Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

Ellis

It's one of the accepted hazards of car restoration or maintenance and I imagine we all have been hurt or injured at one time indulging in our hobby.

I could write a book (or at least a pamphlet) but the two most memorable incidents I can recall are as follows :

1. When the IRS of my Jaguar S Type slipped off a jack and scraped down the shin of my right leg. It didn't bleed much but, by heaven, it hurt and took a long time to heal.

2. Using a Stanley knife to cut a boot carpet to shape. I will not go into gory detail but I think you can all guess...................

One professional paint sprayer I knew developed an intolerance or allergy to car paint and had to leave the trade as a result. A pity because he really was good at it.

What have you done to yourselves working on your car or classic?
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Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

Rick · Site Admin Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 22778 Location: UK

I took the tip of my RH little finger off earlier this year, on a spinning flywheel:bellhousing interface moment. Thankfully it's all grown back again now. That hurt a little.

RJ
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Billf · Joined: 01 Jul 2011 Posts: 202 Location: North Cyprus.

I had a problem with the Trafficators on my A40 Somerset. Passenger side would not return into it's holder. So bonnet up and leaning into the engine bay twiddling with wires and gave myself a shock, pulled my head up and impaled it on the bonnet catch. The bonnet catch on a Somerset is like a hook. It bled a lot and i still have the dent in my head to this day.

Plus lots of grazed knuckles and a bad back working on A40 engine bays.

D4B · Joined: 28 Dec 2010 Posts: 2083 Location: Hampshire UK

Billf · Joined: 01 Jul 2011 Posts: 202 Location: North Cyprus.

Rootes75 · Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 10:51 pm Post subject:

Years back I jumped down from the back of one of my lorries, it was parked close to another and I managed to collide my ribs with an indicator arm on the other lorry. It hurt a lot, i broke a rib and tore the muscle around the rib cage.
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

goneps · Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2015 12:11 am Post subject:

Lying under the Morris, installing the diff head. It was proving recalcitrant, and after a few minutes of struggling one of my arthritic wrists cried "enough" and it dropped onto my chest, breaking two ribs.

The 1964 BMW motorcycle I owned for 36 years had a nasty habit of burning wrists. The electrics were located at the front of the flat twin engine, so any work in that department with the engine hot invariably led to burns from the nearside exhaust pipe—nasty ones, too, that took ages to heal. Eventually I got wise and wrapped a thick cloth around before venturing a hand into that department.

I've had the misfortune to own a number of vehicles, both two-wheeled and four, that have caused serious financial injury. Does that count?

Richard

Keith D · Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2015 3:12 am Post subject:

If I'm going on a country rally starting a long way from home, I tow my Austin 7 on a purpose built trailer. One particular day, when unloading the car near the top of a hill, I forgot to engage the ratchet on the winch. Scared that the car would break the hawser and run wild down the hill, I did one of the most stupid things I have ever done in my life. I tried to grab the spinning handle of the winch! I did not manage to get hold of it but I did manage to do both arms and hands some horrible damage that ensured a visit to the local hospital outpatients and lots and lots of bandages! Nothing was broken fortunately, but I didn't get to drive on that rally!

If any of my construction teams had ever done anything that stupid I'd've fired them!

Keith

mikeC · Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2015 8:26 am Post subject:

Ronniej · Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2015 8:28 am Post subject:

The radiator grill of the Singer Gazelle is attached to the bonnet and comes up with it. I had one years ago and lost count of the number of times I cracked the back of my head.
Other posts on this thread suggest that banging your head under the bonnet is a regular hazard. I am surprised that, so far, we have not had any starting handle accidents.

Rick · Site Admin Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 22778 Location: UK

Having the heavy metal tailgate of my first E83W Ford pickup, swing down and clobber me on the back of the head, smarted for a while ... no lasting damage though, maybe ...

RJ
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peter scott · Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 7211 Location: Edinburgh

Some years ago I got roped in to help an elderly gent in the old car scene with his every day Vauxhall Carlton that needed a replacement exhaust system. A friend knew of a car that was being scrapped and had a pretty good system so we jacked it up and I started removing it. Needless to say the bolts were rusted, access was aukward and it proved more difficult than anticipated and in the middle of this I released part of the system and the pipe under stress from some other part sprang off and hit me in face.

This was painful but not long after I noticed that vision in my right eye was eclipsed such that I could only see below my centre line. I crawled out from under the car and said to my friend that I thought I'd detatched my retina and could he drive me to the eye hospital. He set off at full speed with me saying to him please just drive nice and smoothly with no sudden accelerations. At this point I reached up to my eye and discovered that I had not detatched my retina but that my eyebrow was just so swollen that it was obscuring my vision. It was painful but very much to my relief and we turned around and got the rest of the exhaust removed.

Peter Rolling Eyes

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1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

clan chieftain · Joined: 05 Apr 2008 Posts: 2041 Location: Motherwell

I was knocking out a phosphor bronze stub pin bush and my pinkie got in the way. I still have the mark 30 years later.
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Peter_L · Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2015 10:57 am Post subject:

Trying to position the trolley jack, working on uneven ground, in the dark, raining, cold. I had my finger in the wrong place, (make up your own joke), when I said "try it now".

Age has helped the other 9 to blend in, so hardly noticeable after 50 years.

lowdrag · Joined: 10 Apr 2009 Posts: 1600 Location: Le Mans

This is rather off topic, but back in the day Jaguar wanted to borrow my E-type for their 60th exhibition at the NEC. I cleaned and cleaned the car for them, but had a few things to do still such as the wheels. On a Sunday, a week before I had to deliver the car, I went off to play golf, leaving her indoors to do as she wished. I was about to get on the first tee when I was called to the phone; wishing to be of assistance, she had pushed the car outside, door open, and then watched it sail down the drive and nigh on rip the door off on the wall. I didn't play well, as you might imagine, but my local garage rallied round and repaired the car in time for the next weekend. The GF however, is a long, and painful, distant memory. Two years back, we found this when we looked at the driver's door:-

The car didn't hurt me as much as I was hurt by the damage, but it had hung in their well for nigh on 20 years.