General TR Ring Gear @ 6000 rpm's

[tinman58]

Pat Galvin and I went to the Kas Kastner cup races last Sunday. As we were going thru the pits we saw a green TR4 with what looked like a 50 Caliber bullet hole thru the fender. (third photo)
Turns out the guy was running 6000 rpm's when the ring gear on the flywheel came off. The bits went thru the bell housing fire wall etc. The driver suffered no injuries.
Lots of damage the the firewall


The clutch pedal is bent up out of the shot to the left.

 

[JerryVV]

I bet he went straight to the showers after that event.

 

[mgedit]

I had the ring gear come off on my TR6 several years ago. Fortunately at about 5 mph a few hundred yards from home. Still quite a shock. That must have been scary! Cheers, Mike

 

[CJD]

Our engines rarely turn more than 5k rpm, so we tend to forget how dangerous flywheels are. If you plan any rpms over 5.5k, an investment in a steel flywheel should be the first thing on your list. My second investment was always a steel bellhousing...although I don't think that's possible with the integrated gearbox we have. At least a crash blanket would be in order.

 

[sp53]

WOW I forgot all about those” Scatter Shields” people put on in high school. I thought they were just trying to cool; yes that gas pedal is waving at me.

 

[CJD]

WOW I forgot all about those” Scatter Shields” people put on in high school. I thought they were just trying to cool; yes that gas pedal is waving at me.

OMG! Steve, the first time I looked at it I thought I was looking under the bonnet. It's where the accelerator pedal used to be! That driver was so lucky he needed to go buy a lottery ticket..

 

[mixdenny]

I'm surprised they don't follow SCCA rules which require at least a blanket over the tunnel. Dennis