Inattention to details=bad results

I have been working on my S/P car this winter, I removed and replaced the Koni steel single adjustable front coil over shocks with a set of Afco double adjustable aluminum coil overs(Thanks,Al ) and I had disconnected the inlet pressure oil line from the oil pump to the remounted mounted oil filter on the front motor plate trying to get the shocks in and out easier, that didn't work. I ended up disconnecting the lower A control arms to remove and install the shocks up through center of them, that was several months ago.
I didn't hook the oil line back up then and paid for it today when I started the motor up and sprayed oil all over the engine compartment I was planning on checking and maybe changing the ignition timing if needed due to changing the distributor before changing the coil over shocks over.
Luckily I was using a remote starter switch standing beside the drivers front fender and saw the oil spray out as soon as the motor started and got it shut off within 5 seconds or so, oil all over the engine compartment
My message is check twice instead of not checking, especially on race cars when working on them

How right you are...
I put a new Dr. Diff chunk in my 8-3/4 housing six or seven years ago.
Finally got the Dart on the road this December... within 5 miles, locked up the rear because I'd forgotten to put the gear oil in.
That was a $700 mistake.

I fell for you guys, but at least it makes me fell not so stupid when that sh!!t happen to other people.

Yup been there!
Had the front passenger tire off to do some work on the car late fall, put the tire back on hand tightened the lugs, spring time came, dropped it off the stands drove 1/2 a block and the flippin tire almost fell off, lost 3 lugs bent 2 of the studs in the process, lucky i had the long studs or could have been way worse, now i put a piece of caution tape on my unfinished projects to help remind me, including a start up checklist, checking the lugs and oil levels being priority.

Thought it was just me......pre-lubed my new 500 stroker. I was paying attention to the oil coming up to the rockers, forgot I hadn't put on an oil filter! BIG mess!

This would be a good time for FREDS, DAMHIK

I fired my car after a transmission swap and had forgot to put the oil filter back on. I knew it would take a second to get oil pressure because the filter had been off but after those seconds were up I realized what I did and shut it off, big big mess.

I would like to take this moment to say that the powder looking oil dry at wall mart works really good!

.... its a small block thing, you wouldn’t understand

I made a stud nut set up so I don’t have to remove the filter now. Got tired of the mess when the 727 from L removal became a weekly/monthly ordeal.

Don't fell bad. Been there done that. Its amazing how fast that oil comes out of a disconnected hose. I was just cranking it over and that sh!it came out like a bullet. Mine was an oil line to the valve covers. It sprayed over the pass fender with such speed if someone would have been standing there I think it might have hurt.

Then there are guys that lose prime -

Focus. The older we get the harder it is. I've done worser Cab just try to focus distractions lead to disaster. I just look at old age as entertaining And pray the Good Lord is looking out for ya.

Early 2000's...19 or 20 at the time....was going to a Mopar meet up with Fluffy (Mr P's silo party?) and was finishing up replacing pads on the front of the car. Was running late and decided to make the shakedown ride the trip over. First time I applied the brake I realized I installed one of the pads backwards....don't ask....drove it like that the couple miles up the road and hung out. Used first gear to slow the car down before applying brakes when I had to stop. Wonder if anyone noticed?

A buddy of mine that worked in the brake lab had just finished up a brake job(he was on a
road trip in Cali)... being in a hurry he backed out and went to hit the brakes.. zero brakes and he
hit a brand new big dollar Mercedes..he forgot to pump the pedal to fill the caliper..
yes there was a law suite on Chrysler... SO SH!T HAPPENS

Lots of brainfarts over the years .
Back in the mechanic days put a transmission in a Volare and when I let the rack down....there's the torque converter sitting on the bench.
Towed a broke down car for a friend, his wife's car."whatever we do DON'T scratch her car she'll kill me"
Not to worry I know what I'm doing.
Back the trailer up to the shop,set the brakes....car rolls off into the parking lot.
Never strapped it down, wasn't even in park....
How it made it 12 miles is a mystery...😳

While we're confessing brake job errors...

I did a complete rear brake job on my old F-350 flatbed (Dana 70 axle). Spun the lug nuts down with a 3/8" impact but forgot to torque them.
You can see where this is going

Drove to the sawmill 6 miles away and got 2 tons of cut ends for my wood furnace. Coming back down the 2-lane county highway at 55 mph... no warning, wobble wobble THUMP screeeeeeeeeeeech. The left rear dually wheels came off and the brake drum slid on the pavement

Ron White - Tire Fell Off (NSFW)

One passed me like a cartoon and went 200 yards down the road in the other lane, the other went out the rear 1/4 mile behind me. Luckily no one was on the road at the moment but me! Bent the crap out of the 1/4" C-channel bumper too.

Once I realized I could keep it straight and come to a stop, without being underneath 3 tons of truck and 2 more tons of wood, I unclenched about six inches of seat upholstery.
The studs weren't even damaged, but my brand new brake drum was sanded really flat on one side...

The guy whose house I ground to a stop in front of, phoned his brother to bring some lug nuts from HIS house. Unfortunately they were not the right size, but it was nice of them to try.

