What's your worst wound wrenching around on the car?
 

Well I had a lovely morning. Working on dropping my exhaust so I could get a second o2 bung welded in on the cheap I was wrenching out the stock o2 as I have a dozen times and the wrench let go (rounded off the bolt?) and my arm jerked back and hit something in the engine bay (normally I go from the bottom but I had everything out). I thought I scraped my arm pretty badly but looking down I had a 2-3 inch deep, deep gash. I had to look twice. After running in and telling the wife I needed to go to the hospital I passed out. Next thing I know EMTs are on the way and I'm laying on my back in our entry (I have a thing for passing out when things puncture my skin, it's silly).

All said and done, ~17 stitches I'd guess and no second o2 bung for the ol LC-1. =( So freaking absurd. And from the o2 sensor no less. Sheeesh.

So what's your worst wound when working on a car?

haven't had anything that bad, my dad managed to shove a philips through his hand once though.

Ahhhh, that's horrible. How the hell?

When I was working at a Toyota and a skid plate fell off a 4WD 4Runner, it landed on the back of my leg and severed my achilles tendon....

Right where you see the big spot in the center was a cut all the way across my tendon.

(getting the staples taken out post reconstructive surgery)
Attachment 213331

he was doing something inside the A pillar of his D stock Civic Si, I think with the antenna, and it slipped. I don't remember to well though, I was 12.

nothing worse than busted knuckles...damn doppleganger, thats some nasty shit.

damn! When it got cut did it cause you to collaspe?

Worst ive got working on a car is cut up knuckles from a wrench slipping.

Eh... i hobbled for a moment before sitting down and taking my shoe off. It wasn't very fun :(

I was on crutches for 6 months.

mine is a moment of epic stupidity that i will share for you all. I was working under the car with the car positioned on four jackstands. I was pulling the transmission in preparation for a clutch job. I was trying to loosen one of the bellhousing bolts that was sealed by the right hand of the Allmighty when my ratchet slipped, sending my elbow into a crossmember. This set off a Rube Goldberg style chain of events that I will describe:

slipped wrench
busted elbow into crossmember
reflex action from pulling my arm back from that caused me to jerk my arm hard away from the crossmember, jamming my fist into the razor sharp side of the block, gashing my first knuckle.
simultaneously, the pain from that made me jump up, slamming my forehead into the transmission housing, ultimately leaving a bruise the size of south korea.
the reflex from that caused me to slam the back of my head on the concrete, giving me a ready-made do-it-yourself home concussion kit.

by the time i made inside to tend to my elbow, hand and forehead, i came to the realization that that was the worst I had ever lost a fight to an inanimate object.

Two stereo install stories:

1) I was installing a stereo into my Triumph Spitfire and laid a soldering iron on the ground. When I went to get out of the car I stepped on it, of course I was barefoot at the time, and due to the awkward position I was in I ended up standing on the iron in a weird "couldn't stand up all the way and didn't want to fall backwards into the car". Branded the hell out of the bottom of my foot - the pain was incredible.

2) There was a guy at work who was helping his brother install a stereo. His brother was using a razor blade to cut some wire loom under his dash when a fly started buzzing around him. Reflexes got the best of him and he brushed the fly off his face with the hand holding the razor blade (of course, he sliced the shit out of his face). I never got to see it but I heard it was pretty bad.

As much as that sucks. Its a little funny. I guess mine would be trying to take out the alternator out. I attacked it from the bottom and couldnt get the dam thing to come off the bracket. So i took a rubber mallet and hit it a couple times then it fell on my right shoulder. No stitches just a lot of pain and bitchen.

Never anything bad enough to need a hospital visit, but I did manage to burn a patch of skin the size of a silver dollar away from the top of my right wrist while I was wrenching on the kart during an endurance race. Didn't really hurt after it happened, but it took 3 months to heal. Burned a solid .5mm of skin away.

I've been lucky and have only had your standard fare occasional smashed finger. My dad, who is a mechanic, has had several broken bones (particularly hands), 3rd degree burns, and really awful cuts.

I just laughed so much it hurt, thank you.:bowrofl:

No trips (yet) to the ER, though I have had the obligatory cuts, gashes, divots, burns and bruises needed to "baptize" my various vehicles.

I expect the worst injury could have been worse than it was.

I was installing a new clutch/pressure plate assembly in an '84 Mustang GT. While under the car, I had the 35(+) pound held in place with my right hand and the clutch alignment tool in place when I reached behind me (over my head) to get the first bolt to anchor the plate.

Unfortunately, as my arm moved, the side of my hand brushed the alignment tool. (Please note, this was not one of the plastic alignment tools used on Miatae, but instead about 5lbs of carbon steel.) It wiggled loose and dropped, bouncing off my forehead. Thankfully I had the survival instinct *not* to move my right hand, otherwise I would have bounced the clutch and pressure plate off my chest.

After a (long) stream of colorful anglo-saxon and germanic metaphors while waiting for my vision to clear, I (safely) lowered the clutch assembly and found the nearest mirror to marvel at the slight dent and early bruising.

Once the concussion and bruising went away, I haven't noticed any ill effects. (Though I did gain an appreciation of British humor...)

- L

I'd have to agree that dropping something above your head sucks when you know you can't move your hands. Done it before too.

Holy crap man, that's horrible. I have to admit I'm probably going to be a little skitish around the car for a few days, I can't what something like that would do.

