Mark:
When I built my ' 67 Midget almost ten years ago one of the things I did
after the car was painted and before the engine/trans went in was to afix a
1/4" steel plate to the transmission tunnel side of the driver's foot box.
It is painted the same as the car body and is almost invisible. It is
attached with two 5/16" bolts such that they do not interfere with my gas
pedal foot on the inside. On the Midget, the plate sits nicely on the frame
rail that goes from the cross member under the trans to the front of the
car. The plate is attached to the car rather than to the transmission like
a blanket would be so it never gets in the way when servicing or removing
the engine or trans. Fortunately, I have never had to use it, but it does
offer peace of mind that far outweighs its few pounds of weight. The only
problem I have had is that brefore I started using a fiberlas battery box,
a leajking battery dripped acid down between the plate and the sheetmetal
and did some minor cosmetic damage. I removed, neutralized, and painted it
this winter. The arrangement on an MGA may not be as straight forward as on
the Midget. I think it is worth it.
At 02:11 PM 02/15/2000 +0000, Mark Palmer wrote:
>Listers,
>
>While we're on this thread ... is anyone out there using a clutch blanket
>like the drag racers do? I've been away from drag racing for too long, but
>recall that they used to use (ca 1960's) some sort of ballistic nylon
>blanket wrapped around the bell housing, to contain the shrapnel if a
>flywheel or clutch came apart. I imagine the drag racers still use these.
>
>Anyone with relevant experience in vintage sports car racing?
>
>Regards,
>Mark Palmer
>
>
>>
>>Brian Evans wrote:
>> >
>> > Having a flywheel come off can really screw up the bell housing and >
>>input shaft, while having a flywheel explode (if it's cracked too) > will
>>pretty much ruin everything back there.
>>
>>Including your foot - happened to a friend of mine - at 8000 RPM.
>>
>>
>>--
>>Jim Hayes Winchester, MA, USA
>>hayes@mediaone.net http://www.fotec.com/jim/jim.htm
>>jeh@fotec.com http://www.fotec.com/
>>All generalizations, with the possible exception of this one, are false!
>
Bob Spruck
Sharpsburg, GA
' 67 Midget Vintage Racer
' '72 Midget Weekend Car
4 parts cars in the woods
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