Topic: Shop stories!

[Powderman]

While I was working at a shop back in the day.....

Motorcyclists could go at night to gas stations and fill up their tank with what was in the hoses of the gas pumps.
The pump was turned off, but you could fill up the tank if you went to all the pumps at one station.

I had free gas for years until they locked the handle for the gas hose and nozzle to the pump. Some of that gas was the premium stuff.

See- the old days WERE better!

You were not alone with that trick. Times were tough back then. We would also fill about 6-7 bikes with one pump while the attendant wasn't looking and then only one of us would go to pay and tell the attendant there was an issue with the pump, how could I have possibly put 23 gallons into my 3 gallon tank?

[rtbmrgl]

80's again, two guys came into our dealer to possibly trade in there car for a Porsche. Two salesmen took the car for a test drive to do the normal inspection to see how it ran, they stopped on a side street to look at it closer, they opened the trunk and found bag with a large sum of money and smelled like pot. When they got back the two were anxiously waiting, after the salesmen returned the car to them they looked in the trunk, then hurried away. Apparently they were a little high when they stopped at the dealer.

[Powderman]

80's again, two guys came into our dealer to possibly trade in there car for a Porsche. Two salesmen took the car for a test drive to do the normal inspection to see how it ran, they stopped on a side street to look at it closer, they opened the trunk and found bag with a large sum of money and smelled like pot. When they got back the two were anxiously waiting, after the salesmen returned the car to them they looked in the trunk, then hurried away. Apparently they were a little high when they stopped at the dealer.

Was all of the money still there, or was it short just a tad?

[rtbmrgl]

80's again, two guys came into our dealer to possibly trade in there car for a Porsche. Two salesmen took the car for a test drive to do the normal inspection to see how it ran, they stopped on a side street to look at it closer, they opened the trunk and found bag with a large sum of money and smelled like pot. When they got back the two were anxiously waiting, after the salesmen returned the car to them they looked in the trunk, then hurried away. Apparently they were a little high when they stopped at the dealer.

Was all of the money still there, or was it short just a tad?

The sales guys told me they left all the money, They had no idea who those guys were.
Maybe Walter White/ Heisenburg. 

[HondaMan]

While I was working at a shop back in the day.....

Motorcyclists could go at night to gas stations and fill up their tank with what was in the hoses of the gas pumps.
The pump was turned off, but you could fill up the tank if you went to all the pumps at one station.

I had free gas for years until they locked the handle for the gas hose and nozzle to the pump. Some of that gas was the premium stuff.

See- the old days WERE better!

You were not alone with that trick. Times were tough back then. We would also fill about 6-7 bikes with one pump while the attendant wasn't looking and then only one of us would go to pay and tell the attendant there was an issue with the pump, how could I have possibly put 23 gallons into my 3 gallon tank?

During the gas shortage of the early 1970s I was touring toward MO from here in CO one fine August day. When I got to KC, I was on fumes as most of the stations along the way were closed, out of gas. I came to a cut-rate station with 10 pumps that was just closing up, out of gas, sending away a lot of disappointed cars. After they turned off the lights and left, I did just that: I went to all 10 pumps and emptied their hoses into my tank. It got me off Reserve and out of KC, which worked out fine!

[donny]

 Farm store with auto bay: 
After work you could work on your own car.  After closing, I was the only one there and was working on my  57 GMC  when a woman drove up with a battery problem.   I told her what a new battery would cost, she kinda hem-hawed around about no money although she had a newer  Mustang.
 She said something like, "Is there else anything I can do?"   
 I'm thinking, sweep the floor?   She had a few other hints about not wanting to pay, but......
 I was a young dumb teenager and didn't catch on. 
She was about 45 and a looker.
I ended up selling a battery.
 I found out later the guys were "trading" tires, oil changes, horse feed, etc. for favors from the lady customers.  The propane driver was finally fired for that.
We finally got a new manager who knew how do inventory so that ended.
 I found out later the woman (married) had a few boyfriends.

[rtbmrgl]

 Farm store with auto bay: 
After work you could work on your own car.  After closing, I was the only one there and was working on my  57 GMC  when a woman drove up with a battery problem. It was leaking acid and she tried to plug it with chewing gum.  I told her what a new battery would cost, she kinda hem-hawed around about no money although she had a newer  Mustang.
 She said something like, "Is there else anything I can do?"   
 I'm thinking, sweep the floor?   She had a few other hints about not wanting to pay, but......
 I was a young dumb teenager and didn't catch on. 
She was about 45 and a looker.
I ended up selling a battery.
 I found out later the guys were "trading" tires, oil changes, horse feed, etc. for favors from the lady customers.  The propane driver was finally fired for that.
We finally got a new manager who knew how do inventory so that ended.
 I found out later the woman (married) had a few boyfriends.

