Advice from actual drag racer
12-06-05, 08:44 PM
#5
Racing is life!
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I believe he's selling a clutch and scattershied in the first gen for sale section. Since were on the subject, anyone use a scattershield in road racing? At what RPM level is it advised?
I know I never get much over 9000 rpm.
I know I never get much over 9000 rpm.
12-07-05, 01:37 AM
#7
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There is a reason that most 1st gen rotaries don't run a scattershield. The clutch is located in front of the drivers feet - not alongside. I DID see a very well prepared and fast roadrace 1st gen that was literally cut in half when the flywheel sheared it's bolts and attacked the bellhousing and sheet metal with it's little saw-like teeth, and while it scared the living hell out of it's driver there were no injuries because the clutch and flywheel are out of plane with the footwell.
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12-07-05, 04:47 AM
#8
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Originally Posted by Boswoj
There is a reason that most 1st gen rotaries don't run a scattershield. The clutch is located in front of the drivers feet - not alongside. I DID see a very well prepared and fast roadrace 1st gen that was literally cut in half when the flywheel sheared it's bolts and attacked the bellhousing and sheet metal with it's little saw-like teeth, and while it scared the living hell out of it's driver there were no injuries because the clutch and flywheel are out of plane with the footwell.
While that is a very valid point there is still no excuse for living by the old addage that "well it probably wont do any harm to leave it out".
I have had a loose flywheel come off the eshaft at high RPm in one incident and bounce off the pavement then back up through the hood and attack the windshield.
It should have killed me and my passenger but didn't.
I will never run High power modded or high RPM cars again without a scatter shield.
Oh in case you are wondering the Flywheel came off at about 11k+ RPM on a P-port we were trying out.
A scatter shield is a very small component but a very huge insurance coverage.
Imagine if that flywheel in our car didn't go down then up.
It could have come out through a fender and killed someone else....
12-07-05, 09:44 AM
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While I generally agree with you, it opens a whole can of worms. Yes, especially one of the ballistic nylon scattershields is lightweight and relatively easy to install although last time I looked they don't give them away. Using your logic one could extend that line of thinking to wheels, hubs, and bearings that could crack and come loose from the car and EASILY kill a bystander a considerable distance from the track - do we now need to find some high dollar way to tether all those components so they can't harm spectators or cornerworkers? Go a little farther and the whole assembly - meaning the entire car - could come off track and harm the facility, the driver, the spectators, or the workers - should we put a "scattershield" around the whole track? We could run the whole course under a huge half-round metal culvert that separated the "track" from the outside world and would contain all noise, fumes, parts, and errant racecars? And while we are at it why not put speed limiters on the cars to prevent them from harming their drivers. And what if a driver were to have a heart attack or a stroke? Maybe we should put slots in the road with a guide pin so they can't go unexpectedly off-line, and maybe we should have someone outside the car who can control it from trackside. Maybe we should just set up a slot car track inside a dryer hose and save ourselves a lot of danger, expense, responsibility, and freedom.
Safety is important to me. I do everything in my power to make my car as reasonably safe as I can before I get in it to go out and take risks. Racing is by nature somewhat more dangerous than "not racing" yet not so much as to indicate that racers have a death-wish. If helmets weren't required - I would still wear one. If fire retardant drivers suits were only recommended, I would still wear one. If I though that I needed a scattershield to protect my safety - I would already have one on the car. Let's encourage drivers to think these things out for themselves with the best info we can give and not constantly try to cause panic over safety issues that are minor at most.
Safety is important to me. I do everything in my power to make my car as reasonably safe as I can before I get in it to go out and take risks. Racing is by nature somewhat more dangerous than "not racing" yet not so much as to indicate that racers have a death-wish. If helmets weren't required - I would still wear one. If fire retardant drivers suits were only recommended, I would still wear one. If I though that I needed a scattershield to protect my safety - I would already have one on the car. Let's encourage drivers to think these things out for themselves with the best info we can give and not constantly try to cause panic over safety issues that are minor at most.
Last edited by Boswoj; 12-07-05 at 09:47 AM.
12-07-05, 09:52 AM
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I'll be running one next this coming season. Track officials told me not to come back without one.
Buying one from here.
http://www.theracingstore.com/drv_scatter_shields.html
Buying one from here.
http://www.theracingstore.com/drv_scatter_shields.html
12-07-05, 10:49 AM
#11
I have a Datsun 1200 and the motor is pushed back the rear plate is probably less than an inch from the firewall and my right foot is perfectly inline with the flywheel. I wouln't even think of running without one, even though I have in the past, but that was my younger and not so wise self. My friend stood next to a guy not even 5 feet from him who was messing around with his car at the track. It was a 13b on nitrous and he had no scattershield. He was revving the car up and something let go, either the flywheel or clutch, and a chunk went right through his head. They air lifted the guy out of there but there was no way saving him. Also a long time ago there was an incident in Puerto Rico a guy, I belive his name was Vivo, had a Mazda 323 tubbed out and made rear wheel drive had the flywheel come up and cut both his legs off. Sad to say he didn't make it either. Just not worth it everyone should have one if you are running rpm's in excess of stock and if you have an aftermarket clutch and pressure plate. I always tack weld the gear ring on stock flywheels they are pressed on and tend to come off when you dump the clutch at 10k+rpms and hook up.
