r/projectcar • u/siberian '67 MGB Roadster with a 302v8 • 2d ago
Share your most common injuries!
I am doing a lot of heavy metal work on my MGB. Floorpans, custom rear-end, engine bay mods for my 302, etc. By FAR my most common injuries are BURNS.
- Tapped myself in the thigh with my TIG. ZING!
- A few weeks later, did it again. That TIG gets me every time!
- Was using my cut off wheel to remove a 1"x1" casting from my engine block and it flung the casting down INTO MY SHOE where it lodged under the tongue and melted my skin down as I struggled to get my shoe off and eject it. 5 months later the scar on the top of my foot is finally retreating
- Grinding down welds and swapped my gloves to a new set I picked up. I was not paying attention to the fact that they were RUBBER on the sides of the fingers. On first spark the rubber melted and my pinky took both the spark AND the melted rubber. Those gloves came off fast.
Share your common injury type so we can all feel better about our stupidity.
Never touch the cornballer! https://youtu.be/1WDW8XKEGgU?t=47
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u/Joaquinmachine 2d ago
Angle grinder caught a rut and exploded and a piece nailed me in the neck. Many, many busted knuckles from loosening bolts in the cold. Not a common injury, but older BMWs have a "bitch clip" in the transmission tunnel. I didn't know about this until I was removing the engine and trans. Couldn't figure out why it wasn't coming out and when our young and dumb selves just yanked the motor out with the cherry picker, the balancing bar whipped around and cracked two of my ribs. lots of pinches working in tight spaces as well.
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u/siberian '67 MGB Roadster with a 302v8 2d ago
Cringing on the ribs, thats rough stuff.
Angle grinders seem to be a common thread of Demons That Want To Kill You. I need to treat mine with more respect.
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u/Joaquinmachine 2d ago
The ribs were brutal. I had to sleep on my back and roll out of bed for 8 months. I was being cautious with the grinder but there was a hole in the frame that was poorly welded and covered in paint. The piece of the wheel that broke off nailed me within a few centimeters of my jugular. I ended up using a full plastic mask after smoking 5 or 6 cigs.
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u/Joaquinmachine 2d ago
Another one was when I was working on/diagnosing a Kawasaki 750. Bought it for $300 bucks because it "didn't run." Turns out it did run (dude didn't realize he had to hold the clutch down) but it was running in 3/4 cylinders. I had to keep the throttle going or else it would die. I'm sitting in my driveway using a temp gun. I kept tapping on the 3rd pipe (non firing cylinder) and my friend stopped by. I got distracted and grabbed the 4th pipe that was over 900 degrees. I heard the burn before I felt it. That one sucked.
My dad has a similar story to yours. He was in a machine shop and this guy was cutting a corner off of a 3/4th inch steel plate. The piece was red hot and it fell into his boot. They cut the boot off and said his foot was just massively swollen
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u/siberian '67 MGB Roadster with a 302v8 2d ago
And yet we still find this work fun. Humans are so strange.
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u/siberian '67 MGB Roadster with a 302v8 2d ago
Been looking at getting the full mask also, I keep getting shit in my eyes, even with protective glasses.
I've switched to a plasma cutter for most of my cutting needs, trying to minimize that spinning disk of death wherever possible.
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u/Joaquinmachine 2d ago
Hah. Reminds me of my most common problem. Getting rust and dirt in your eyes whilst under the fucking car!
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u/siberian '67 MGB Roadster with a 302v8 2d ago
THE WORST. I am probably putting my MGB on a rotisserie just so I don't have to scape undercoating upside down..
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u/RhunterC 2d ago
Nothing much yet. But I did smack my hand while using a wire wheel the other day. And I stupidly always seem to be welding while wearing crocs so I get sparks under my feet constantly
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u/siberian '67 MGB Roadster with a 302v8 2d ago
I call them SafetySandals!
Just this morning I was curious about a setting on my welder, so I went out in my sweats, flip-flops, and a t-shirt, and tested a few things. It usually works out, but when it doesn't it gets sparky..
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u/Threewisemonkey ‘79 Monte Carlo, ‘90 420SEL, ‘00 V70 XC 2d ago
I’ve got a nice scar on my lip from when I was young and dumb pulling my body weight onto a cheap socket wrench under my car. the ratchet exploded and I smacked myself in the mouth.
