Maestro-ing and Monty-ing injurys and cockups

[E_T_V]

How many of you have been "got" by the tailgate having weak gas struts then? I'm sure there must be a few of us.

I once lowered a maestro onto my foot without noticing (I was wearing steel toecaps). When I went to walk off I was rather puzzled at tripping over because my foot was still wedged under the car.

I've also started pouring oil in an engine without first remembering to put the drain plug back in! Luckily I spotted it very quickly before I created an oil slick big enough to kill off the local wildlife!

[Guest]

I've also started pouring oil in an engine without first remembering to put the drain plug back in! Luckily I spotted it very quickly before I created an oil slick big enough to kill off the local wildlife!

Yeah, I've done that. Took a lot of newspaper to get it all up, then a tin of Gunk and a hosepipe to stop it staining the driveway of our rented house! You only do it once...

[D87SMW]

Not a Maestro/Montego related incident - but my dad was driving along in a MKI Cortina (many years ago!) only to be overtaken by.... his nearside front wheel!!! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Still have the full set of Rostile's somewhere... :laugh:

[G51 NAV]

Steve that reminded me of an indident my Dad had in the '60s (before I was even a randy thought in my parents' dirty minds). He owned a Vauxhall Cresta - bench seats, barge on wheels with wrap-around front window; I think was the PA version. This car, like many cars, had a column-gearchange: the gearstick was on the steering-column, not on the floor. Apparently one day he was driving to Blackpool for a day out from where he lived in those days (Leigh, south lancs - that's where I'm from) and the gearstick came off in his hands :laugh: :laugh:

It must have been like one of those Laurel and Hardy films when Olly says to Stan "Here, let me drive" and Stan says "Sure", then pulls off the steering-wheel and hands it to him :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[Maria]

A similar thing happened with our old Mk2 Cavalier. Chris was in the middle of the road, waiting to turn right, and then uttered the immortal words: "I don't want to alarm anyone, but the steering wheel's just fallen off" :laugh:

He also returned from a race at Rockingham in WBM proudly waving the gear knob out of the window after that came off halfway through the race :laugh:

[D87SMW]

I cannot believe nobody has mentioned hitting their head on the front tow-hook!

One particular problem I have is due to a (my) design flaw in the new driveway....

As my car sits 20 inches (at the rear) down in a bay, the tailgate catch is that much "lower" when accessing the boot... so it's either that or the corner of the tailgate itself which does damage if I'm not careful!

[e692wtt]

Had a bad day today... took my Monty in for a new wheelbearing (at my favourite garage) and planned on working on Cracow (the Maestro VDP) at my mum's (near the garage) while Monty was in dry dock.


All goes well except I went to my mum's first to drop my tools off (basically everything) so I can work on Cracow, and as I am removing the trolley jack I manage to brain myself with the handle... got a bruise and several cuts now, but I didn't realise I had blood all over my forehead until I got home late this afternoon (like, 7 hours later).

And Monty's gear linkage broke up (one of the Links) as my mechanic tried to get reverse gear to manoeuvre onto the lift... so I have had to cannibalise the linkage off Cracow until I can get a new Link (hopefully tomorrow, but moving 2 cars with only one effective gear linkage between them is a bit of a pain... :laugh: ).

Work on Cracow was delayed as I had to get the Link off Cracow and take it to the garage for Monty to get onto the lift, before I could even get the kettle on... a walk of a mile on top of the two mile-long return trips to the garage already...

And it was raining, so I didn't need to drop my tools off in the first place!

At least the 'grumble' that Monty has had for the past 2 years has gone!


As an aside, my best mate's dad had a Hyundai Pony pickup, and the gearlever on that was loose... he'd drive along and wave the damn gearlever in your face while grunting and roaring as he drove along... fell for it every time too

[MG1600S]

Did the ultimate yesterday....

At work, removed a blocked fuel filter from a Fuel injected Metro. Put a rubber hose onto the fuel pipe (supply line from the tank), looked for a suitable container - empty clear plastic bottle on my work bench that used to have my orange juice in (it was a hot day). Turned the ignition on and then cranked the engine to pump some petrol through - a yellowy / orange petrol then appeared in the bottle. I put the bottle back on my work bench.

Later that day, it was still hot and I was thirsty..............

[MGTurbo]

Did the ultimate yesterday....

At work, removed a blocked fuel filter from a Fuel injected Metro. Put a rubber hose onto the fuel pipe (supply line from the tank), looked for a suitable container - empty clear plastic bottle on my work bench that used to have my orange juice in (it was a hot day). Turned the ignition on and then cranked the engine to pump some petrol through - a yellowy / orange petrol then appeared in the bottle. I put the bottle back on my work bench.

Later that day, it was still hot and I was thirsty..............

You are joking right?

[MG1600S]

You are joking right?

Nope, bottle up, after the first gulp then I realised! Bad petrol breath for a day latter and I'm not even going to go into bodily functions......