MORE random pics......

[cashflyer]

Originally Posted by BE911SC

[♫ ♪ ♫ ♪]
Come Saturday night I let my ramrod rock
She's a hot stepping hemi with a four on the floor
She's a roadrunner engine in a '32 Ford
[/♫ ♪ ♫ ♪]

[BE911SC]

[widebody911]

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by cashflyer

She's a hot stepping hemi with a four on the floor

Isn't it funny how 4 on the floor was the hot setup (I remember those days) and now you are sad if you don't have a 6 speed...?

Originally Posted by BE911SC

"Boom"

random:

[pavulon]

I'd imagine there were at least 4 teeth on that floor.

[porsche930dude]

Originally Posted by BE911SC

Looks like catastrophic clutch failure . bet that was loud

[porsche930dude]

[romad]

clutch failure? thats a head on driver side I would guess a fatal

[porsche930dude]

Originally Posted by romad

clutch failure? thats a head on driver side I would guess a fatal

Clutch/flywheel explosions...let's hear some stories. - THE H.A.M.B.

[NeedSpace]

Originally Posted by BE911SC

1956 chevy 210?

[John Rogers]

In 1963 we had a D-Gas class 265 cubic inch chevy flywheel explode with about the same amount of damage except the windshield left the car and the whole dash ended in the rear seat area. It was a Ford straight axle, one piece tilt front end car with the engine moved back 10 inches. The explosion knocked the driver out, broke both his legs and the car lost the front brakes and costed to the sand trap at the end of the strip. It was a 55# flywheel, supposed to explosion proof and a 3/8 steel scatter shield welded to the frame that took out the top of the car. Blankets and such were not invented yet. The engine ran Hilborn injectors and also lost the rear of the engine a bit.

This is not the Chevy.....

[James Brown]

fuel injection pump driven from the rear of the cam?

[cashflyer]

Courtesy of Russ Shreve

One of the best of the best of the original RamChargers was Wayne Erikson. One Friday he spent most of the afternoon at my desk discussing the special problems of a drag car with respect to suspension. I am not a particular fan of drag racing, but we talked about some things that could be done and agreed to meet again when we returned to work the following week. The following week he was dead.

During his race that weekend his clutch exploded. He was not directly injured by the explosion, but his fuel line was inside the car by the clutch and was severed by shrapnel. He suffered severe burns over most of his body and died two weeks later from the effects of the burns.

Wayne's accident led to the requirement for scatter shields, and the ruling that fuel lines could not be inside the car. It is my understanding it also in part led to the formation of the Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association, so there could be common standards for safety equipment, like scatter shields.

I have had two clutch explosions. The first was as a teenager racing a Dual Carbureted Supercharged Duesenberg against a Buick across the McKees Rocks Bridge in Pittsburgh. The center flywheel of the dual plate clutch broke into three pieces. It was still retained by the guide studs, so nothing bad happened except to seize the clutch and prevent shifting out of low gear. But I could still go 125 in low, so I just finished the race and collected my Hundred Bucks. Needed the money to help fix the clutch.

The other was the Lotus Valiant. The engine was nearing 8000 at the end of an airport course straight when the clutch cover and pressure plate disintegrated. It was like a hand grenade went off inside the car. At the time an explosion proof housing was not available. Even though every effort was to keep weight down, knowing of Wayne's accident I never hesitated to add a five pound piece of boiler plate between the housing and the driver compartment. The car was a mess. I fixed the car like it never happened. People are a lot harder to fix.

[URY914]

[URY914]

[URY914]

[URY914]

[GH85Carrera]

[GH85Carrera]

[GH85Carrera]