Yeah, I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then!

[tomkimberly]

 Farm store with auto bay: 
After work you could work on your own car.  After closing, I was the only one there and was working on my  57 GMC  when a woman drove up with a battery problem. It was leaking acid and she tried to plug it with chewing gum.  I told her what a new battery would cost, she kinda hem-hawed around about no money although she had a newer  Mustang.
 She said something like, "Is there else anything I can do?"   
 I'm thinking, sweep the floor?   She had a few other hints about not wanting to pay, but......
 I was a young dumb teenager and didn't catch on. 
She was about 45 and a looker.
I ended up selling a battery.
 I found out later the guys were "trading" tires, oil changes, horse feed, etc. for favors from the lady customers.  The propane driver was finally fired for that.
We finally got a new manager who knew how do inventory so that ended.
 I found out later the woman (married) had a few boyfriends.

Yeah, I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then!

Too much bravado there dude, FYI, there are many more women out there than men....

[Pecantree]

Work on films, doing sets.  Most vehicles are gutted  before stunts or effects happen. You don't want loose s[]!t flying around and you want it to be as light as possible. 
On one project the script called for a small camper trailer to roll down a hill, crash into an outdoor restaurant and burn the the place down.   The lead effects told his crew to gut the tanks from underneath the trailer. They removed the potable water tank and the blackwater tank. Told their boss they were done,  he sent them to another location. Boss comes in later and starts working under the trailer pulling pipe. He cuts the drain line for the greywater and was righteously baptized. He was not happy. 
Got back to the shop that evening and was immediately confronted with "that smell".
None of his guys lost their jobs but they were not happy for a week or two.

[70CB750]

Must been Nick Twisp movie - in San Francisko?

[Pecantree]

Must been Nick Twisp movie - in San Francisko?

Crash in Ann Arbor, Filmed also in Detroit and Traverse City. Beautiful up there.

[bjbuchanan]

That is the same movie that came to mind from your description, funny that it really was

[70CB750]

Never saw the movie, just read the book, but the scene cannot be mistaken 

[Terry in Australia]

Farm store with auto bay: 
After work you could work on your own car.  After closing, I was the only one there and was working on my  57 GMC  when a woman drove up with a battery problem.   I told her what a new battery would cost, she kinda hem-hawed around about no money although she had a newer  Mustang.
 She said something like, "Is there else anything I can do?"   
 I'm thinking, sweep the floor?   She had a few other hints about not wanting to pay, but......
 I was a young dumb teenager and didn't catch on. 
She was about 45 and a looker.
I ended up selling a battery.
 I found out later the guys were "trading" tires, oil changes, horse feed, etc. for favors from the lady customers.  The propane driver was finally fired for that.
We finally got a new manager who knew how do inventory so that ended.
 I found out later the woman (married) had a few boyfriends.

I had a friend when I was in the army, who used to drive taxis in Hobart, Tasmania around the time that Oz's first Casino, Wrest Point, was opened. Women love to gamble, and often would blow all their dough and then have no way of getting home, so they'd offer him some time in the back seat to make up the fare. He wasn't married back then, so he often took them up on their offers.

When I knew him he was married, and I was around at his place for a BBQ, and was talking to his wife, who told me that she met him at the casino when he picked her up in his cab. I didn't ask the obvious question, but I suspect she may have been one of his "special" fares..........

[Deltarider]

 

I suspect she may have been one of his "special" fares..........

Fair enough.

[cheftuskey121]

I suspect she may have been one of his "special" fares..........

Fare enough.

fixed that for you Delta ^ haha

[MJL]

Another shop, 6 or 7 years ago…   From there the fire spread, with black clouds billowing. Someone called the fire dept and the whole shop came out to watch. The reefer was toast. I got an ass chewing but I kept my job, and someone else was set to take the rest of the reefers off.

You REALLY NEED to find another type of work. The boss is a relative, no doubt.

No he wasn't. He wasn't happy about it, but he didn't fire me. the company I work for now, a lot of the management has a hard-on for getting people in trouble. I've never worked any place that tries as hard as these people to fire you.

