup.
>>16664152
>>16664627
I work on scooters and once ran one without oil for a minute on accident