Thread: Always check EVERY nut & bolt!!

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Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Which led to a lot of racers saying there was a loose nut or two in the Tech Crew?????
Sorry Richard, somebody had to say it!!!!!!!

Yeah, some of the car owners hated to see me coming, while others requested that I be the only inspector to tech their car, because I was more likely to find stuff wrong and they wanted me to find stuff wrong before they committed to a 200+ mph pass. Human nature is a very curious thing.

Getting a different set of eyes going over things will usually help too. On critical things we partner and one guy will work one side and i'll do the other and we'll check each other and verify. When you have 45minutes and the asphalt is 135 degrees you can make a lot of mistakes, esp tuning a multistage fogger system. A single misplaced pill will cost an engine, the expense of getting your there and make for a long ride home.

When we were back in high school my brother was in a hurry after changing his air cleaner to hit the road. That night his car was towed home late with a blown motor. It seems he lost the wing nut to the air cleaner, and instead of searching took a nut out of our spare bolt jar, to hold the lid of the air cleaner on. When the pulled the heads of the engine, they found part of a wing nut!

Originally Posted by stovens

When we were back in high school my brother was in a hurry after changing his air cleaner to hit the road. That night his car was towed home late with a blown motor. It seems he lost the wing nut to the air cleaner, and instead of searching took a nut out of our spare bolt jar, to hold the lid of the air cleaner on. When the pulled the heads of the engine, they found part of a wing nut!

I did the same thing wth my '66 beetle, it took a couple weeks for the nut to work its' way into the valve but i was doomed, no question.

It taught me a few things, one take your time when doing work to your car, and 2 don't work at night when it's easy to lose stuff in the dark!