My cap for my cutoff exploded at the track

[Dirty8-un-Dreds]

Got to the track yesterday and started making my runs with the cutout open and sure enough those godamned 15.8's started rolling in again, I let the temp cool down a bit and tried a run w/ it open again and same results as I had when it was warmer. So I figure ill just close the cutout and see if that doesnt make it run a little better. The first thing I noticed as I lay on the track (in my white pants) is that it is nearly impossible to get two hands underneath the car to the cutout. So being the coordinated person I am I managed to get the cap on and tightened down with one hand (took me a while though). I tightened it as best I could with my fingers and then went for the ratchet. As it turns out the ratchet was sticking in the loosen position so I said screw it and tightened the nuts again with my fingers.

My first clue that something was wrong should have been when I started the car, it made the most horrible raspy tin can POS sound that I have ever head and continud to make it as I reved the engine. I thought that it was because there had been no exhaust running through the muffler in well over three weeks, but I was wrong.

Well after some disgusted looks and words from onlookers I rolled out onto the line and watched the tree. I hit my light almost perfectly (.607) and got to the end of the track, victorious for a change. As I get onto the return lane I hear a large Bang and then a series of rumbles. The rumbles was my exhaust and the bang as you most likely guessed was my cutout exploding. I didnt bother to stop and look for it at that time because I didnt want the track overseers to shut the lanes down and send the ambulance to me (has happened to a friend of mine, everyone at the track will hate you if your not dead.)

The horrible sound from my exhaust with the cap on im sure was caused by leakage of pressure through the not tightly shut cap, thus leaving almost 0 pressure in the muffler allowing the gasses to bang around in the thing like a cheap tin can. I eventually found my cap the next run, the force of the exhaust had striped the threading from about 1/8" from the head all the way to the bottom. leaving the bolts nice and shiny but useless. The cap itself was fine, thank god it didnt blow in half or anything, I might have lost my quarterpanel had that happened. Anyways to make this into a moral story ALWAYS TIGHTEN YOUR CAP BEFORE YOU RACE, USE A RATCHET OR IT WILL EXPLODE [img]graemlins/dunce.gif[/img]

[ October 10, 2002: Message edited by: Dirty8-un-Dreds ]</p>

[nikon]

hmm...if a cutout is gonna make me run a bad time...why get one??....when I took off my exhaust and started my car it sounded great at idle....but sounded like super-honda when I reved it...where do you have your cutout?

[Dirty8-un-Dreds]

I have the cutout at the rear axle before the muffler. That shiat is nie and loud sounds like a lt1 to me. People argue at the track till i pop the hood. As for performance, Im not sure if its the SLP IAT or the cutout. Most people experience a loss of low end torque but a gain of like 0.1-0.2 in the quarter so go figure, less low mor high balances out to better times.

My poor times are probably caused by that godamned IAT and a poorly sealed air box. But those will be fixed. IMO: my cutout is my favorite mod to my car, it has made me really love driving it. No f-body should be without a cutout. But I would suggest soending the extra 50 bucks or so and getting an electronic one because it is a ***** to get it bac k on if you dont have a jack handy.

[WickEdSix9838]

it depends on your setup, w/my cut-out there is a noticable difference from bottom to top when i uncap my cut-out...i have a UN-mandrel bent 2.5" exhaust thats squeezes down to pretty tight at some spots...

[12secondv6]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Dirty8-un-Dreds:
As I get onto the return lane I hear a large Bang and then a series of rumbles. I didnt bother to stop and look for it at that time because I didnt want the track overseers to shut the lanes down and send the ambulance to me (has happened to a friend of mine, everyone at the track will hate you if your not dead.)

[ October 10, 2002: Message edited by: Dirty8-un-Dreds ]<hr></blockquote>

So what you are saying is you let the cut out cap and 3 wing nuts fall off somewhere on the return road and you never stopped to pick them up???
[img]graemlins/thumbsdown.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/thumbsdown.gif[/img]

So, what hapens if someone was coming off a 10 second pass and they drive over one of those wing nuts with theie slicks?
They then stage for another 10 second pass, burn out, launch and blow out a slick??
What if that happened top end at 140+ mph???
All because you didn't pick up your parts off your car???

Everyone will hate you even more if you kill someone or cause someone lese to crash their car because you were too lazy to pick up your own parts!!!

[Dirty8-un-Dreds]

on my second pass I grabbed it, the nuts on the back where gone, probably somewhere in the fields of grass past the road, If I had stopped I would have posed a road hazard as there is a slight ditch to either side (i couldnt pull off road without ****ing my car up) and If I had stopped whats to keep a car from carelessly barreling into me on the return lane, there are 3 diff return lanes, the 10 sec cars use the last return lane. Maybe I should have stopped but all in all I did the right thing, it was a hazzard any way you look at it, I stop some jerk could hit me, or track could get shutdown and an ambulance sent out, I leave it be theres a possibility a car could run over a piece of it. They werent wing nuts mind you there were regular nuts and I highly doubt they would do any damage to any tire.

It may be bside the point but one reason I didnt stop is the fact that it was dark and the track is in the middle of nowhere, no lights at all, id have had to stop and back up and try to determine where it flew off too, it eneded up just before the taller grass off the return lane on the right hand side, the nuts no doubt were somewhere in the grass.