Stupidity

[Will Owen <nashwill@domain.elided>]

My worst brain-fade episode? I may have told this
before - I'm sure I have, since my wife tells me I've
told everyone all my stories at least three times -
but anyway: the timing chain was rattling a bit in my
'74 Berlina, or at least I thought it was. I'd just
gotten a brand-new Autobooks manual, you see, and was
itching to do Something With Tools, and there was that
really clever and accessible timing chain
tensioner...so I went through the procedure, following
the book step by step, until I got to the part where
you're supposed to lock the thing back down before you
start the engine again... a caution which somehow
escaped my attention.

Well, after my mechanic stopped laughing and got up
off the floor, he congratulated me on having bent only
the intake valves, as they (at that time) were $7
apiece, whereas the exhaust valves were almost three
times that much. He said he'd have the car ready in a
week. When I called him a week later, he made some
mumbled excuse. Another week went by, and I dropped in
to see how things were going, only to find the Alfa's
head still on the bench. "What gives?" I asked. He
went bright red all over, and seemed to have lost his
voice...then he finally admitted that he'd done the
same bonehead thing I'd done, and was now waiting for
the four *exhaust* valves he'd had to order.

Will Owen
Pasadena, CA
Yahoo! Sports - Coverage of the 2002 Olympic Games
http://sports.yahoo.com

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