Just had time to turn away as it blew off. I must have not aligned the cap when I drove out to the house. Hottest feeling in my life. I could see down into the radiator for a sec as it blew. Nothing but steam.

I didn't see my skin start blistering, so I knew it wasn't that bad. Felt more like a severe sun burn. Skin is peeling on my face a little and on my left arm.

Jim.

 

OW!?.... Least you still got both your eyes i suppose.

 

You are one lucky SOB. Years ago when i worked in a garage, the same thing happened to a guy, ended up with burns to his hands and face.

 

I had the same problem. Except I was driving down a street to go pick up my heads from being ported. I heard a big slap and smoke started pouring out of my hood. I pulled over and found my radiator cap hiding underneath the A/C box.

 

Is that a Shellback certificate I see on the wall in your second pic?

 

Yep. 09 Nov 1984. "Order of the Ditch" below. Never got my Suez canal transit one in 2003. Retired Chief. You?

Jim.

 

Good to know you're ok!!

 

Still trying to make Chief. Active Duty First Class right now [AZ1(AW/SW)/MTS]. I'm currently an instructor at CNATTU in Lemoore. Got my Shellback (Golden) back in '98. Might be a few days after you did, but got it none the less.

You can contact Tiffany Publishing to see if they have your Suez transit on file. They keep a file of when ships send in info (like the C.O.'s sig) and all you have to do is give them your name and they can print out a new one. Found that out a few years ago when I was a recruiter. We had them send us one of each certificate for our walls in the office. Back then they were something like four or five bucks each (they gave them to us for free because of why we wanted them. Thought that was pretty cool of them).