January 2003, I was removing the radiator from a 20,000LB Hyster forklift. This radiator weighed approximately 120 LB, and was located in a very awkward position. Wile removing it, my left foot slipped, I twisted to the left, and the radiator rode me to the ground. I herniated L4 and L5, and was unable to work for over a year. I still have a lot of trouble with lower back issues.

its kind of funny, but i did this within the first week of owning my miata,
i was swapping the clutch, car was on 4 jack stands, i was under it,
i was taking the bolt off the speed sensor thingy off, when it slipped sending my hand into the tranny, the reflex sent my elbow into the side of the car,
i jumped, sending my head into the exhaust line, reaction, i reflexed right into the ground,

i just lay there for a few minutes, while everyone around me was laughing

I had just finished welding up a section of exhaust for my escort and dropped it against my forearm. You can still see the outline of the burn and that was like 3 years ago.

almost passed out from the fumes while changing my first fuel filter. My friend had to drag out from under the car and splash water on my face.

But the ones that suck the most are getting wrenches dropped on my forehead.

Lots of hospital trips, but none from wrenching. Most painful was any of the following:

• Brake rotor slides out of box and smashes finger to floor
• Chops blade shatters and rockets pieces to my hand (welding glove ftw)
• Grinder blade shatters, cuts power wire and then hits my leg

Only have a pic from the finger incident:
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...thefingerS.jpg

my boss has a Shelby Cobra fiberglass replica with the exhaust running down each side. Well, when he first got it he was tearing it up around town (he was wearing shorts and sandles) and completely forgot about the exhaust when he got out. He has a disfigured portion of skin on his left leg about 6"x4" now from the burn.

I caught my leg with a cutoff wheel while removing a trailer hitch that was rusted onto my rx7. 6 or so stitches there (jeans saved my ass)

I caught the thumb pad of my left hand with a razor blade a year or so ago, I was removing double sided tape, the blade caught, and then released from the tape rather violently. No stitches, used super glue. It actually healed up well despite the fact I cut down into the muscle.

my father was a carpenter and I remember him super gluing more than one wound and more than a few fingernails. They actually healed better then when he went to a hospital.

CA (superglue) has been used as a medical treatment for open wounds since the 60s. great stuff.

nothing to send me to the hospital yet. but i always have a current cut or burn somewhere.

I've been wrenching for over 10 years and have not had anything other than busted knuckles and minor stuff like that. I'm not even that cautious, just lucky so far.

Yeah, I've glued flaps of skin back together a few times. Doesn't hurt much, doesn't require a trip to the ER, and then doesn't require follow up visits to the doctor. Just try to clean the wound before its sealed.

yeah, the scar on my hand looks much better than the scar from the 28 stitches on my shin. Should have superglued that too rather than spending 6 hours at the ER

superglue ftw

goddamn, cars sometimes pwn people dont they hahah......

anyways, the worst i can remember is:
1) i climbed out from underneath a car on jack stands only to bang my head on the sharpest part of a craftsman toolcase that was bolted up to the wall. nice little hole in my head that required all sorts of medical attention and looked like ive been shot.
2) lowering a car with a jack i was so tired and not paying attention and kept my hand on the inside of the jack, pretty much it came down like scissors and was a few millimeters away from cutting 2 of my fingers clean off. left some scars on my fingers and i think i saw a little bone right before i passed lol.

Not while working on my car, but rather when building a carneval "tank" out of an old citroen xm, I happened to drip some red hot metal down into my shoe while i was welding / cutting sheet metal. Third degree burn to the heel, a hole the size off a penny. Luckily, I was surrounded by nurses at the time, so my poor heel got properly taken care of :)

i don't think i could have superglued my achilles back together :(

no. so far, you win this thread. haha.

not a wound, but more an honorable mention

my dad was changing breaks on my cousins corolla, and doing the break lines and such, and since he was there, he figured hed do the oil too
, he was doing the front two, so the front was on jack stands.
he was under it, around it, near it, beneath it, for 2 hours

all the sudden, he gets thirsty, so he gets up, goes inside and grabs a drink

so he gets back out side, walks to the car, pops open a soda, and the car falls......

When applying superglue to close/join skin together doesn't the body inadvertently have a reaction?

First I heard of this and found it quite unique.

apparently one side effect is skin rash but loctite tells me theres specific formulations for biocompatibility.

but really, who HASN'T glued themselves together on accident with some super glue?

only every time i fucking use superglue. i end up either gluing myself to........myself........or myself to something else, or something else to yet another something else i did not want joined forever in unholy matrimony.

I just burned my head on my exhaust lol.

Super Glue is great, bartending with cute on your hand is hell with lemons and lines so super glue all cuts before the shift.

Here a good one, was replacing an exhaust on my 72 using a claw hammer and a 3lb sledge and placed the 3lb on the frame rail to use the claw hammer and after a few whacks I get hit in the face with a 3lb sledge falling off the frame rail above me. Good thing was that it hit me square in the eye! My glasses cushioned the blow (had to replace them) and I suffered minor injuries.

I actualy have heard a couple times that superglue was originally designed to seal cuts for soldiers thats why it bonds skin so good/quickly

+1

...and add duct tape to the equation as well. Great for a sliced palm (heat shielding on a Honda) or an improvised sling (a buddy's nearly dislocated shoulder from horsing around on the driveway...)


- L