Injuries to oneself in your workshop

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sun May 25, 2008 11:54 am

there is a post in here already of stupid mistakes or the like but this one is specifically for injuries to yourself or your mates while working on cars

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sun May 25, 2008 11:58 am

To kick it off

the first one I recall is while making a bracket for a choke cable

I am cutting metal strip in vice with hacksaw, with it resonating due to its position, fingers holding it to stop the vibration and movement. On the back stroke hacksaw jumps off track and straight onto a finger

Off to the doc who stitched me up, but scaring me in the process talking about cut nerves and tendons

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sun May 25, 2008 12:05 pm

years later I have a gearbox on the floor, and .. a flywheel. Figuring a good test for the flywheel mouted spigot shaft bearing would be to place flywheel on said spigot shaft and.well..give it a spin. It spun and spun and spun, it was quiet. I discovered the benefits of a flywheel weight and its seemingly endless power store and release.

I wind its speed up a bit, running a spare finger against the outside edge, and then again faster..........then the finger does not release properly because i am pushing hard against flywhel this time..so finger flys against bellhousing where the starter ring gear teeeth strip a strip of flesh from my palm side of one finger tip.

Hospital this time, where I learn to stick head between knees when seated to reduce chance of passing out

More talk of tendons and nerves...and still have the scars to remind me

vincentvega · Post by **vincentvega** » Sun May 25, 2008 12:12 pm

I bleed every single time i work on my car. its just part of it. desk jobs give you pathetic soft hands!

usually skinned knuckles or splinters in knees / feet.

Venom · Post by **Venom** » Sun May 25, 2008 12:18 pm

I've taken off a few layers of skin with a soldering iron. Was so hot it didn't even hurt but it left a nice scar.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sun May 25, 2008 12:20 pm

then this week I am off to a good start finding my torque wrench has not achieved correct torque all over my new EA81 rebuild requiring a strip for peace of mind at 69 kilometere service

I have it down to removing the to cam retainer bolts. I am aligning the sprocket to allow socket access, turning cam sprocket by hand and the crank spins futher on its own accord, running my finger into the previously unknown sharp edge of the flang on the rear crank seal speedi sleeve

SHEESUS !! BLOOD ??!! It is flowing like a bloody river ! My blood ! Hold finger back together - PANIC - find clean -ish rag to hide the effect and stop it pissing all over the place. Where are me car keys ???? More panic. Aware that blood leaking out at such a rate is not good for me head I take off in the red Brumby thinking doc or hospital ? a few times, me sister-in-laws office? (she is a nurse) nah, this is hospital material. I get there, find A&E , fill out the forms and then take a seat. Soon a heavy sweat comes over me, light headed and so head between the knees trick comes in handy. A few minutes later and I am in. First nurse expesses (blood) that she can't stop the bleeding and got it all over the floor, it is bigger than what she can handle. next nurse luckily has it under control ( a male nurse of course), with me now on a bed and got the oxygen going . Got me cleaned up, and stitched up and time for recovery before leaving them and thanking them for saving another dude. Anit biotics etc

INEEDABEER · Post by **INEEDABEER** » Sun May 25, 2008 8:02 pm

Dude,there are mechanics out there and they will save your life.

:rolleyes:

Goon · Post by **Goon** » Sun May 25, 2008 8:44 pm

Replacing bushes on rear swingarms and diff, tapping (read bludgeoning) cv pins out with hammer- blammo! hammer to head. Ok, time to prise cv's away from hubs, glance at gregories book-" yeah,yeah i know what i'm doin", don't see where prybar is located-TWANG-CRUNCH! very sore fingers where pinched on underside of car. Loosen diff mount, decide to use spare trolley jack to slowly manouver diff downwards (as by now have used up most of first aid kit) remove diff bush bolt and start to lower diff with jack release- "oh my gawd! Someone get this ****ing thing off me!!" Diff rolls off trolley jack onto me arm because some big hairy ape removed the inner cv pins as well...

sitting at doc's waiting for xrays some hours later, arguing with wife that it was still cheaper to do it myself...hahahahaha...mind you I drove the L there!!

