Cooters Goat

[Shaun Quill]

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

[L.Fite]

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.

[Greenlight]

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.

[Danny Rucker]

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.

[The Hawk]

What happened?

[FED 387]

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

[A/SA Fairlane]

Originally Posted by The Hawk

What happened?

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

[Greenlight]

Originally Posted by Danny Rucker

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.

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.

[HR9121]

Originally Posted by Greenlight

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.

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.

[Shaun Quill]

Originally Posted by Greenlight

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.

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.