My fellow project-enduring masochists, how some of you have truly suffered. When I asked you over the weekend to tell me what DIY car projects went so wrong they nearly or totally ruined your ride, I of course expected stories, but some of these projects literally went up in flames. Also, the imagery of one of you walking home a charred bike was absolutely outstanding, albeit mighty unfortunate as well. You’ll see what I mean momentarily.
I may have said over the weekend that a project fail is a project learning opportunity, and there are certainly some learning opportunities your experiences have bestowed upon the rest of us. We’ll use these tomes as a guide, perhaps, of what not to do on our own projects. Otherwise, we shall continue the path of learning via our own DIY car experiments so that one day, when this question is asked again (surely in the next 2-5 years), we too can contribute to the chaos of DIY projects gone wrong on our cars.
Enjoy the pain of your brethren. Also, as promised, one of you actually posted a picture with your response, and that answer is included.
That tricky wiring will get ya
I picked up a mid 70’s Subaru DL for $50 when I was 16 in 1987 for a winter beater that needed the floors patched up.I cut the floors out,patched it up and put it all back together.When I tried to back it out of the garage it wouldn’t start.I pulled the carpet back up and realized that I had cut through the wiring harness.My dad just laughed at me and had me call his friend down the road to fix it.He wound up charging me $50 to fix it and I didn’t live that one down for quite a while.
From Bruno
Modify, shake, rattle, tighten. Repeat.
Poly engine mounts in my A1 VW Rabbit. When I went to work in the back of my buddy’s shop to install them, he shook his head and told me I would be destroying any sense of smoothness in my ride.
He was right. It buzzed like cheap motel Magic Fingers, and proceeded to shake loose first all the rust, then half the fasteners, from the car. I doomed myself to monthly bolt and nut tightening sessions, front to back, until I finally got rid of the car.
From jrhmobile
Oops: No oil
After rebuilding my friend B210 engine (changed the rod bearings and the rings), I was so excited I forgot to put the oil back in the car. It ran for 5 minutes then bang! Oh well, it then needed a new engine.
From Luc Desaulniers (minardi)
At least it doesn’t catch fire anymore?
In high school I briefly had an old Dodge that had an electrical fire, so I decided to rewire it… By the time I was done you would turn the radio on to get the headlights to work, the headlight switch got the wipers working 🤦♂️
From Jimboy II, The Sequel
A father-son project that has ended in ruin
Jury is still out. 2003 Jetta TDI with stage 2 tune, clutch, injectors and a stage IDK, 50? Polish tractor turbo that makes max boost the tune allows, like 24 psi? I forget exactly.
Heat soaks the intercooler after one wot pull, after that you only get about 3/4 power (which is still stupid fast for a Jetta).
Have broken 2 or 3 driveshafts, finally got some OEM and rebuilt them, seems solid now.
Engine has 390,000 miles, so we consider it done, but somehow it still has excellent compression.
Next up is a bigger intercooler, and then a larger injection pump. If that does not kill the engine, then we’ll have a solid set up.
After all these shenanigans it still gets 45 mpg, normal driving, as low as 38 when flogging it.
It’s been a great father son project, mostly son doing the work, I just help out with advice for some tricky stuff.
From DieselOx
Caution, ride may be more wobbly than it appears
My brother and I installed a 351 Cleveland into a 1970 Ford Maverick. To get it to fit, we had to cut out the shock towers. Turns out that if you remove a lot of a car’s structural rigidity and replace it with a lot of torque, the body goes all wonky and bendy, the windshield starts leaking, the doors don’t open and close right, and proper alignment is no longer possible. Who knew!
From Rollerrobb
Boosted so hard it died on the Strip
Aftermarket boost Controller for a ’97 Eclipse……eventually over boosted the stock turbo causing the bearings to fail. It leaked oil into the exhaust at an impressive rate – engine seized on the Vegas Strip on way to a speed shop to get it repaired.
From theGrizzle
All in the name of beating a Mustang
In 1967, I decided my 65 Corvair Corsa turbo needed just a bit more horsepower. Back then, wastegates were unheard of (at least by me), and I got a buddy who worked at a machine shop to build an adapter that would let me replace the one-barrel carb with a two-barrel. Worked great, until it didn’t. I then got to learn all about how to replace burned pistons and damaged valves. In retrospect, I’m surprised I didn’t completely totally destroy the engine. But, hey, just for once, I’d gotten to beat that Mustang…
From FloridaMatt
That’s 2+ horsepower for the Ninja, and one major fire to end its ride
When I was 17 I had a 1987 Kawasaki Ninja 750R. Replaced the stock dual exhaust with a single can full system. Immediately gained maybe 2 horsepower at redline and lost every bit of low end and midrange, felt like a 2 stroke. Didn’t know anything about carbs or how to rejet or tune, but I saw an advertisement for -easy- supplimentary jets that connected to the fuel lines and literally poked through holes in the rubber gaskets between the carbs and intakes. Installed them myself… Took it out on the highway and it ran even worse than before for about 5 minutes until the whole thing caught fire and burned to a crisp. That was fun to push back home.
From Robert Galloway
It’s still ruin if it makes your wallet cry
Ruined my finances but drove it for 20K miles over 5-6 years
From Bob
(Thanks for including a photo, Bob.)
