Cooters Goat
 

Are there any photos available of the damage to Jimmy’s GTO?

Re: Cooters Goat
 

Curious of the actual cause of the mayhem...
Sounded like a flywheel issue.
Haven't seen anything like that since the Porter days, and that was a balancer that came apart pre SFI.

Re: Cooters Goat
 

Here are some photos. This could have been REALLY bad. I have an unconfirmed rumor that the back of the crankshaft broke off. I'm not sure if this is true or not.

Re: Cooters Goat
 

I was in the barn when they pulled the trans.
Crankshaft was not broken. What remained of the flexplate was still bolted with all bolts to the crank. Approximately 2/3 of the flexplate was still there.
Parts of flexplate and ring gear were gone. The Trans case bell and ears were broken off.

Re: Cooters Goat
 

What happened?

Re: Cooters Goat
 

OUCH!!!!!! has he got all his toes??? FED 387

Re: Cooters Goat
 

The car in the other lane exploded the flex plate on the burn out.

Re: Cooters Goat
 

This all happened during round 1 of Stock on Sunday. Jimmy was going to be racing Bill Basham. The video is here (you'll have to scroll back to the 1:00:10 point):
Division 4 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series from Texas Motorplex - Sunday.
At first it's only the announcer talking over the results screen from the previous match. After about 2½ minutes they switch back to the camera and you can see the aftermath.

Re: Cooters Goat
 

I'm standing over the wall from the water box.
Bashum started his burnout & the flywheel ring gear came apart.
I have a inch & half piece that I picked up.
Went through the 1/4 panel & busted out the right side 1/4 window.
Could have been worse.

Re: Cooters Goat
 

Oh my God bad is not the word!! Thank God he didn’t stop a few inches sooner. Thanks for the photos and I’m glad both drivers are good. Thank You Lord.

Re: Cooters Goat
 

Next question is what flexplate manufacturer?

Re: Cooters Goat
 

Made in China probable......could be just about any brand other than a few....

It's happened before in various cars.

Very fortunate no one was injured. That could have been really bad...

Re: Cooters Goat
 

Does anyone know if the car that had the part come apart was inspected by NHRA for SFI Certification? At this time that we race under SFI that anything like this incident would happen.

Casey Miles
248H Stock

Re: Cooters Goat
 

Big time!!!

Re: Cooters Goat
 

I’m happy nobody was injured.
That could’ve been very bad.

Re: Cooters Goat
 

Do you really think NHRA is going to have a Tech person trying to inspect SFI stickers on flexplates on Stockers or any other car for that matter ?

Even if they did it's a moot point because the Made in China stuff gets stickered just like all the rest....

You can buy a GM SFI stickered flexplate from many sources for as little as $50 for GM engines.....I could just about guarantee you those wheels are made in China or offshore somewhere...

I'm sick of seeing it and dealing with the consequences.....

Re: Cooters Goat
 

Somewhere out there on UTube is a video of Dan Cyr's A/SA Camaro exploding the transmission in the water box at the Mission divisional a few years ago. It went through the floor and the windshield and absolutely disintegrated the entire trans. As an interesting sidenote, in what was an epic thrash, everyone chipped in and he didn't miss the race. The floor got reconstructed out a chunk of one of the 55 gallon trash barrels, a local glass shop drove out to the track and replaced the windshield and a bunch of under dash wiring got spliced back together. Not perfect but a pretty impressive team effort on a very short timeline.

Re: Cooters Goat
 

I'm curious if all the transmission bellhousing bolts were tight?????

If bolts were loose, and transmission/converter were slightly cocked, the flexplate would be the first thing to go as it continuously bent back and forth with each rotation.

If so, the broken surface of the flexplate would leave clues if the failure was a cyclical bending failure.

Re: Cooters Goat
 

Agreed. The ears of the bellhousing being broken off indicate to me there was something else going on there other than the flex plate coming apart.

Re: Cooters Goat
 

We helped Bill get the car in the building and my friend Ken helped him pull the transmission. The broken ring gear busted the transmission case. The flexplate looked like a TCI to me. When all was said and done Wesley with NHRA told Bill he had done nothing wrong. All Wesley said was it was a parts failure so there was no infraction on Bill's part. I can access pictures if y'all want. I advised Bill to invest in a better plate.

Re: Cooters Goat
 

Time for a Mezeire flexplate.
Although higher priced, one of the best products in the market.

Re: Cooters Goat
 

Did the broken car have a flexplate shield or aftermarket trans case? I'm curious if it had either and the parts still got out.

Re: Cooters Goat
 

Pics would be great.

Re: Cooters Goat
 

I forgot to include the photo of the "exit wound" when I posted the first photos.

Take a look at the attached image.

Re: Cooters Goat
 

It was a stock bellhousing. I believe a TH 210 by McClay ( It's not the transmissions fault). It's an 11 second car running by 11 second rules. The transmission is being sent back for an Ultra Bell. It wouldn't matter stock or not what and how it happened.