The Ford Barn

kawagumby · 03-02-2022, 08:00 PM

I was about 18, working on my souped-up '56 ford. I couldn't tell if the secondaries were opening on the AFB I had recently mounted, so I decided to look down the throat of the carb while I gassed the engine. Well, my face was about 8-10 inches from the carb when it backfired. Oh my. All my hair was gone, no eyelashes, no eye-brows, most of my hair (I used to have it on the top of my head once) was gone too. I couldn't see and my face was burned pretty good. Luckily, I had a sympathetic girl friend who led me around the neighborhood for a couple of hours so my face could feel some cool air. I guess I probably won't be looking down a carburetor while an engine is running ever again.

The second most dumb thing I've done...working on an air conditioning unit at a school...two identical units, one running, one I'm working on. Do i need to look at the electrical schematic to reassemble? Nah, I'll just check out the wiring on the running unit...no problemo...until I forgot the unit was "hot" and grabbed a wire...yup. Pretty dumb.

Living long is not just about, genes, good diet and exercise...it is also about luck, I think.

03-02-2022, 08:00 PM	#11
kawagumby Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2020 Location: Hollister, CA Posts: 133	Re: You ever do something really STUPID? I was about 18, working on my souped-up '56 ford. I couldn't tell if the secondaries were opening on the AFB I had recently mounted, so I decided to look down the throat of the carb while I gassed the engine. Well, my face was about 8-10 inches from the carb when it backfired. Oh my. All my hair was gone, no eyelashes, no eye-brows, most of my hair (I used to have it on the top of my head once) was gone too. I couldn't see and my face was burned pretty good. Luckily, I had a sympathetic girl friend who led me around the neighborhood for a couple of hours so my face could feel some cool air. I guess I probably won't be looking down a carburetor while an engine is running ever again. The second most dumb thing I've done...working on an air conditioning unit at a school...two identical units, one running, one I'm working on. Do i need to look at the electrical schematic to reassemble? Nah, I'll just check out the wiring on the running unit...no problemo...until I forgot the unit was "hot" and grabbed a wire...yup. Pretty dumb. Living long is not just about, genes, good diet and exercise...it is also about luck, I think.