12-08-05, 06:43 AM
#12
im glad that my thread opened some eyes and ears for such an important discution. Guys i had a pressure plate exploding to myself and beleive me that day i beleived in God again. Ive seen people dying in front of me twice cause no scattershield one was in puerto rico and the dude wasnt even driving the car he was just tuning it. (press plate exploded thru carb side and splitted his head open) Drag Racing its my life it doesnt matter ir u drag race street race or whatever if u exceed 9000 RPM u need a scatter shield
12-08-05, 05:42 PM
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Originally Posted by REBELDE
Lupe if you interested i can get you the phone number of my boy speed shop in Orlando he sells scattershields cheaper than race connection
12-09-05, 03:32 PM
#19
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Back in my teens, there used to be a place in Brooklyn where just about everyone around would gather to run a few quarter mile runs. Cops would even run sometimes when they decided not to break it up.
One guy there had a very fast Toyota Startlet with either a bridgeported or peripheral ported 13b. Once day while lining up, I watched his flywheel fly straight up in the air cutting through the body and everything in its path and spin down the road. Luckily everybody got out of the way.
He was one lucky dude that day...
One guy there had a very fast Toyota Startlet with either a bridgeported or peripheral ported 13b. Once day while lining up, I watched his flywheel fly straight up in the air cutting through the body and everything in its path and spin down the road. Luckily everybody got out of the way.
He was one lucky dude that day...
12-09-05, 04:37 PM
#20
Rotary Mechanic
Originally Posted by Boswoj
There is a reason that most 1st gen rotaries don't run a scattershield. The clutch is located in front of the drivers feet - not alongside. I DID see a very well prepared and fast roadrace 1st gen that was literally cut in half when the flywheel sheared it's bolts and attacked the bellhousing and sheet metal with it's little saw-like teeth, and while it scared the living hell out of it's driver there were no injuries because the clutch and flywheel are out of plane with the footwell.
Just because its not alongside of your feet whose to say it comes out straight ,ive seen then cut in an angle and right thru the driver seat. muphys law!
12-10-05, 01:38 PM
#22
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Almost impossible for a flywheel to change direction and head off towards drivir unless directed by a LARGE force. A flywheel spinning at high speed has a huge amount of gyroscopic effect, and is difficult to deflect out of it's plane of rotation. The bell housing is the most solid piece between the flywheel and the outside air, and because it is "belled" outward it is likely to deflect the pieces forward rather than backward. I do agree that a ballistic shield is relatively cheap insurance to keep a rogue flywheel from doing lots of damage, but a properly assembled car has a very small chance of this failure. A very small portion of those failures would result in conditions that endangered the occupant so it's like winning the lottery and being hit by lightning the same day statistically. All that being said, there was that guy who was on Carson all the time that had been hit by lightening SEVEN TIMES so I suppose no matter what the odds, when your number is up..........
Just using common sense, there is probably a better chance of being injured by a high speed bird strike than there is an exploding clutch in an Rx-7, so "saving lives" is probably just a bit overdramatic.
Just using common sense, there is probably a better chance of being injured by a high speed bird strike than there is an exploding clutch in an Rx-7, so "saving lives" is probably just a bit overdramatic.
12-10-05, 07:15 PM
#23
Bos evidently my brother with all your Einstein wanna be explanations u wasnt born and raised on a Rotary drag racing evironment like most of us {Puerto Rico} and if the car doesnt make any power sure the fly wheel is hard to come off {maybe thats your car lol} but for instance when your shooting 250 shot on a monster bridgeported engine thats another story i stand like a soldier on the need of a scatter shield when drag racing either u like it or not Mr Physics
12-11-05, 08:58 PM
#25
Airflow is my life
Well just a gut feeling on this. The FW is not likely gonna shear off in one piece and act like a buzzsaw, so the gyroscope theory goes away, but it could if the eshatf fails so I wont discount that possibility. But more likely we're talking fragments of it which will go in a direction perpendicular to the body till deflected by something. The bellhousing I would think would deflect the fragments backwards if anything since its angled toward the rear of the car. But really they could be deflected in any direction since who knows what theyre gonna bounce off of. And we all know that Mazda FW's are really heavy and that means the shrapnel is likely going to have a bit of mass behind it. If I was revving 10k or beyond Id have one for sure. Not just for my saftey but for GP.