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Old 07-15-2017, 02:00 PM   #1
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Time to learn some new skills - not SMB related

There's almost never such a thing as a bad Bronco day, but I think yesterday qualified. It started great since it had always been getting over 100 degrees every day I hadn't driven the Bronco in a few weeks, and when I take the Bronco or the Excursion, I can take the back, gravel road through BLM land which keeps me off the pavement for about 10 miles. Yesterday was going to be a little cooler, so I decided to drive the Bronco.

When I stopped to fuel-up at work, the Bronco wouldn't fire back up. No starter engagement at all, and when the one single person who offered to help at all tried to give me a jump start, no change. Now that I was stuck at a gas station, I figured I'd try to bump start it and at least get out of the way. Wouldn't you know it though, there were speed bumps before and after the pumps, and where I was stopped I had one axle in front of one of the speed bumps and one axle behind it. Finally got enough momentum from rocking it back and forth (not easy when the Bronco is 5000lbs) that I was able to clear the speed bump and gather a small amount of momentum down a very small slope to dump the clutch and get it started.

Well after my day at work was done, I was leaving work and had just passed the guard shack as I was leaving, and at about 45mph I had the sudden realization that I had forgotten to put my hood pins back in this morning after my gas station situation. The realization nearly slapped me in the face as it was the hood flipping back at me, absolutely shattering my windshield, destroying the hood hinges, and cracking my fiberglass hood. Good thing I had a ratchet strap in the Bronco so I could kinda-sorta secure the hood down.

So, now I need a new windshield seal, a new windshield, and new hinges, on top of the new gear reduction starter I had already ordered yesterday morning.

I'm thinking I will probably have my hood repaired and then maybe painted a flat black so I don't have to worry about matching the paint. I may farm out the fiberglass repair, or I may do it myself, I haven't decided.
Time to learn some fiberglass skills.


Herb








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Old 07-15-2017, 02:10 PM   #2
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Woops.

Thankfully, I've never once done anything stupid like that!
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Old 07-15-2017, 02:54 PM   #3
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You need some kind of check list reminder sticker on the windshield

Man that sucks Herb.
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Old 07-15-2017, 07:37 PM   #4
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Bummer man.


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Old 07-15-2017, 07:48 PM   #5
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Ouch. I saw that happen to someone on the highway once and can still vividly remember how fast that hood flipped back into the windshield. They were doing likely 70 but I would think 45 would be just as bad.


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Old 07-15-2017, 08:25 PM   #6
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Yup did that in my new-to-me SMB a few days after getting it home. My 8 yr old son was in the back and it is by far his favorite story to tell!!

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Old 07-21-2017, 04:03 PM   #7
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Yeah, stupid stuff that happens. Good thing I've never done that (when anyone was looking).

My old 911 front hood/trunk (frunk) has a secondary safety latch and twice I've had the primary latch not engage so the frunk is up about 1/2 inch at rest and didn't notice it. Once underway I felt the breeze through the instrument panel vents and a different sound to the air noise, pulled over and closed the frunk with no lasting effect. Nobody noticed...

Worst yet, I had a old Cessna 182 that had an oil service door on the cowling, approx a 10"x 10" door hinged at the bottom. The top of the door has a flange that you slide under the upper edge of the cowl, then small side latches secure it. One day on take off, right at rotation, the door popped out of the upper flange and started banging open and closed as fast as you could move it by hand if it was a contest, the upper cowling was flexing in and out like a bellows at the same rate. I turned around as fast as you could possibly do a 180' turn and landed, again to no apparent ill effect. Had the cowling failed, I'm sure the plane would have crashed... Again no one was looking. pics:
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Old 07-21-2017, 05:08 PM   #8
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Damn Herb, that sucks. At least you didn't crash when you couldn't see.
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Old 07-21-2017, 05:15 PM   #9
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Hmmmm...BroncoH maybe it is a good new thread to get those "stupid" things off our chests and help others at the same time!! My Stupid...excited taking Penthouse top up and left ONE HOOK HOOKED!! Yes, bent one of my crossbars and bent my ego for quite some time....$500 later (plus the drive to and from SMB North)fixed the bar and we developed a "new system" for (ever) raising the Penthouse...Calling out to each other, "One hook touched...two hooks touched, third hook touched." Then we raise the top...tedious yes but no more (hopefully) bending of bars!! Thanks for the thread BroncoH!
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Old 07-21-2017, 07:05 PM   #10
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It does feel somewhat good to get it off my chest, and maybe, just maybe it will help others from doing something else this stupid.

FWIW, I'm on the road to recovery. Today I had a brand new windshield installed for $150 out the door. I was going to do it myself, but just buying it would have cost $159 plus shipping. Tomorrow I install my new starter. The hood? Yeah, that's going to be the long pole in this tent.


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