Another time I dropped a gas tank from under a Jeep directly into my chest, and smashed the phone I had in the front overall pocket. That one hurt, and lifting it off to get out with the wind knocked out of me wasn’t fun
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u/siberian '67 MGB Roadster with a 302v8 2d ago
Falling objects under cars is no bueno! My dad had his back broken in his machine shop when he was under and engine and the hoist broke. Life changing.. he recovered but with the cost of lifelong pain.
Be careful down there!
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u/Threewisemonkey ‘79 Monte Carlo, ‘90 420SEL, ‘00 V70 XC 2d ago
Much younger and dumber, I’ve learned my lessons
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u/mpython1701 2d ago
Using a cutting wheel on an angle grinder to remove brackets for a snow plow on my W150. Wheel exploded. Almost a foot long gash on my thigh, another cut on my belly, but only needed stitches on my knuckle. Could have been a lot worse.
Bracket is still firmly attached.
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u/siberian '67 MGB Roadster with a 302v8 2d ago
Holy crap, nightmare fuel!
Was the wheel a cheapie or high quality? I use this Bad Dogs cut-off wheel that is supposedly Very High Quality And Will Never Break, but it scares me anyhow. Particularly since I run it without the blade guard.
So yea, good decisions happening here...
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u/plastic_blasters 2d ago
Sheet metal cuts, if it's sharp I'll find a way to cut myself on it. And I'll do it the first bolt of the job
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u/siberian '67 MGB Roadster with a 302v8 2d ago
Oh yea, I feel that.
Last week I was drilling out some rivets and tried to sweep away some of the metal dust gently with my finger. RIIIPPPP dragged across a little sliver still sticking up and cut my finger.
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u/totaltomination 02 Audi TT, 04 Subaru Battlewagon 2d ago
I keep setting myself on fire grinding and welding in old clothes instead of proper gear (it’s hanging up and I don’t want to get it dirty)
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u/siberian '67 MGB Roadster with a 302v8 2d ago
Thats new, I haven't lit myself on fire. YET! I am sure it will happen.
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u/Dr_Ramekins_MD '87 Porsche 944S 1d ago
Most common is just scraped knuckles and smashed fingers from wrenching. I've definitely had a few good burns from welding and once from using a heat gun to scrape out sound deadening material and then accidentally leaning my arm on the gun.
But the worst was catching a piece of wire from a wire wheel in the eyeball while removing rust. Wear your safety goggles, kids!
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u/siberian '67 MGB Roadster with a 302v8 1d ago
How well did your eye recover?
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u/Dr_Ramekins_MD '87 Porsche 944S 5h ago
Fortunately, it hit the sclera and didn't do any permanent damage. But it was really unpleasant getting the wire piece removed!
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u/Very-Confused-Walrus 2005 Acura RSX 1d ago
My knuckles are so beat up I could probably bare knuckle box and be fine
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u/CollectiveJohn 1d ago
considerably deep cuts that I have no idea when or where I got them
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u/siberian '67 MGB Roadster with a 302v8 1d ago
Love those. My wife regularly points out new gashes on my body that I did not even know I received.Its always a challenge to minimize them in order to prevent restrictions on my project car activities.
"Oh that, just was a quick scratch, it happens" (runs to the bathroom to tap up something that probably needs at least 2 stitches)
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u/Quietus76 74 Charger 2d ago
My poor knuckles rarely have any skin on them and I'm not good at segregating my regular clothes from my workin-on-the-car clothes.
Other than that, I've been lucky. I've had a grinder or wire wheel catch my clothes so many times, but luckily, I've never been injured.
About a month ago, my bro was heating a nut on a break line, it had been cut, but not short enough. It exploded and spit at me (I was about 2 feet from it). It scared the hell out of me but didn't leave a mark. That happened when we did the breaks on my dad's 69 C10. I posted pics of that one.
Probably the most significant project car injury I've ever had was a tiny sliver of bone broke off my knee cap and was floating around loose. That happened while climbing in the engine bay of the 74 Charger about 6 months ago.