One of the first places I actually got paid to turn wrenches was a import shop. (about 1973) I was supposed to replace the timing belt for regular maintenance on an Alpha Romeo. It was a SOHC motor. I said to myself this is a piece of cake, as the front cover was easy.
I bumped it over until the crank timing mark was right on. I proceed to loosen the tensioner and remove the belt. Only then I did notice the cam mark was 180 out. No problem I thought, I'll just take my 1/2 breaker bar the turn the cam so it lined up. Well, it bent every valve. My boss had explain to the customer why it came in running fine and now it was hammered. Ended up eating the whole thing, parts and labor.
In the mid 1990's. I was a line tech at a Cadillac dealer. They use a vacuum diaphram on the the E-brake pedal so it will release when it gets put into gear. It's a very common failure when they go bad.
The young lot girl that brings cars into the shop came in a said she couldn't get the car to move. There is manual release lever up under the dash for just that reason. I went out to the lot and saw the car in question. I noticed it was running. She just put it into drive and came to get help. Didn't bother to put it back in park. I got under the dash and pulled the lever. That's when the car took off with me running along side trying to hit the brakes. The scraped knee was better than the alternative...it was heading broadside right for the service manager's car on a downhill slope.
She felt so bad she brought me in 2 cases Corona.
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