- This topic has 9 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated April 23, 2007 at 12:24 am by
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I did this just today-I had drained the oil from my Alpine a few weeks ago and left the drain plug out with the drain pan still underneath the drain hole. I then partially unscrewed the oil filter canister (no spin on filter on this Sunbeam) and let it drain down into the pan. It makes a real mess-I was in no hurry to change it so I let it sit. Today I removed the canister and filter, carefully cleaned everything, put a new filter element into the canister and put the whole assembly back on the car. Started pouring the fresh oil into the filler hole and and in a few minutes I heard something leaking from under the car. I suddenly remember that there is no drain plug in place! Luckily it was still on the workbench nearby along with the allen wrench or it could have been worse-much worse if the drain pan was still not underneath! Anyone else got a story or confession? Maybe later I will tell how a dropped ball bearing into a Tiger intake manifold causes lots of problems 600 miles from home……Eric
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Hi Eric:
Confessions of the weekend mechanic! I did something similar a very long time ago. I rebuilt the engine on my Cushman Eagle when I was about 15 years old. I reassembled everything and, in my hurry to see if the engine would run, I started it up – before I added any oil to the crankcase! It started and ran for a few seconds before I realized what I had done! I shut it down, added oil to the crankcase, started it up again and ran it for about 10 years with no problems. Just lucky, I guess.
from sunny South Dakota,
Paul
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Not a Sunbeam story, but….
When I was 14, my Dad gave me two 1952 Dodges, one with a good body and one with a good motor. Total cost $65. I was so proud when I got the motors swapped. I remember sitting in my Dad’s carport and looking up at a shelf on the wall and seeing two throw-out bearings where there should have been only one. Oops.
My dumbest Sunbeam trick is way too embarrassing to tell now or ever. Trust me, it made forgetting the throw-out bearing look like a minor problem.
Then there was the day that I had just finished putting the trim back on my MKII and was standing in front of the car feeling pretty good. I was twirling a ratchet by the socket and they separated. My first ding on the hood happened a 0 MPH.
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Not necessarily a repair story, but…
I was doing about 110 MPH in my Tiger on a Pennsylvania back country road when a skunk waddled across the pavement right in front of me. Needless to say, I spent a lot of bucks and time at the car wash trying to get rid of that funny smell in the left front susoension.
In warm humid weather that car had Eau de Skunk till the day I sold it.
Fred Baum
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I spent the past week under the dash hooking up all of those things I have been ignoring since I got the car on the road. I hooked up the heater and it doesn’t work. Same for the horns, tach and wipers. I did manage to get the dash lights, glove box light and the lighter working, but not before I had a major brain fart and hooked up the battery with the dash still dangling. The ignition switch shorted out against the dash brace and melted the main ignition wire all the way to the fuse block. Thankfully, I got the battery turned off before it managed to take any other wires with it. Of course, I had to unwrap and re-wrap half the new wiring harness to check the other wires. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
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My dumbest one was when my finger got stuck in an Alpine. I was living in Tenn, Found a parts car on a Farm, the deal was I could have the parts car if I made her other Alpine (which had been sitting ) drivable. I towed it home, refreshed the hydraulics, cleaned the carbs, and during A test drive notived the tranny shifted hard. At 2 am, lying under the car in the garage,wife asleep in the house…I took the side level plug out of the tranny and stuck my finger in, no level, then I stuck it way in , reaching down, looking for a level. Now I have cracked my knuckles for many years and being a martial artist have punched thru many boards, so the joints are enlarged……..Finger got stuck and wouldn’t come out…..I laid there for about 10 minutes…it was funny at first…then I got mad and pulled and turned as hard as I could……I finally got it out, but it was cut and bloody….felt stupid (why am I telling this) Turned out the tranny had water emulsified 90 weight rear end oil in it and when replaced with the proper 30 weight engine oil, it shifted perfectly. I returned the car to the Farm Lady and she was delighted, she only drove it around the farm and her husband refused to workon a FURNIN car. I happliy towed home the parts car …(one of many over the years)………..Mike Schreiner
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These stories remind me of a friend who had a Tiger.it was the first Tiger I ever sat in.Well he was working on the car and had the air cleaner off.Mind you he was smart enough to cover the carb with a nice piece of a silk scarf.After a few bubblies he fired up the engine and good by scarf.I always thought he was a good type fellow untill I then heard some swear words I never heard before as well as a bunch of others.
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Mine goes to "Never give a man that was drinking instructions". I received my upper control arm a couple of weeks ago, and proceeded to put the ball joint in, when the support sleeve popped of from probably a forty year old weld joint. It was Easter weekend so I asked a friend if he could weld the piece back together. He agreed and asked me to meet him at his favorite watering hole. I showed him what I needed and how this simple item worked. He then offered to press the ball joint in, I agreed. Two days later he gives it back with the ball joint in upside down. I showed him in detail how it needed to go (exactly the same just reverse it, doesn’t take a brain surgeon to understand simple mechanics I thought.), three days later and it was the same. My wife of whom the car belongs to, asked me to get the part back, I could not bring myself to tell the friend what my wife was saying and figured to give him one more chance (we even drew a diagram, PIN DOWN thru the sleeve). Needless to say I got it back the third time and low and behold he finally fixed it…….wrong again. Well a 3 pound sledge and five minutes later I fixed it my self. Moral of the story if at first they don’t succeed let them try 2 more times give him a beer say well done and thank you, and remember the first line "Never give a man that was drinking instructions".
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