So I called 911 since there were no shoulders and I was in the road. The state trooper who came out was the same guy who'd called me a tow truck years ago when I had a flat on my pickup (and the spare was also flat). He remembered me, too. He actually drove me about 4 miles to O'Reilly, I bought eight new lug nuts, and he drove me back to the truck! I'm always amazed that people in rural MO will stop to help a stranger.

I put them on and drove the rest of the way home. Ordered another brake drum (Autozone lifetime warranty did not cover it, so I didn't try) and finished the job, using a torque wrench this time! Only once in nearly 40 years of wrench-turning have I done something like that.

I forgot to mention that one good thing that came out of this latest debacle is I found a vacuum leak from the oil dipstick tube cap(vacuum cap) being worn with several holes that I couldn't see with the hose clamp on it It has 5+Lbs. vacuum idling now

Cab... come on... thats inch of merc... messin with ya

My friend had a 62 Plymouth race car with a 440. I stopped by to check it out and he fired it up, I noticed something was off when I saw a stream of oil shoot up out of the engine compartment. He had a Oberg oil filter and had opened it up for cleaning. What a mess, I offered to help him clean it up but he said no. I felt bad for him.

I have two other oil related messes. Forgot to hook up my oil pressure gauge after some work. Stream shoots up, hits the hood and is distributed all over my garage. The second was 20 years ago when I put the autometer gauges in my factory panel. The oil pressure gauge is right over the column and I forgot to tighten the line. After about a mile I wondered while my feet were wet.....that pair of shoes didn't make it!

I have oil the ceiling and walls in my shop when the oil pressure line was left off also
Maybe it is time for me to stop working on cars and motors and not fly anymore, maybe not
80 lb. of oil pressure forced out of a .125 size hole squirts a long ways

i had a 2.2 4banger in a daytona front drive one time that had only 4lbs oil pressure at a hot idle.
i figured i would shim up the bypass valve just a touch to improve it. those have the spring retained by a soft plug and a cotter pin.
i fired it up and heard a big POP. shut it down to see what that was, and found the oil filter had burst. and you know THAT mess.
seems i had installed the soft plug backward on the spring. [the spring should have been INSIDE the soft plug with the shim] not the spring, shim, then the backward soft plug.
i wondered why i had such a difficult time inserting the cotter pin to retain the spring.
after i was done re-doing the mess, [correctly this time] i had a whole 10lbs of oil pressure at hot idle ! ran it that way for years after. never blew up another oil filter.........

I had a destroyed 383 that I did the same thing... it didnt even fire up and blew.. the pressure
was over 100 psi when it let go... a major mess... in my drive way.. it took me over a week
to finally get it cleaned up

Just priming it goes about 15 ft, got the oil line in but left the other plug out

Don't feel bad.
Many $$$ lawsuits against doctors, hospitals show that even world-class surgeons leave retractors and sponges inside patients.
The IQ-related problem solving ability (A: designing an engine) isn't closely related to memorizing check lists (B: "did you turn off the stove"?).
Your credentials in "A" are far more important than one failure in "B".

Did the same thing and installed a brake pad backwards. Didn't make it out of the driveway before I realized something was way wrong thank goodness.

Anyone that has worked on cars for any length of time has done something equally as dumb.

Brain farts are why I now use an engine run stand to work out the kinks before installing an engine now.

Nothing more frustrating than spending days detailing parts and engine bays only to have them sprayed down with whatever fluid chooses to find its way out.

Cab this is the reason I like working on my cars, especially painting, or building engines and transmission, late in the evening in my little shop at my house.

I go out about 10pm and work until 1 or 2 in the morning because there are no distractions from phones ringing, customers showing up, wife needing something etc.

If I get distracted and have to leave something sit I don't have the memory that I used to and it leads to at a minimum time wasted rechecking work already done or at worst something like your example.

Despite its popularity, "multi-tasking" does not work.
You cannot give 100% attention to 3 things at once, what you get is 33% attention to each and broken parts.
Don't measure anything while talking on the phone!
When in doubt, make a list and follow it. There is no such thing as too small to matter: when you do these things correctly, your peace of mind is much better.
Military put removable tags in huge red letters like "NO STEP" on the weak part of the plane's wing because otherwise the pilot will put his foot through it, "NO START" on the steering wheel of a race car which doesn't have oil in it yet, etc.

Pilot training teaches us to have priority even though some times we need to be doing 2 to 5 things at the same time, primary is to fly the plane, second thing is to navigate and last is to communicate, talk to the crew, passengers or air traffic control.
I had to learn to write thigs down when I went into management at the phone company so I didn't forget to some things when things got hectic. I also learn to write the date and tine down on them after getting burn by some of my incompetent co workers who like to play mind games
The older I get the harder it is to remember many things
I learn the hard way a long time ago to not do any work on motors with someone in the shop or on the phone

Didn't we have this in a thread a LONG time ago .....Titled " Don't ask Me How I Know

It's all about focus. Even when you are in the shop late at night and alone. Especially when we get older, like you said Cab- . Shoot at my age I forget to write it down. I've learned, finish the job at hand before going on to something else. Then double check everything before moving on. I'm 76 now and have learned you have to treat old age as entertaining. And every mistake as a learning experience. Don't know how much longer it will last, but as of now it's still fun. And I'm blessed with good health. Yes God is great !