[rtbmrgl]

Working on a 924 Porsche I was checking for a coolant leak, with the system pressurized I began look over the engine for leaks. I forgot I had loosened the bleeder plug screw clamp which is located on top of the upper radiator hose. Well the plug let go completely soaking me from head to my chest. Engine was cool so no burns, but I felt like an idiot and knew I'd be laughed at, guys would never let me live that down. After wiping face off I looked around and no one saw me, yippee.  Coolant yuk, I hate when that happens.

[HondaMan]

Working on a 924 Porsche I was checking for a coolant leak, with the system pressurized I began look over the engine for leaks. I forgot I had loosened the bleeder plug screw clamp which is located on top of the upper radiator hose. Well the plug let go completely soaking me from head to my chest. Engine was cool so no burns, but I felt like an idiot and knew I'd be laughed at, guys would never let me live that down. After wiping face off I looked around and no one saw me, yippee.  Coolant yuk, I hate when that happens.

This one reminds me: I used to have a 1979 T-Bird that I had installed a rebuilt NAPA engine in. It used up all my $$ to get the engine, so I re-used the hoses until I could save up for new ones. One summer day I could smell anitfreeze when driving the car, thought, "Uh-oh...". Got home OK and shut it off, and opened the hood (always the wrong order of things to do in the summer!) to see where it might be leaking. I could hear a hiss and was putting my head near it to see where it might be coming from, just as the PLASTIC coupling between a curved hose and straight hose split open in my face!

Man, that was hot.

After I cooled off, I went to my lathe and made a BRASS coupling and replaced it that night.

[Powderman]

Working on a 924 Porsche I was checking for a coolant leak, with the system pressurized I began look over the engine for leaks. I forgot I had loosened the bleeder plug screw clamp which is located on top of the upper radiator hose. Well the plug let go completely soaking me from head to my chest. Engine was cool so no burns, but I felt like an idiot and knew I'd be laughed at, guys would never let me live that down. After wiping face off I looked around and no one saw me, yippee.  Coolant yuk, I hate when that happens.

This one reminds me: I used to have a 1979 T-Bird that I had installed a rebuilt NAPA engine in. It used up all my $$ to get the engine, so I re-used the hoses until I could save up for new ones. One summer day I could smell anitfreeze when driving the car, thought, "Uh-oh...". Got home OK and shut it off, and opened the hood (always the wrong order of things to do in the summer!) to see where it might be leaking. I could hear a hiss and was putting my head near it to see where it might be coming from, just as the PLASTIC coupling between a curved hose and straight hose split open in my face!

Man, that was hot.

After I cooled off, I went to my lathe and made a BRASS coupling and replaced it that night.

Something similar happened to me. I was at my one armed buddies gas station shop when a customer ams in with a 66 Chevelle that was over heating. The shop owner asked if I would go pull the thermostat on it for him. I go out and crack the radiator cap loose, relieving the pressure in the system, water was warm but not hot. I then broke the 2 water neck bolts loose and a trickle of water ran out. As I went to pull the neck off it jarred the thermostat that was corroded shut and corroded stuck in the manifold. As the seal broke it spray, with great ferocity, a large stream of steam. As I threw my hands up and reeled backwards It got me pretty good. I took my shirt off and played tough guy for a few minutes saying it wasn't that bad. After about 10 minutes the blistering started to show from my elbows, all the way down to my arm pits, from my belly button all the way to the bottom of my chin. i had one huge blister in the pattern of my chest hair. Apparently the car had sat for so many years without maintenance that the water inlet in the water pump had corroded closed and so to at the thermostat such that the block itself was pressurized and let loose when I jarred the thermostat out. Ever since then when someone brings in an over heating car and needs a thermostat changed I tell them to park it and I'll get right on it, tomorrow.
I'll never forget that guy and when ever he asked up where we would go for luck I would always answer "We can't go to Burger King." He would ask why not and I would reply "It takes 2 hands to handle a Whopper."

[70CB750]

In the shop we had this insurance job, PT Cruiser got hit - I am not making it up - by a firehose.  The hose fell of a firetruck and the nozzle ended up on the rear axle and banged the body on the way.

The fix was not difficult, and we had it done in few days, but the owner insisted that the damage included some other things - like steering joints and whatever else was wrong with the car including some body panels that could never be touched by that nozzle.  Obviously he wanted to milk the county that was paying for the damage done by the firetruck.  Anyway, we fixed all those other problems, but the owner did not get the car back.  The extra time in the shop was enough for the collecting agency to find this PT Cruiser and since the owner was like a year behind on car payments, they repossessed the car.

