just finished my engine swap and changed from auto to 5 speed. Lots of unknowns lots of anticipation. Anyway, I got it running, fixed the clutch problems, and decided to take her out for a spin. . . Well, I forgot to install that pesky little clip that hold the brake pedal to the master cylinder push rod. So, I'm zipping around my neighborhood and head down a hill that's not more than a hundred yards long - press the brakes because there's a stop sign at the bottom followed by houses directly across from it - 'pop' the pedal and rod come apart leaving me with absolutely NO BRAKES!!!

Lucky for me the parking brake is connected and working otherwise I'd have either landed in the neighbors house or I'd have been taking a 90 degree turn at around 30 mph and hoping no other cars or people were near by!

Oh well, another day in the life of gearheads!

 

Damn what a way to $hit your pants!

 

yeah, I just said a couple of "WHOA NELLIE"s, and shrugged it off with a laugh. Must be valium in my veins or something!

 

i think my first reaction would be to say SH*T and my second would be to drop to first, pull e-brake, and land in a bush. just like skateboarding =D

 

hehe... got a better scare the hell outta you stupid mistake. THis one happend yesterday. my car was idleing in the garage with the garage door half open (to let the fumes out). I was kneeling next to the car and i reached over the center console to get my mag light off the passenger seat and inadvertently knocked the shifter into reverse. THe car lurched backward throwing me on to the ground and all i see when i look up is the tire bearing down on me. I manage to get out of the way only to see, to my horror, the car go smashing through the door and on towards the street. I did manage to catch up with it and turn off the ignition. Damn near took four hours to hammer the aluminum panels for the garage door out and reassemble it.

 

Now that's funny! Glad you didn't get hurt, so now we can laugh at it.

I just love these gearhead stories.