A story of my stupidity so that all of you can have a good laugh today

Last night after getting back to the office after getting out of the automatic company car and hopping into my manual 7, I started my car and guess what happened?

I left it in gear while I started it. The parking brake didn't hold it back either, jumped the curb and landscape ties and hit the cinderblock wall of the office building (this was only a couple of feet of travel). Broke my exhaust piping right at the rear end of the cat, tore the bumber skin on the driver's side along with pushing it in at the same area, the bumper also shifted towards the passenger side (for some reason there seem to be two bolts missing, one out of each bumber shock mount), bent the driver side front corner of the fender and valence and now the body pieces are misaligned with seams larger in some spots and rubbing in others. And all because I forgot to take it out of gear when I started it. Just glad it only went a couple of feet and hit a building and not another car. Was planning on driving until the end of November before placing it in storage for the winter and now it looks like it will go into storage early while I repair it. Good time to search for an imsa bumber too I'm going to rebend the body panels and get all the seams back aligned, plus remove the bumper skin and re-align the bumper (no damage to the bumper or mounts since it only travelled a couple of feet) and get underneath to make sure nothing else got bent on the bottom of the car from jumping the curb or landscape ties (surprised I didn't get hung up there) all this weekend.

So, I thought y'all could get a good laugh at my expense

 

Oh ouch. Not cool. I can see myself doing that. I hate automatics with a passion.

 

been there done that, but i havent hit anything yet hah, and its always wehn i get outa an auto too,

ever get in an auto and either go for the clutch, or try and reach for the shifter heh

 

Yup, done that also!

 

EVERY time I get into an Auto and start it, I slam my foot into the firewall...

EVERY time I pull up to a red light, or go to park, or something, I tend to get nervous because I think I'm going to stall it out.

Occasionally, I reach for where a shifter would be just before the RPM's drop because the AUto just shifted for me... In order to keep myself from doing that, I've gotta tuck my left leg under my right one...

When I was learning to drive, My mom swapped me back and forth from a manual and auto car... In the auto car, I pushed the shift from D to N and almost got it into R before I realized what I was doing. I did this at a red light, looking for 1st...

I am totally Unsatisfied with any of the shift points I've seen in any auto tranny... They're too early and too low on the RPM...

For those reasons, I always claim I can't drive an Automatic...

Also for the same reasons, and the fact that after I got my learners, all I've drive were manuals, I've never made that mistake...

The first few times I made that mistake were when I was learning how to drive. I already had my foot on the brake because that was necessary to shift the Automatic tranny from Park... Hence the car never rolled anywhere...


However a former co-worker of mine witha RICED out Honda put a remote starter on, bypassing his clutch interlock... Showing off, he hit the button, forgetting that he parked in gear... Jumped it over the parking space end block thingy and put it into the front of the building... Man there was fiberglass all over the place... 1 shogun front end down, 3498503580938636365 more to go.

 

I do that **** all the time. I feel like such a dumbass when I do, lol.

~T.J.

 

Not me... I never feel like I'm a dumbass when I do that... I feel like I'm driving some other dumbasses car who should have learned how to drive a manual...

 

Not me... I never feel like I'm a dumbass when I do that... I feel like I'm driving some other dumbasses car who should have learned how to drive a manual...

 

Well, i think most of us agree, Automatic Trans suck!

 

I'm guilty of starting my car once while in gear too. Doh!

 

Even though I don't have to, I always use the clutch when starting. Just a habit I formed when driving other manual cars. That and I almost never park in gear. So I don't have this issue.

Sorry to hear about your car man...

Brian Heston

 

Yea, some m/t cars will only start whit the clutch pushed in... now i see why.

 

I've lurched my car before, but I've always been able to slam my foot on the brake before my car went anywhere. When I drive automatics, I'm constantly reaching for a shifter that isn't there and wearing out the firewall looking for a clutch that seems to have dissapeared.

 

i try nver to park in gear either, but sometimes my friends throw it in gear on me and i never check, and i CANT hold my clutch in, gota small airleak or something... need a new master and probibly slave cylinder for it.

 

off topic but just fyo Zal, if you replace the master you shoudl replace the slave aswell.. do a search dont hijakc the thread :] jsu thtough tid let ya know

 

haha, time to time I leave it in gear and start her up with out the clutch in and I've had many a close calls, but I'm pretty fast at slamming down on the brakes.

 

I always park it in gear and set the handbrake. Its odd to me to leave it in neutral and only trust the brake to hold the car... When I go to start it, I usually hold the clutch down, or sometimes I just pop it outta gear then start it, like when Im gonna warm it up. I just open the door, reach in, pull it outta gear, pop the keys in, pull the choke, start it, and commence talking to my friends or whatever while it warms up .

~T.J.

 

u said it rotormotor

 

I'm like Pele- I'm always stomping for a clutch and grabbing for a shifter that is'nt there.
And that story of the remote start Honda - too funny!

alien rx7, I hope you get everything alligned easily.
It'll be funny when it's all fixed. Funny 'bout the missing bumper bolts. (Makes ya go, "Hmmmm.")

My wife has a Z3. Reverse in the shift pattern is all the way towards you and up.
My car had been on blocks for a clutch and aluminum flywheel job for two weeks, and I was driving the z3.
The first day I finally got to drive the Rx-7 again, I was leaving a parking lot (backing out) and I smacked into a wooden wall in front of me. No damage, but like alien rx7, I was immediately thankful I was'nt parked in front of another car!

 

Thanks for all the kind words y'all. This is such a great forum when no one flames you for a moment of stupidity

Yup, the consensus is we all hate automatics.

Also, I did hit my brakes about the same time I was going over the first curb and there is a small space between it and the landscaping ties and that bumped me off the brake enough for it to continue before it stalled. I've parked my car with just the parking brake before and it will tend to creep if it is on an incline and that is with fairly new brakes

 

I've done the same thing. Once I did it while my mechanic was under the hood and asked me to bump the starter. I never leave the car in gear since I always have working parking brakes, but he did and I didn't think twice about it.
Needless to say, he was a little surprised!


By the way, if you come up 55 and over M (MM?) to 30, there's a side road called Dullin Creek Rd (parallels 30 on the east side of the road), head south on it for about two miles. You will see a sign for 'Fenton Auto Salvage" and a gravel road. You can't see the yard until you crest the hill and drive through the gate, then it's like a wierd movie shot as it comes into view.
Anyway, they have several 1st gens. Complete, too. One has a very nice set of the early alloys, I'm not sure what they are called but they look like the wheels on the Abarth Fiats, kind of radial ribs and don't look like other RX7 wheels at all.

 

I'll have to check it out Fenton Auto this weekend maybe. Anyone know the hours or a phone number for them? Are they a yard that lets you go get the parts ala UWI/Speedway?

 

Sorry I didn't get back to this thread earlier...

fenton Auto Salvage
6650 Treasure Dr off Dullin Creek Rd
House Springs Mo 63051

636 375 5336

Mon -Sat 9-6 closed Sunday


I was there Friday taking some pics of Fords and stuff and took some pics of a couple 1st gens. If you give me your e-mail I can send them to you.
opelbits@yahoo.com