[rtbmrgl]

Sorry you guys got burnt, another reason to have an air-cooled engine, 

Another coolant disaster, few years back doing a smog inspection I was sitting in the car hood up and ready to spin on the dyno. One of the other techs was standing looking over the engine then walked toward me saying, "whats that noise". We both looked at each other, our eyes got wide. Then boom, the upper radiator blew, the hot water sprayed both of the smog computers destroying both of them.  The noise we were hearing was the cap releasing pressure. The customers usually blame us for everything, but the older couple understood the accidents happen.

[rtbmrgl]

  Anyway, we fixed all those other problems, but the owner did not get the car back.  The extra time in the shop was enough for the collecting agency to find this PT Cruiser and since the owner was like a year behind on car payments, they repossessed the car.

That's a great story, what comes around goes around.   

[Pecantree]

Working on a 924 Porsche I was checking for a coolant leak, with the system pressurized I began look over the engine for leaks. I forgot I had loosened the bleeder plug screw clamp which is located on top of the upper radiator hose. Well the plug let go completely soaking me from head to my chest. Engine was cool so no burns, but I felt like an idiot and knew I'd be laughed at, guys would never let me live that down. After wiping face off I looked around and no one saw me, yippee.  Coolant yuk, I hate when that happens.

This one reminds me: I used to have a 1979 T-Bird that I had installed a rebuilt NAPA engine in. It used up all my $$ to get the engine, so I re-used the hoses until I could save up for new ones. One summer day I could smell anitfreeze when driving the car, thought, "Uh-oh...". Got home OK and shut it off, and opened the hood (always the wrong order of things to do in the summer!) to see where it might be leaking. I could hear a hiss and was putting my head near it to see where it might be coming from, just as the PLASTIC coupling between a curved hose and straight hose split open in my face!

Man, that was hot.

After I cooled off, I went to my lathe and made a BRASS coupling and replaced it that night.

Something similar happened to me. I was at my one armed buddies gas station shop when a customer ams in with a 66 Chevelle that was over heating. The shop owner asked if I would go pull the thermostat on it for him. I go out and crack the radiator cap loose, relieving the pressure in the system, water was warm but not hot. I then broke the 2 water neck bolts loose and a trickle of water ran out. As I went to pull the neck off it jarred the thermostat that was corroded shut and corroded stuck in the manifold. As the seal broke it spray, with great ferocity, a large stream of steam. As I threw my hands up and reeled backwards It got me pretty good. I took my shirt off and played tough guy for a few minutes saying it wasn't that bad. After about 10 minutes the blistering started to show from my elbows, all the way down to my arm pits, from my belly button all the way to the bottom of my chin. i had one huge blister in the pattern of my chest hair. Apparently the car had sat for so many years without maintenance that the water inlet in the water pump had corroded closed and so to at the thermostat such that the block itself was pressurized and let loose when I jarred the thermostat out. Ever since then when someone brings in an over heating car and needs a thermostat changed I tell them to park it and I'll get right on it, tomorrow.
I'll never forget that guy and when ever he asked up where we would go for luck I would always answer "We can't go to Burger King." He would ask why not and I would reply "It takes 2 hands to handle a Whopper."

My brother got sprayed at our dad's garage. He managed to raise his arm up and protect his face. We lived right around the corner from the station. Dad brought Mike home and they layed him on the bed and packed ice around his chest and arms. Heating pads on his legs and feet. I remember how much he screamed. It made me very safety conscious about radiators. Later on around pressurized steam in general.

[750cafe]

Another shop, 6 or 7 years ago…   From there the fire spread, with black clouds billowing. Someone called the fire dept and the whole shop came out to watch. The reefer was toast. I got an ass chewing but I kept my job, and someone else was set to take the rest of the reefers off.

You REALLY NEED to find another type of work. The boss is a relative, no doubt.

No he wasn't. He wasn't happy about it, but he didn't fire me. the company I work for now, a lot of the management has a hard-on for getting people in trouble. I've never worked any place that tries as hard as these people to fire you.

What I was alluding to is that if YOU are a perpetual screw up, YOU should be fired!
Eventually, YOU are going to kill someone! Please find some other job that YOU can do safely/competently.

Eric