What have YOU done to Embarass your Cobra?

[65 Blur]

Just wanted to get this thread back on top - keep the stories coming - great stuff

Roy

[Dirty Harry]

After spending a very long time building the car, I finally got it running and capable of being driven late one Saturday afternoon. I ran inside and got the Mrs. who had been very understanding about all the time I was spending in the garage. I told her that I was about to take the maiden voyage and I wanted her to be a part of it. I forgot that I had not tightened the rear wheels up after having had them off. During the first mile, I thought I noticed something shiny and silver periodically coming out from the side of the car. When enough lug nuts came off to make the car squirmey, I realized my forgetfulness/excitement and stopped to tighten the remaining nuts as tight as I could with my fingers and limped home, embarrased but looking forward to future rides.

On another occasion-a long trip-my starter burned up. My wife and I stopped at a restaurant for dinner, knowing the car would have to be push-started. I parked on the top of a gentle rise in the parking lot, well away from other cars. After dinner and fielding a lot of questions about the car, I got buckled in and my wife gave the car a gentle push from behind. It started easily from 5-6 mph in 2nd gear and I circled back to get the wife. I could overhear a guy in a van tell his wife, "He's got the perfect wife. Not only does she let him have a hot rod, but she push-starts it for him, too!"

[dscott]

After I finished my first Cobra, I took it on the maiden voyage to the gas station and had quite a crowd around me after I pulled in. I got all the typical questions, "is it real" etc. I told everyone it must be real they can see it can't they. This was around 1990 so you didn't see many on the road. So I flip open the gas filler stand there looking like the big "cock-o-the-walk", I thought I was in heaven. I put the nozzle in and let her rip. After about a minute I hear a little girggle coming from the tank and then woosh, Gas shoots up about 2 feet and of course I have my head real close to the filler so I can hear the noise. I was soaked with gas, got it in my eyes and screamed like a little girl for someone to bring me some water, a hose, pee in my face, anything to get the gas out. I didn't try to put any more in and slowly slithered away in my new snake. I figured out I forgot to hook up the vent hose to the tank. I had put a cap on it while building and forgot about it. Talk about feeling stupid.....!
Don

[Michael C Henry]

I have had my car for about 4 years.I'm just now redoing my master switch to overcome a situation that has come up more times than I can remember. I forget to turn off the master switch or plan on only being a second and the heat rises in radiator causing the fans to come on. I come back and get in the car and no battery. Several times I had enough bat to run fuel pump and an incline let me roll and pop the clutch. I tried the battery brain .I had it set wrong once and next time it just gave up after draining my battery and never did work at all again. I'm installingm a Flaming River combo switch centered in dash. Twist on, just push in to disconnect.
How about getting all belted in with the latch type belts and then can't reach the master switch. Hey stranger lean in here and turn on my master switch .You realy have to lean in and reach under dash. Yes there realy is a switch there. Thanks.

[Fred Douglass]

1. Did EXACTLY as Ron B. suggested, re ingress and egress to/from the Butler. Ingress is "rebirth" (Jamo's phrase for headfirst, bent over), followed by the old wrestler's "sit out". Exiting is reverse. Okay. Here goes---I'm down on the rocky beach at San Ysidro [?] (S. Barbara). Was chatting up a LOVELY, willowiy, middle-aged beauty. You old pharts--think Paula Prentiss! (I choke up still). Started with golden retreivers (she had one), then the full moon (the REAL one), just rising from the mountains, then walked back to the BUTTler. Had her howling with mirth (it's the BEST way to get 'tween strange sheets...believe me). Well, t'was looking promising--peut-etre for din-din...BUTT then I had to get into the car with the top up. No Ass-Crack Spackle! Shed the last molecule of yoomin' dignittttttty!

2. Rocketed up an on-ramp in Yarmouth (Mass) RIGHT in front of a dark-blue Crown Vic with BIG a-sways aboard. OOOOOOps. Guy cruised by, gave me a thumbs up, as I slowed to walking speed---p'raps prepping for a quick bail-out....they haven't MADE the hellofacopter which can catch me once into the woods...

3. REALLY, TRULY cookin' down the fabled Root T'ree--right about Plymouth saw a turgid lump in MY lane (the ONLY time I "vote left" is when I'm late-freighting it! Turd refuses to move----dispicable small cah---is Bella Abzug still alive? Gave it the x-ray headlights. Got waved to the right. Just a shadow, a nuance---was it Athena warning me? Stayed put, right behind, backed off and let the Turd gravitate rightward at a stately pace. State cop---female (I think). Dead spit (up) for "Pat" on SNL. I swear to Zeus, I'm going to take that nifty photo-board backing material and fashion a Garfield Grin, with a bite-tab. Slap it right up there as the Statie approaches.

[Mary Borden]

I have done two stupid things to embarass our cars.

#1 David had a spec series race so I got home early to clean the car up for him. We live on 5 acres on top of a hill. There is a slight incline to our driveway and then it drops off down the hill. I needed to roll the spec cobra out of the garage to wash it. I jump in, start it up and pull out. Climb out over the roll cage and realize the front is not far enough out of the garage. Ok, here is where I was real STUPID. David always pulls the cars into nuetral and rolls them back and then stops them. Seen him do it a hundred times. So I reach in over the cage pull the cobra into nuetral and the thing really starts to roll back and I CAN'T STOP IT!!! It is rolling towards the drop off so I dukes of hazard entry over the cage and step on the brakes. I needed a serious big glass of beer or wine after this. I had to sit and calm myself down for about 1/2 hour. I almost watched that car go off the hill.

#2 We had both the spec cobra and street cobra getting prepped for a big autocross. Both were outside the garage sitting side by side. After all the prep I washed them both. David tells me to put the street cobra back up on the rack for the night. So I jump in and take note of the really wet Kumho race tires. Hmmm, going to have to be careful with those. Pull the car up the ramps to the rack and slowly let out the clutch. WHIZZZ and the ramps shoot out from under the car and out of the garage about 15 feet. There I sit 1/2 on the rack with the back tires in the air. David had neglected to clip the ramps into the rack and the wet race tires and 500 HP were not a good combo. I narrowly missed my brother in law with a projectile ramp as it exited the garage.

There, I have embarrased myself enough

[Ikestaa]

Does trying to install a Side Oiler with the wrong motor mounts count?