Destroyed a garage door last night. Been installing a new Edgy head on the flathead six in my 49 Dodge. Got the head on OK. Spent a while last night trying to hook up the two oil lines to the oil filter housing that bolts to the side of the head. #%$&@* fittings on the two metal lines were a bugger to screw into the fittings on the filter housing. They are hard to reach and won't screw in unless they are lined up perfectly. So I was cussing and hurting from bending over the radiator support and down into the engine compartment when all of a sudden it started cranking. What??? The starter relay on the inner fender has a black plastic button that will crank the motor when pushed. Somehow it got pushed and - worse - was stuck so it kept cranking. I was too dumbfounded to respond quickly enough (by, say, reaching into the car and pulling the gear lever down into neutral), and watched as the car backed into the garage door. That will stop it, I thought. Nope! I saw the door bend, then bend some more, and then the car just kept on backing until the door popped open and then it kept on backing until the door was a wreck and the car was sitting outside. Finally it quit cranking. It was dark and just about to thunderstorm. I rolled up the windows, then checked the car as best I could in the dark. Amazingly, it was almost completely undamaged!? Took some pix this morning and saw only a bent license plate and a couple of very mild scuff marks that I think will buff out. My truck and Charger suffered no damage. Garage door guy is coming over later this morning. Probably won't be able to get a new door until next week, but at least he can remove the old door today or tomorrow and I can put the 49 back in the garage.
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