131 Propshaft Explosion Pictures

[TOAD]

  Hi Chaps I found this on another site, thought it would interest those of us that are a bit more enthusiastic with our cars.

  
  We were all impressed by the Laser?s dramatic transmission failure? until the Scuderia Regurgito Fiat 131 came in on the wrecker. I?ve seen this sort of thing happen with drag race cars making monster power, but this car had 86 horsepower when new. The Fiat?s driver limped away with nothing worse than a big bruise on his leg and a dramatic racing story to tell. We were all very happy that no sharp parts got launched his way.

[sdebez]

Roger.
what sort of safety measures do you reckon do you could incorporate in to a car such as mine or yours where you are building a whole new trasmission tunnel, you cannot cover for every eventualllity, but that looks horriffic.

i have heard of it happening (old wives tales) but never seen pictures,

do they use some sort of blanket in drag racing, this possibly difficult on a standard car as regards space.

regards sach. 

[TOAD]

Hi Sach,

  I'm thinking of making a couple of bridges inside the tunnel to hold it underneath, maybe a slightly thicker sheet over the prop end joint, 12" maybe?

[miro-1980]

Do you know what happened ? What was the failure that caused this?

The propshaft looks complete ...

I suffered a clutch blow up and know how bad this can be , but prop shaft flying through the tunnel on the river's side is massacre.

Any ideas how to pro0tect from such blow-up ...

I will inspect the possibilities the next time my transmission is down and consider welding in a massive bar inside the tunnel to hold the propshaft in the tunnel , in case of such event. But this must be really massive as the forces when the propshaft  separates at full speed from the gearbox are just tremendous and are likely to cut through any steel.  Possibly the farther from the front the smaller the forces and the more effective the protection.

Really scary ....


Miro 

[TOAD]

Firstly I have no idea what happened, I found the picture and copied the accompanying text as well.

  Protection; apart from a steel shield, the only thing that crosses my mind is the meterial that is used in chain saw clothing, wrapped inside the transmission tunnel like a scatter guard. This should try to grab anything that's rotating that hits it.

   If you enlarge the picture, the clean mark on the end of the yoke looks like it was only just in the box?  I haven't looked at mind yet. 
 
   I think the prop has come out of the box ether by its self or due to the prop coming apart at the middle joint, then pulling it from the box.  Then with the prop being driven by the rear axle, the front end would have flailed around like no body's business, as can be seen, and just ripped its way through the thin steel floor. Look at the rubber end, it seems to me that the spider is bent from hitting the sides.

  Regards

          Roger.........
   

[N. Dinis]

I drove my 131 whithout the tunnel cover an though about that... but always thought it could never cross the tunnel.... I guess I was wrong...

[TOAD]

Have a look on youtube at  Flywheel explosions that will make you think as well,  there's a civic on a drag strip, it blows the front off,   another comes through the bonnet and fly's off across the grass beside the strip I think it was

[N. Dinis]

In my Lancia I took 0.5kg to the flywheel... 

[TOAD]

Both my Thema 16vt and Toad when it was race last had the metal removed, it depend on where its taken from and whether its all blended together.

[N. Dinis]

I supose this needs really hi revs or abrupt change of rotation to hapen... either way, gonna think twice before any "maxxium attack" at my cars...

[Tas131]

http://www.millersmule.com/blog/tech-articles/flywheel-lightening-doing-it-right/

[N. Dinis]

Nice to see this  Mine was a well done job

[n2oxide]

And here is ?6,000 worth of Titantium Clutch Can a professional Drag Racer has; something amazing to hold in a ?3,500 clutch that explodes when 5,000 horsepower has nowhere else to go............................Enjoy the real Drag Racing photo's from a 131 owning drag racer.  You want to see the chassis protection we have for a propshaft !  And the blankets are actaully Diapers/Nappies; they are just there to catch oil and bits of engine and gearbox internals.  I'm not talking about the FWD Japanese/Import Stuff here either guys.  I'm the real 5,000 horsepower loony !

[TOAD]

That beasty must be fun to set up, I'm trying to stay away from the complected and Carbon/Carbon types just because of the set up time, but then 5000 bhp is different all together.


F1 Carbon/Carbon clutch below,  4 1/2" I think.

[N. Dinis]

what's the name? Oh I know... It's INSANE  Awsome parts