Topic: Rookie Mistake
in Forum: C3 Electrical
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Oh great! So I may have made another rookie mistake. The new gauge should arrive today. With my luck I'll find that the gauge is not the problem.
So this mistake is ASSUMING that the smoke coming from the gauge meant the gauge was bad. Never crossed my mind that it could be a feeder wire. 
Sheesh. This car is to be my retirement present/project. So learning is just part of the process and part of the joy of classic corvette ownership... I think.
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dbarnesid said: This car is to be my retirement present/project...
There is no such thing as being retired when you own a Classic Corvette! She'll always have something to eat up your free time.
"Let them that don't want none have memories of not gettin' any."
- Brother Dave Gardner
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macedon, NY - USA
Joined: 7/20/2006
Posts: 367
Vette(s): 68 COUPE 454
HAS MOTION HOOD SCOOP, REVERSED GILLS
ZL-1 FENDER FLARES AND
MOTION REAR SPOILER, LEMAN'S GAS CAP,
BUCKET HEADLIGHTS.
CAN-AM FRONT
RACING SPOILER. CHROME HOOKER HEADERS AND SIDE PIPES! 4 SPEED M20,
LOOKS FAST STANDING STILL !!
dyoes said:
There is no such thing as being retired when you own a Classic Corvette! She'll always have something to eat up your free time.
dbarnesid said: This car is to be my retirement present/project...
There is no such thing as being retired when you own a Classic Corvette! She'll always have something to eat up your free time.
AND your free MONEY !!!!
Joe
Yeah, there IS the money part.
Good news though. I ordered the new battery gauge... and it worked! So my lesson has been learned. Don't do anything that is anywhere near anything electrical with the battery connected. It's probably best to remove the darned thing from the car!
Now if I could get any of the cabin lights to work. (Well... all of the dash lights work but none of the courtesy lights come on. This is most frustrating.) Fortunately, getting the lights to work won't likely eat up my pension. Fixing the bird cage rot might. 
Lifetime MemberAsh Fork, AZ - USA
Joined: 4/18/2007
Posts: 1058
Vette(s): 1981 Red Interior White exterior
Yes, i've had many many mistakes or oops moments...here are two:
1. Putting a new intake manifold on a 67 camaro. I'm all finished and get in to start the car and she turns over doesn't start. I check the plugs real quick and try again..nada. Geez, I smell gas and 'pop', the little light goes on over my head. I forgot to hook up the gas line to the carb. Gas everywhere. I calmly walk into the house grab a fire extinguisher and tell my boys to follow me into the garage with the wife watching me with increasing concern. We pushed the car out and kitty littered the gas.
2. Checking wires on a 1972 LTD convertible. Guess what happens when you help arc one of the bad spark plug wires. Found myself sitting on my arse, shaking my head wondering how I got there.
Dave C..........My mantra: I can not be bought!! Long and short term leases available.
In the words of Zora Arkus-Duntov "Is your seat belt fastened? Alright, Let's go"
Yeah, I know, Shut up Dave.
Yeah, I know, Shut up Dave.
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Duncanville, TX - USA
Joined: 11/8/2003
Posts: 20214
Vette(s): #1-1974 L-48 4spd Cp Med Red Metallic/Black deluxe int w/AC/tilt/tele./p/w-p/b/
Am-Fm/map light National/Regional/Chapter NCRS "Top Flight"
#2-1985 Bright Red/Carmine Cp.L-98/auto
Member: NCRS, NCRS Texas, Corvette Legends of Texas
I wuz watching a video the other day that someone had forwarded to me. It was a feller installing a new head on a car. So...the guy puts the head on, bolts it down, and torques it....the guy that sent me the link wuz laffin his butt off, because the guy doing the job dint put the head gasket on.
I was more interested in the fact that there was still a RED RAG stuffed down in one of the cylinders when he put the head on....
"Here's yer sign...."
I was more interested in the fact that there was still a RED RAG stuffed down in one of the cylinders when he put the head on....
"Here's yer sign...."
Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56 
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(click for Texas-sized view!) NCRS
"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"
Put a battery disconnect on the car and disconnect it every time you drive the car unless you drive it everyday. This will keep the battery charged for a long time and the system will never be live until you connect the battery. The clock will eventually drain the battery. OK, so you have to reset the clock, if it works, each time you drive the car. The battery will last longer.
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I was re-installing the head on a FIAT 124 sport coupe after replacing the head gasket. I went to install the air cleaner housing where the air intake looped over the top of the head. Promptly dropped a metal bushing from the from the air cleaner assembly down the number two spark plug hole into the cylinder. Luckily, I was able to fish the bushing out of the cylinder using a magnet taped to the end of a coat hanger. Lesson learned: before installing anything with little tiny metal parts that can fall through spark plug holes, install the plugs as soon as you are done torquing the head!
There is no substitute for low end torque! 
sundew said: I was re-installing the head on a FIAT 124 sport coupe...
Arghh, a FIAT! An old girlfriend of my from many years ago had a FIAT 131S. What an utterly craptacular car. But it wouldn't die and was fun to drive! I did several electrical patches on it to keep various systems working. If it survived the crusher, I'm the "Bubba" that some guy is cussing about today.
"Let them that don't want none have memories of not gettin' any."
- Brother Dave Gardner
in Forum: C3 Electrical
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