I bought an '83 Riviera for the transaxle. The lady said that a friend changed the oil for her and was blowing out everywhere and said she'd take $75 for it. I had it towed home and drained the oil before I puled the engine. I drained 9 quarts. I sold the engine for $350 and $200 for the rest of the car. Not too shabby.
My favorite personal mess up was replacing brake shoes and replacing rear axle seals and bearings. I put the the axles back in, put the pumpkin cover back on, filled it with 90 wt, went to do the brakes and noticed that I neglected to put the backing plates back on before I put the axles in. DOH!
Start over, genius.
