I just returned from the IHRA Division III Bracket Finals in Norwalk Ohio.

I never even had an opportunity to run in eliminations. The first couple of days went well in time trials and I survived the first round of the gambler's race, and then the rains came.....

On Saturday, in the "special" time trial for the Race of Champions, during the burnout my transmission exploaded while in second gear.

It really exploded. The case shattered and fluid went everywhere. There is a gash through the car floor 14 inches long and two inches wide like somebody opened it with a can opener. The transmission case shattered and there are pieces of aluminum all over the drivers compartment, along with a carpet soaked in fluid. One piece pierced my leg like an ice pick. Fortunately the would was a stab type of wound and the piece came out as fast as it went in.

The guys on my team from New England Dragway were great and we had some help from the team from Beaver Springs, and after a trip to Summit I have a new transmission and torque converter installed and I was able to drive home to Maine yesterday.

I have ordered a tranny blanket. I will never run a performance car again without one.

 

At least you were'nt hurt worse.

 

Ted
Glad to hear that you were not injured any worse. I have my csi shield. I just so fear some of my freinds with cars with no safety shield on there trany if something like this were to happen. Just be glad the flywheel didnt come apart on you and decide to visit your foot or ancle :S

Steven

 

Holy shikes!!!!

Glad you were ok.

Oh what type of tranny blanket did you get? and cost?

 

Holy s**t!!

Glad to hear that the injury wasn't serious.

Good thing to keep in mind for all of the people who whine and complain because a track won't let them run without having this or that piece of safety equipment.
"Those &$*&&^(&*&)^ (*^(*&)(&*^(s kicked me out for no cage!
How fast were you going?
11s... in a convertable."

 

I hoped you changed your underwear and thanked god!!!



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Yeah 200 Posts

 

The same thing happened to one of my friends 2 weeks ago. The tranny exploded and parts came flying up into the car. Pieces cut some wires and really chewed up the bottom of his car. Luckily he just got knicked in the leg and only had a small scratch.

 

By the way guys
Art Carr has a trany shield for the 700/4l60e i believe
Steven

 

You were down near my neck of the woods. Sorry to hear about your trany but at least you are ok and that is what is really important. I hope your next trip to Ohio, if you make another one, isn't so dramatic.

Take Care

 

Norwalk is a pretty sweet facility, isn't it. My car club rented it out a week ago; we love that place.

I didn't realize a tranny blowing up would be THAT dangerous. Since they don't make a SFI approved bellhousing for the LT1 T-56, I'm gonna toss a blanket on mine over the winter, since I expect to get this damn thing into the 10's soon, and want to keep it legal (only thing left to do to get her legal to 10.0).

 

Man, I have been preaching this one for YEARS! Thankfully you didn't get hurt man. It could have been much much worse. Hopefully this will open up a lot of eyes to the seriousness of safety.

 

Tranny blanket arrived yesterday. It is going in this afternoon.

Sometimes it takes a situation to reinforce how dangerous things can really be.

It really is just a street car.
I really did drive it to Ohio.
It really did explode.

Not something that happens everyday but I value my legs and if I had actually thought there was a chance of this happening at my power level....

Well, now lets just say I know better even though I only run 11's.

 

I have a question along these lines. Does anyone here use a block plate with an auto trans? I've thought about using the heavy plate I had on from my Lakewwod (Manual) bellhousing then using a shield and a blanket. Does this soud ok?
Tx
Guido


P.S. I live about 15 mins from Norwalk. Not to rub it in. The only other place I'd rather be is about 15 mins from Summit so I could check their scratch and dent room every day. lol

 

Is it a good idea to run a tranny blanket on a daily driver car? It was my understanding that the tranny will end up getting heat soaked because of the blanket.. Might want to keep an eye on that temperature..

--Sean

 

Glad to hear your ok.


I live like 5 minutes from Summit, 45 minutes from Dragway 42 which I prefer over Norwalk simply because of the amount of runs you get in. At Norwalk most times you get 3 runs or less, 42 you can run sometimes 9 times which is nice when you want to take 3 runs, tune, take 3 runs, tune, etc..... However Norwalk is a MUCH nicer facility it's just the fact that you can't visit the track itself much.