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Wear your safety gear!

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Old 08-27-2018, 10:25 PM
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Matt Romanowski
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Default Wear your safety gear!

We had a tough weekend at Road America. An injector rail bracket broke, let the injector come out of the port, and we had a nice little engine fire. Notice the flame pop into the cabin (the firewall in completely sealed!) and how visibility was a big ZERO even at a high rate of speed.

If you have gear, wear it. If you don't, get it and wear it!

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Old 08-27-2018, 10:31 PM
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rbahr
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Sorry to hear this Matt, I take it that no one was hurt - good luck getting it put back together..
Old 08-27-2018, 10:36 PM
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Matt Romanowski
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Originally Posted by rbahr
Sorry to hear this Matt, I take it that no one was hurt - good luck getting it put back together..
The only things hurt were a lot of plastic, some wiring, and the owners wallet. He took a big breath as soon as he saw the smoke and didn't even breath any in. The crew at Road America is top notch and were actually in pursuit of him before the car stopped rolling!
Old 08-28-2018, 09:12 AM
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LuigiVampa
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That is some scary video but thanks for posting as it is a lesson everyone should heed!

Was this a race or DE?
Old 08-28-2018, 09:26 AM
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Matt Romanowski
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Originally Posted by LuigiVampa
That is some scary video but thanks for posting as it is a lesson everyone should heed!

Was this a race or DE?
It was practice at the Road America race last week.
Old 08-28-2018, 09:57 AM
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wildcat077
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I can vouch for that ...

Seal blew out on the oil filter on the first lap of the race , going downhill into turn 4 at Tremblant , i couldn't see a thing except for the flames
coming through the floor and firewall !
My big *** Spa Sense fire bottle saved my car from burning to the ground as i have a nozzle pointed right at the filter and another at the fuel rail ...

The flames bubbled the paint on the passenger side rocker panel !



Old 08-28-2018, 10:16 AM
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Blue Chip
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Holy chit - that happened FAST!
Old 08-28-2018, 10:56 AM
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Nizer
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yet another reason to drive a 911
Old 08-28-2018, 11:29 AM
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Sterling Doc
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Phil, check your balance shafts. If they are mis timed, they will spit off oil filters and seals. Maybe just a coincidence, but it happened more than once to me before my engine builder figured out the markings correctly.
Old 08-28-2018, 12:26 PM
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alexaqui
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Glad you were not hurt!

With an incident like this, do you just pull over as fast as you can and get out of the car hoping everyone else stopped/is going to avoid you? With zero visibility it would be very scary....
Old 08-28-2018, 01:47 PM
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Tom '74 911
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That happened fast indeed... I count about 5 seconds from smooth sailing at speed to zero visibility through the camera... yikes!
Old 08-28-2018, 01:48 PM
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Originally Posted by LuigiVampa
That is some scary video but thanks for posting as it is a lesson everyone should heed!
What video? Only see pics.
Old 08-28-2018, 01:50 PM
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Matt Romanowski
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Originally Posted by alexaqui
Glad you were not hurt!

With an incident like this, do you just pull over as fast as you can and get out of the car hoping everyone else stopped/is going to avoid you? With zero visibility it would be very scary....
Not me driving, but glad the driver was ok. I was amazed at how fast the cockpit filled with smoke.

Big breath, aim for somewhere safe, and get it stopped asap. Then steering wheel, harness, window net, and out.
Old 08-28-2018, 02:05 PM
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wildcat077
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Originally Posted by Sterling Doc
Phil, check your balance shafts. If they are mis timed, they will spit off oil filters and seals. Maybe just a coincidence, but it happened more than once to me before my engine builder figured out the markings correctly.
Eric,

It was a faulty OPRV that pegged the oil pressure to 80 psi ... which blew out the seal.
Now for my balance shaft adventure , that is something else , blew the LH side cover right off and twisted the shaft and it locked up the engine
last Fall at the same corner in a race going 94 mph as per my data.Did two 360's on the track before doing another in the grass !

New belts all around before the season, i suspect the balance shaft bearing let go ... belts were properly indexed

Last edited by wildcat077; 08-28-2018 at 02:36 PM.
Old 08-28-2018, 02:14 PM
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This is why you practice getting out of car blind. Make sure when you practice, use a blindfold or keep eyes closed at minimum...


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