[Ron Hamperehill]

I know we have all done it, I have many a time. Worked on the car out of sight and out of earshot of anyone. Where I live its almost inevitable but today it finally happened I had a silly mishap and found myself in a really bad situation. I was trying to remove the clutch housing cover on my T16 to get at the starter mounting bolts With turbo, intercooler and AC its pretty crowded and restricted and difficult to see. I removed the intercooler and amm and air ducting to the throttle body. I could see that the clutch cover bottom retaining bolts were missing but couldn't get a clear view of the top of the cover. Hoping that whoever couldn't be bothered replacing the bottom bolts wouldn't have replaced the more difficult to access top I leaned over the throtttle body and cylinder head, worked my hands around the turbo and exhaust pipe, got a grip on the bottom edge of the clutch housing cover and tried to prise it out. Disaster my hands were oily and the cover slipped firmly back into place trapping the tip of the little finger on my left hand. Christ it hurt! But it was not just a short sharp pain. The finger was trapped and the pressure on it continued and increased. The trapped finger was preventing me adjusting the position of my left hand to get a grip on the cover. And I could not exert enough pressure with my right hand alone to move the cover and free the finger which was hurting like hell so making the situation worse. I was in a potentially serious position that could have led to the loss of the finger from lack of blood or severe damage from the cover.

Fortunately this was one of the rare occasions where I was working on a car away from my own place. In fact I was in front of my girlfriends house. Eventually she heard my howls of pain (it was damm sore) and cries for help and came to the rescue. It was difficult keeping calm enough to explain to a non mechanically minded woman what happened and how she could release my finger without trapping her own but I managed. And so did she. All the while this was happening I was thinking "if I had been at home with the nearest neighbour quarter a mile away and the house and garage hidden in a dip what the hell would I have done?"

Now 4 hours later I still haven't worked out what I would have done to get free without help but I tell you this it has made me think again about all those warnings about safe working that we don't always pay attention to. Take heed all of you.

And if anyone can tell me exactly where I can find the bolt that was clearly still firmly in place I would be grateful.

 

[DanF.]

Jeez, glad you're ok! Buy your gf a drink and give her a hug.

 

[Bawheid]

Im sure i read about a guy in Paisley who was killed when his Saab fell on him, when he was working on it. Plenty of ways to hurt yourself badly on on these things. Glad your fingers ok, im pretty accident prone but ive been trying to be a bit more carefull now.

 

[grif900]

The top bolt should be a lille to the left of 12:00, I'm glad you got to keep all of yer fingers too.

 

[JimmyG]

it sure cant be good being stuck alone. thankfully i've been lucky so far. my worst fear is the car falling on me so i always have a back up prop if the worst does happen. and i never leave the car on the jacks...especially when my halfords one drops slowly...imagine suddenly not having enough space to crawl out from under the car :nono;

hopefully you'll only have bruises to show!

 

[ShadowWorks]

Did you hear about the guy who went rock climbing and fell trapping his whole hand, he cut his hand of which took him 2 or 3 days to do with a blunt can opener or something crazy like that.

You would have found a way after some time trust me, your finger would have went numb and you would have just yanked it out, its almost impossible for a human to pull a finger off but I'm glad your friend was there to help you.

Now go give her a big kiss and buy her something nice

 

[TooMany2cvs]

my worst fear is the car falling on me so i always have a back up prop if the worst does happen. and i never leave the car on the jacks...especially when my halfords one drops slowly...imagine suddenly not having enough space to crawl out from under the car

And this, children, is why we NEVER go under a car supported by a jack - even a trolley jack. AXLE STANDS, PLEASE...!

I'm used to hydraulically suspended Citroens - and the temptation to just shove 'em in high and crawl under is immense. People have died doing just that.

 

[Ron Hamperehill]

Thanks all for your concern. Thanks too to Grif 900 for help locating the top bolt. The finger is still tender but when its good again I'll look just past 12 for the bolt

 

[grif900]

You are very welcome. but dont look beyond 12, it's more like 11:30 (hour-hand); looking at the front of the car.

 

[woywitka]

There was a post on Scab Net where an experienced Saab owner/ DIYer was feeling the alternator for fibration or something and foregot about the alternator fan. Lost 2 fingers. He posted pics, but they are too dammm gross.

Guys, be careful! It can happen so easily!

My neighbour last week was out working under his truck. I was washing my car (a safe activity that is both exercise and rewarding) when I hear "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

He was dooing the olde hot oil change when disaster stuck. He was burned quite bad!

There was not much I could do but help him clena up the oil and get him cleaned up.


BUT MAN! glad you're ok!

A guy local to us a few month back was jump starting his Mercedes in the driveway to take his 16year old son out for his first lesson. While jumping back in to the drivers seat to give it some gas the car rolled back and the door caught him before he got in. He was dragged to his death as it rolled down the driveway and crushed him. This was infront of his son. Terrible accident!

 

[TooMany2cvs]

A guy local to us a few month back was jump starting his Mercedes in the driveway to take his 16year old son out for his first lesson. While jumping back in to the drivers seat to give it some gas the car rolled back and the door caught him before he got in. He was dragged to his death as it rolled down the driveway and crushed him. This was infront of his son. Terrible accident!

It was on a sloping driveway, and he didn't have the handbrake on...?