I got 5k inheritance and bought an old c-reg astra sr i got from a scrap yard back in 2000 i never got to insure it or tax it or mot it. It wasnt to rusty just needed some welding here and there well being young and not knowing how to weld properly or take proper fire safety procautions well we know what happens next.

So after welding a patch on the floor i saw a flame coming through but blew it out ok it wasnt out it was infact on fire lol. Now i jumped out and all i had was a watering can.

So the cars alight the neighbours are out going oh dear oooo look flames. I called the firebrigade grabbed the animals and hopped over the fence, i could here the front windows on the house cracking eeek and minutes away from losing the house when they put the flames out. If only i had a pics it was a proper job.

So lesson learnt dont buy shit dont do stuff i have no clue of and no welding on the driveway again.....still wish i had saved that 5k, so so dumb and theres no sr's left either mine was probably the last lol

Edited 12 October, 201114 yr by mc_hawkings24

silly little things, like bolting bits back on then realising iv missed something, and having to remove what id just fitted to fit the other part haha

I'm always doing that.

I tend to dive right into jobs and rip everything apart to get to what I want.

But when it comes to putting stuff back together I can never remember the sequence in which things came off.

The best mistake I've ever made though was fitting an 80mm kit to a Mk3.

Ripped the rears off and just threw the new ones on...of course I fitted to top mounts correctly , go for a test drive and suddenly the rear of the car drops to the floor and I can see the ram of the shock sticking out of the boot

Removed the clips that hold the front indicator connections tight, placed them on the airbox, forgot about them, drove around then thought 'bugger, I left those clips on the airbox'. Nedless to say they are sitting somewhere in the town.

Last weekend i got some Paint to spray my roof black... low and behold when i went to get the paint i realised that i left it in side after masking the whole car carefully with sheets etc i had to undo one side and start again

a month into my aprrenticeship i was doing a service, came to taking the wheels off thought they were the type in which the bolts hold the wheel trim on............ Turns out they were fake bolt heads that are part of the trim, needless to say my gun ripped it straight off...... I never lived it down

Just remembered one, working on a running engine with a dodgy king lead, forgot with wet hands. Bzzzzzz.

It really is a bit of a shock (sorry)

iv never like fucked anything up as such, just when i have a blank moment and forget the most retarded thing ever haha..common one i know of is people leaving brake pipe clamps on and wondering why the wheels locked up

Leaving a couple of spanners under the bonnet, then driving off and losing them somewhere down the A361.

Lots of swearing after dropping the nuts securing the airbox down the carburettor and having to take everything off again.

Iv seen someone top up the gearbox oil through the flywheel inspection hole at the top

mate of mine stuck there finger in there when it was running :lol:

Driving off with the locking wheel nut tool still attached has to be the most common thing, must have happened several times to me

iv had a few...

changing my spark plugs while i had a petrol leak on my carborettor .. turns out it had sprayed over a few things i didnt think it had... ht lead sparks on rocker cover.. big flames.. fire brigade.. ... reedy needs a new engine and wiring look, wing and bonnet lol !

or theres ....

rebuilt my engine, fitted it too my polo.. then had too take half of it back off again too get the knock sensor pluged in..

Iv seen someone top up the gearbox oil through the flywheel inspection hole at the top

mate of mine stuck there finger in there when it was running :lol:

Was it you?

The oil was charles - can you believe he'd do something like that

I once turned myself and the car into a fireball while using a fuel pump connected to a battery to suck the petrol out of the tank through the sender unit hole under the rear seats

This really doesn't do justice to how bad it was but most of it was burning petrol rather than burning car, petrol had sprayed all over the place from the pump and as it did I flinched and the wire I was holding on the battery terminal sparked and boom!

@ guy - i remember that story, think you mustv told me at some point

I fotgot to put the header cap back on once and only noticed two months later at a show when i was looking to fit a really cool air filter i bought

Guy, your hydros antics were more funny

And no, it really wasnt. Was my mate charles, fuck knows why he did it haha.

was it charles charles? that sounds like him

Yes!! The hydro homebrew experiment was the best

haha does sound like charliebooiiii but nah, not that charlie.

my mate who bought a steel blue mk3, let it sit there for ages then sold it to some dude on here that i have no idea who it is.

I had one, central locking was on the blink so if I shut the door it locks, it was icy so i start the car with the intention of a quick de-ice and then to drive off. open the door, de-ice the windscreen, de-ice all the windows, go to do drivers door and I think to myself " better shut that, dont want de-icer on my seats" so I shut it and lo and behold it locks, with the engine running.

Built the bottom end up, fitted into car, fitted it all up, just squaring the head gasket up when i noticed..

Cylinder three's valve cut-outs are a fraction smaller than two's.. Yep, i'd put a piston in back to front.

put copper grease on the wrong side of the brake pads.. never a good idea

Stupidest thing i did: Was at work, went to the car to get a drink out the boot, finished it. Shut the boot (MK1 Polo boots lock themselves). Oh bugger, the keys! Finished work later, was pouring with rain. Where was my coat? In the boot. along with my wallet, phone, house keys. Had to walk home 2 miles in the rain in a Tshirt, and stand outside the house until someone came home. Picked the car up later with the spare keys.

I think this is semi-related:

So my dad was at work today and he gets a phone call from someone who works with him that goes along the lines of 'Crashed my car so can't get into work right now.' My dad asks if she's alright and where she was, he then goes out to see if she was alright.

Turns out she was still sitting upside down in the car when he got there just after the fire service turned up. Her boss was the first one she phoned.

Edited 12 October, 201114 yr by MattLoaf

Her boss was the first one she phoned.

Hmmmm :lol:

I'm sure a few people on here have done it.... snapping a rocker cover bolt. I felt like a right idiot.

I've lost a locking wheel nut key while driving too, thing is a lad of here was coming down to swap wheels with me