Talk about puckering up!!!

[John Mcgraw]

Well, this weekend I was tinkering around with the 59 and started it up to bleed all the air out of the power steering rack. The car was about 3 feet up in the air on the lift so I just reached across the dash and started it up. The car took off forward when it started! The neutral safety switch was not properly adjusted and for some reason, I left the shifter in the drive position when I was making the carpet templates. Luckily, I had the safety stops installed at the end of the lift, and it only rolled until it hit the stops, but I did not unpucker for at least an hour. The vision of the car rolling off the end of the lift, was enough to make me sit down for a while! Tonight, I re-adjusted the neutral switch, and I made myself a promise that I would never just reach in and start the car again. I will allways sit down in the car with my foot on the brake before I ever hit the starter again!

 

[67HEAVEN]

Y-I-K-E-S :eek

 

[IH2LOSE]

WOW

That is a pucker for sure.Thats a day when you have to just thank your lucky stars nothing bad happened.

You know I almost had my arm torn off from reaching in thru the window of a 1970 mustang Mach 1 and thru the steering wheel to start it. I had just replaced the power steering hoses and wanted to check for leaks I had the hoses on backwards and the wheel was going from lock to lock I had to run around to the other side to reach in and turn the car off.

No matter what I am doing I know sit in the seat to start a car.

PS I know the feeling you had just after it happened,At first your thinking

"HOLY COW"

next your thinking

"I guess I do have someone watching out for me "

Lastley I know I am always ready to cry thinking what might have happened

 

[Tom Bryant]

My heart sank just reading about it. I think we have all done something like that before.

Tom

 

[BarryK]

oh geez John, that's scary just reading about it!!!!!!!!
i can't even imagine how you must have felt. after all that work you have put into the car to have something even close to happening to her is too frightening to think about.
glad it ended OK though

 

[firstgear]

too late for puckering up......there would have been a mess in my pants for sure....I would have been changing clothes......

 

[tomtom72]

:ugh :W :cry I think that would kind of describe my reaction, I don't see one for a stroke + heart attack + changing my cloths.

Man John, seems the holy man was in your garage that day. I'm glad no harm came from the situation. A moment of silence to offer thanks to the corvette gods while you sat down was a good thing. Tom

 

[Z28Canuck]

Thank goodness you're OK! Thanks for sharing it with us, these things can happen in the blink of an eye and we don't always get a second chance. The main thing is you're alright. Take care

 

[vette-dude]

After something like this I usually need Preparation H!!!! Glad to hear all came out on the positive side!!

Randy

 

[74bigblock]

After something like this I usually need Preparation H!!!! Glad to hear all came out on the positive side!!

Randy

Preparation H??? How about a supository instead? When I pull a move like that I pucker up too... it's a natural reaction to tense up.... horrible on the bowels

 

[IH2LOSE]

Thank goodness you're OK! Thanks for sharing it with us, these things can happen in the blink of an eye and we don't always get a second chance. The main thing is you're alright. Take care

Forget him,

What if the car was damaged, his wife has been waiting along time to go cruising in this car.

 

[IH2LOSE]

PS

John how nice is it though to hear that thing rumbling in the garage.You have to be grinning ear to ear when you do turn the key and it comes to life,knowing you brought this thing back from the dead.

 

[studiog]

Glad you weren't hurt. The car could be fixed. Thanks for sharing and reminding us all that safety should come first.

 

[61 Silver]

Hi! John

Glad to hear everything is OK; I am looking forward to seeing pictures of your projects. I think everyone has done something like what happened to you. I rebuilt the power steering cylinder on the 65 and when I reached in to start the car I had my arm through the spokes on the steering wheel. I believe that you know what happened next. I now set in the seat when starting the car. Lesson learned!



Glad that you are back in the shop!

Ray

 

[richscorvettes]

John,

I can just imagine how your heart must have been in your throat. I read of something similar recently but with a much worse result . It seems a fellow, who had his finished rolling frame on the shop floor, decided to start it one last time to check things over before mounting the body. Unfortunately, his transmission was in gear and it took off across the shop and he couldn't catch it. To add insult to injury, it ran right into his newly finished & painted body sitting on a body dolly at the rear of the shop. Fortunately nobody was injured but I can only begin to imagine how he must have felt. :cry

Rich Lagasse

 

[bossvette]

Here is the result of a "stuck" switch on my lift, I have since "raised " the truss over the center. When I was raising the lift to lower my wifes Impala SS the switch stuck on, before I could hit the breaker three feet away it hit the truss:cry

 

[67HEAVEN]

I like those cars, Craig. What a shame. Did you fix it yourself?

 

[bossvette]

the insurance company paid most of it Its a story in itself why I had it up on the lift. The car had been hit and repaired at a local body shop but my wife thought it "drove funny" I took it back and argued that it was repaired improperly the insurance rep said "its got 100,000 miles on it and is the front end is worn out, were not doing anything else to it" when I got home I noticed the left front rotor was bright red (where the car had been hit) so up on the lift it went.
It went to another body shop for the roof repairs where they pointed out the bent frame and where the first body shop had overshimmed to get the new fender to compensate.
had to get a lawyer involved to get it properly fixed several moths later.ad

 

[IH2LOSE]

Bossvette

I had a car like this,It was cursed it was my first new cadillac I ever bought an 84 eldorado touring coupe,Great car but the crazyest thing would happen to me or the car.this car went to the dealer 2 weeks old)for a rattle and some how it fell off the jack and crushed the service tecs hand in the wheel well, went back a week later to have the damage fixed from the fall and a hose ruptured while I was standing there and scolded another tec.I had a dear jump thru the winsheild, to make a long story short I traded in when it was 2 months old for another Eldorado.the dealer also said the car was cursed and pretty much gave me a new car for mine all I had to do was pay the sales tax on it witch wasnt that much because he considered the other car as a trade.

Now I know you cant get your hands on your car new again,but maybee you can have a preist visit it or something

 

[bossvette]

Its still alive and well the wife drives it every day April to November, kinda like some people do with their Vettes.

Its not for sale, one of the Kids will get it when we croak