http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2pz1PkhAo8
the flywheel EXPLODES out the car. HOW??? and whats the name of this wagon, it reminds me of a bel air wagon haha.

 

repost i do believe....high revving rotary+light flywheel= destruction, solution, massively thick scatter shield

 

Yes, that is when you thank yourself for installing a scatter shield

 

did you see the video with the after math... geez what a mess does the e-shaft snap off at the end or does the flywheel break? ive heard storys of people loosing legs n such.

 

I would've pissed myself.

 

the e shaft saps of im going to tell my dad to put a scatter shield he has a
13bp port with a 950cfm carb i will put some pix i got to get a camra if pepole
wer on ebay my dad had his car on ther it was about two weeks ago the red one

 

Its a Mazda 1300 wagon (estate in some markets). Webered 13b. Flywheel shattered, blowing off that back of the front guard and blowing open the bonnet (rear latch). There was already a cutout in the bonnet for the air filter (hence the really big hole). The floorpan was ventilated in many places and the driver was lucky to not be very seriously injured. It was at the Oran Park circuit in Sydney Australia where they used to run drags down (yes, as downhill as it looks) the front straight over about 880ft.

Chunks of the near molten steel went through the crowd but I don't believe anyone was injured. You can see a very large chunk come shooting back across the track. Apparently shards were found on the other side of the circuit.

IIRC it might have been a machined stock flywheel. They are racing a Holden Torana - Holden is the domestic aussie branch of GM, and went on to make the Monaro coupe that I believe was sold in the US as a
GTO. (relatively unimportant details )

 

wow thanks for the info, atually it was quite helpful. but whats a scatter shield? everyones been talking about it.

anyways thats about the first time ive ever seen a flywheel explode out of the car. so the best choice if youre going to spend money is to just get a complete flywheel, not resurfaced? id think that would be the safest way to go..

 

haha, I closed my eyes and pictured crocodile hunter (RIP) talking about the rotary.

 

A scattershield can take two forms. One is a steel 'shield' arounda 1/4" thick (depending on sanctioning body rules for thickness and metal class) sthat surrounds the part of the bellhousing where the flywheel is. The other is a ballistic fabric usually to an SFI specification that covers the same area. both are designed to contain any shrapnel should the flywheel, nuts, bolts, clutch, pressure plate, etc let go. The other option for drag classes (again, depending on your sanctioning bodies rules) is a steel and certified bellhousing.

This is a pretty old video - like mid to late eighties. I've read comments from people involved in the incident and I am under the impression that they used a rotorised Mazda 323 to tow this car home on a rope across Sydney, and may have even stopped off at a local hang-out to drop a few donuts in the 323 with a similarly prepared set up!

 

ooh now i know what you're talking about.

anyways does this happen a lot with high revving rotaries?

 

Its not that common. Most people these days are bright enough to use steel aftermarket flywheels. Though occasionally people will try and make do with a low buck clutch and pressure plate which can let go. Other cars are revving pretty high now (s2000, etc) with safety.

There is a similar thing here from a sports sedan race car:
http://www.ausrotary.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=140724

A problem with a complete failure is that the engine and box seperate doing nasty stuff with the tailshaft and potentially leaving the engine flopping on the steering links.... which even if the shrapnel is contained and you still have your toes still isn't good.

 

im a little scared about flywheels now ahha. do they sell scatter shields or would you have to fab one out?

so when the flywheel pops out, the tranny separates from the engine? its not like it just blows a hole in the tranny, your block is pretty much fucked for life as well. thats just plain bad.

*edit* so would a rev limiter like the bee-r also help against this? but i also heard rev limiters cause other problems too. not as severe as a flywheel shot though. fixable.

 

Normally the flywheel / pressure plate just shatters sending shards through the bellhousing. Depends on the size of the bang as to what is destroyed. The 1300 wagon was a big bang in that lotsa **** went everywhere... and in big chunks. The sports sedan in the link was a smaller bang.... its just unlucky that it managed to get him. (I think the sports sedan had the ring gear seperate from the flywheel.)

The contents of the gearbox itself doesn't normally eject itself when the stuff in front lets go. However the gearbox itself can let go.... less common in rotors, more so in big effort drag cars - hence the transmission blankets.

Rev limiter limit the fun. Rotor's thrive on revs - buy a decent flywheel and clutch assembly, use the right bolts and if you plan on big rpm launches go a scatter shield.

Steel bellhousing
http://www.htcheat.com.au/shop/category123_1.htm
versus textile kevlar and a ballistic nylon
http://www.htcheat.com.au/shop/category21_1.htm

 

Tony Negron at the Racing Store use to sell these as well. You may want to call him and find out if you're interested in one. Not a bad investment. I use them on all my Manual transmission V-8's. I'll be putting on behind my 3tc Carina as well.

www.theracingstore.com