Papa Smurf stars in "The Incident"

thrown_hammer · 09-13-2004, 10:52 AM

So here are the details. After the carshow the director of the CCAC tells us to rip around and have fun in the parking lot if we want. Only one rule.......DONT WRECK YOUR CARS.
I tell him that is the last thing that we will do.(first mistake)

After Frogman, Kurt V, and Souk take a spin around the parking lot I fire up the Smurf and let the oil warm up a little. I want Souk to get a shot of me "up on 3". I take off and slam 2nd gear.......when I let out the clutch the throttle is stuck WFO!!!

I slam on the brakes............no use, I turn the wheel to avoid the curb...............no use, I try to BOOM!!! Car stops rapidly.

(No, I didnt magically drive thru the red car)

Papa Smurf is crippled. A quick damage control shows the rim is bent, the ball joint is torn from the A-arm, the tie rod is bent and the fender is damaged.

We get AAA on the horn and get a tow truck over to drag the Smurf home to the GruppeB ER.
Notice the skid marks!

IanW505 · IanW505's Garage

so much for the minister of safety title, eh? Just teasing, i'm relieved to hear nothing more serious happened. Considering how much work you've put into this car in the first place, hopefully it won't be long before it's back on the road.

-Ian

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

At least you didn't post pix of the other set of skid marks...

jpnovak · 09-13-2004, 11:18 AM

Oh no! Glad to hear you weren't hurt. The worst part is the cracked fender. Yes, fiberglass can be repaired.

Don't forget you can always turn the key off if/when that happens.

That's pretty good torque to push the front wheels like that. Or were you laying rubber?

thrown_hammer · 09-13-2004, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by IanW505
so much for the minister of safety title, eh?
-Ian

Are you kidding? I walked away without a scratch!

Once we got it home GruppeB attacked like a Pitbull on a bloody rope. The entire front drivers side suspension was off in 20 minutes. I cant seem to post any more pix?

I will try later. I really want to thank: Souk, DByers, trj911, frogman, and Kurt V. You guys are awesome! All I wanted to do was forget about it and you guys jumped right in.

MotoSook · 09-13-2004, 11:23 AM

There'll be more pictures to come, but before the Safety Police get their posse on the trail, this happened in a very short span of time, and Shawn did the best he could, no second guessing or speculating what he should have or could have done. It was an unfortunate accident and Shawn took it very well, and so did his WIFE! She was very cool about it from what I could tell.

The turn out wasn't bad, and it could have been much worst!

I'll post pictures and hopefully moving pictures later.

RickM · RickM's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by jpnovak
Don't forget you can always turn the key off if/when that happens.

Except when the steering wheel locks.

Sorry to see the mishap.
Now to find a matching rim. Manufacturer yet to be determined if I remember correctly.

trj911 · trj911's Garage

Anyone but the Minister of Safety would have been injured. It was all the safety features of the car that kept him safe! The pictures don't quite do the event justice.

thrown_hammer · 09-13-2004, 12:10 PM

Trying the pix thing again.

Here is the damage under the car:

GruppeB whipping itself into a frenzy:

Working into the night:

The broken bones:

goat · goat's Garage

I am sorry to hear about the incident. These things happen and cannot be predicted for the most part.
Was it stuck at redline?

bigrubberjeep · 09-13-2004, 12:15 PM

it could have been much worst, all I see is a tree within 2 meters of your car. YIKES!

Glad your ok

Schrup · Schrup's Garage

Man, that sucks. What do you think the cause of the throttle stick was? Glad it wasn't any worse.

trj911 · trj911's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by bigrubberjeep
it could have been much worst, all I see is a tree within 2 meters of your car. YIKES!

You are correct. If he had missed the curb and gone another 20-25 feet, he would have had major damage because there were concrete pipes laying on the ground.

thrown_hammer · 09-13-2004, 03:49 PM

Well I am still waiting to hear the damage report from Jerry for the used stuff. The good news is I have 22MM torsion bars in the front and what DByers thinks is a Racers Group sway bar. Silver lining man.....Silver lining.

North Coast Cab · North Coast Cab's Garage

Shawn,
That's a very close call considering the potential. I went through a similar incident earlier in the year at a PCA autocross. The gas pedal arm on the pedal cluster bent outward and caught under the tunnel sheet metal edging. It was right at the end of the run in a closed parking lot so I was wide open. Thankfully I realized something was wrong, stepped on the brakes and turned the key off. I was able to bend it back and carefully drive it home. A quick weld and I'm back in business. Hindsight shows it could have been ugly.

John

DByers · 09-13-2004, 04:02 PM

Shawn,
It definatly doesnt look as bad as it did on Saturday afternoon. If you can take a picture of the front sway bar I would be interested if some of the more experienced guys could identify it. Like you said, at least you will start to know what your suspension is made up of. Keep us updated on the progress of Papa Smurf.

Thanks again for all your hospitality over the weekend.

Paulporsche · 09-13-2004, 04:11 PM

Can you tell us what caused the throttle to stick open?

MotoSook · 09-13-2004, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Paulporsche
Can you tell us what caused the throttle to stick open?

The high density safety foam did it

MotoSook · 09-14-2004, 03:56 AM

I can't seem to do anything with the video...I'll keep trying, but here are some more pix.

thrown_hammer · 09-14-2004, 04:09 AM

Souk I am dying to see that video! I havent looked into the throttle sticking yet. That is the first time it has happened and I drive that car HARD. Definetly on my to do list though.....

Here are some shots of the wheel.