Thalass · Post by **Thalass** » Mon May 26, 2008 12:02 pm

vincentvega wrote:I bleed every single time i work on my car. its just part of it. desk jobs give you pathetic soft hands!

usually skinned knuckles or splinters in knees / feet.

The gods of engineering and maintenance demand a sacrifice of flesh and blood as the price of working with their creations.

Though I think Steptoe must have offended them somehow... That, or Eris has her eye on him.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Mon May 26, 2008 12:17 pm

I know a couple of 'mechanics at the time of injury'. Both have fewer finger tips than the day before. One was installing a Cruiser gearbox attempting to align the clutch and input shaft splines when the box spun and sliced a finger tip between the box and car. The other was tuning a car with the big Vane tune scope deal when he tugged on some of the hook up leads - well they were then pulling on the accelerator mechanism - musta been in Drive and car went forwards into the wall and shoving his hand into the fan blades

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Mon May 26, 2008 12:22 pm

Wackybug jumped off the stands once, I had the trolley jack there for safety just in case that happened. Unfortunately my arm got caught between the trolley jack and the car. Luckily it didn't get crushed just severely bent to the side (not snapped thank god).
That was probably 5 or 6 months ago and I still get pangs of pain every now and then although I don't think anything actually got broken.

fredsub · Post by **fredsub** » Mon May 26, 2008 12:29 pm

no major damge here working on subie,usual stripped knucked etc,I like to think i'm safety conscious:mrgreen: but this thread reminds me I seen what's called Mechanics gloves at bunning, not cheap, like $40+ wonder if any good....
I use pigskin gloves as often as possible, as being in IT makes for soft hands, but as you know gloves get in the way with a lot of things.......hence these Mechanics gloves?

chubby37 · Post by **chubby37** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:44 pm

god....how long is too long a list...i do something stupid every second day.set myself on fire,hit myself id head with hammer....saw stars then..dropped awd box on myself from stand...that hurt..head butting underside of car,then concrete and car again to finish off...stabbed myself in knee with screw driver...almost have DR on speed dial...

Suba · Post by **Suba** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 11:06 am

Do bike stories count, Had just finnished giving my race bike a service (Katana 1166cc )had it on the paddock stand so you rear wheel is off the ground , had it in gear with the motor running and I was spray9ing lube on to the chain , noticed that my nice clean machine was now being sprayed with lube being flicked of the chain , so rather than turn the engine off I decided to hold a rag near the chain to stop the lube flicking allo over the bike .
Well guess what happened , yep , the rag was grabed by the chain and rear sprocket and dragged my hand in to the rear sprocket with two of my fingers being impaled and the engine then stopping with said fingers trapped , it was about fifteen mins before someone heard my calls for help and came and turned the wheel back while I held the clutch in to release my two badly broken finger , one now with no nail.
Man I wont do that again

Mike.

marshy · Post by **marshy** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:26 pm

I had a mishap with a v8 engine on a engine stand a couple of years ago, It was a big block 460 out of a Thunder bird, put it on a engine stand and pushed it to the side(forgot the pin in the back of stand) and as i was pushing the front wheels got stuck on a raised section on the concrete floor...the engine rotated and stupid me tried to stop it and engine acted like a gilatine (spelling?) chopping the top off my little finger.I remember going to the hospital with the chopped bit wrapped in a oily rag and the nurse tossed it the bin! Sometimes we have to learn the hard way.

Mike your mishap with your bike sounds nasty...very lucky not to lose more!

Suba · Post by **Suba** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:42 pm

Hey Marshy, at least my nurse never through anything out

mike.

Gannon · Post by **Gannon** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:58 pm

When i was installing my engine, i was trimming a heater hose with a Stanley knife (brand new blade too) and slipped making a nice slice across the top of the 2nd knuckle of my thumb. Wrapped it up in a t shirt and drove myself to hospital where they gave me 3 stitches.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 11:12 pm

JUST a reminder (disclaimer) that this post is for things you already done to yaself. I am not asking anyone to go out and better any other posters in here !!

32ford · Post by **32ford** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 12:05 am

I still have a finger that is bent after deciding that I could lift a turbo 700 into a wheel barrow to make it easier to move, unfortunately/fortunately I married an accident and emergency nurse so get good treatment but no sympathy.