Carnage

The chunk of stuff below escaped from a Formula Ford race car at The ~Jefferson 500~ vintage event. My friend (and former student of mine) Graham brought it over for me to see. He works for a vintage race team and we often see each other at races. We are both mechanical engineers and like a lot of mech-nurds, we are big fans of "Kool Karnage".

The chunk includes the # 4 piston as well as part of the block. The remaining back end of the crank was still running in the last main bearing and you could turn the flywheel by hand.

Funny thing is, the driver was just cruising along at a bit under 6000 rpm when it let go. Maybe it reached some weird hamonic...who knows?

I thought the 1600 Kent was supposed to be unburstable. Not this one. I had one in a Cortina and later, a Pinto. Both gove excellent service. This one had been freshened recently and had good oil press, temps, etc. Great paperweight!

Ah, a pimento of the occasion!

Yikes! Last month, at our first autocross event, a highly customized, turbo'd KA24DE-powered S14 threw a rod. It looked like the Exxon Valdez spill underneath, and the corner workers reported picking up over 10 pounds worth of engine parts with the Speedy Dry . Owner said it was the fourth "KA24DET" he's been through, even with stronger pistons, conrods, etc. Methinks he may want to look into an SR20...

No pics of the asplosion, but here's the S14 in question:

looks like that piston is still good

Mmmm... and I though we'd be discussing Don Carnage from Disney's "Tailspin."

That S14 is MEAN!

as for the FFord explosion...that sucks, Kent motors usually are bullet proof....good luck with the next one...

Looks as if the crankshaft just got tired.

RexSeven wrote: Yikes! Last month, at our first autocross event, a highly customized, turbo'd KA24DE-powered S14 threw a rod. It looked like the Exxon Valdez spill underneath, and the corner workers reported picking up over 10 pounds worth of engine parts with the Speedy Dry . Owner said it was the fourth "KA24DET" he's been through, even with stronger pistons, conrods, etc. Methinks he may want to look into an SR20... No pics of the asplosion, but here's the S14 in question:

I saw that car at the Georgia National Tour. It's quite a piece of work but it looked like it needed a full size radiator and it sounded like it needed some more tuning. Couple of real nice fellas running it.

He's blowing up because of tuning. A built KA is easily as strong as an SR20, if not stronger, and more likely better for autocross. Bigger powerband, less lag, more torque, etc...

There was an SR20 S14 at Winged Warrior today, and he looked like he was having a hell of a time wrestling the thing around.

Cool paperweight, having the rod/piston still attached makes it cool.

When I went to AMLS at Limerock two years ago my goal for the weekend was to get a broken piece of racecar. Standing at the pit exit after the race watching the beaten cars exit was great fun. As the Audi drivers were walking out they picked up the broken rear wheel diffuser from another prototype car and asked if anyone wanted it. I was the lucky recipient and now have a few pound chunk of carbon/ honeycomb to show for my efforts. Completely worthless, but I am still happy to have it.

The Kent is a stout engine and can take a lot of abuse. There are a couple of issues with it in the formula ford configuration that could have led to this carnage. First, the flywheel is open and is also quite close to the ground.On even a slightly rough track it can smack the ground, cracking or breaking the crank. Of course, if the driver doesn't know that the crank is cracked, it can totally let go later with catastrophic results.

Also, there is an issue with harmonics, particularly at typical FF rpm ranges. These harmonics can be exacerbated by a heavy flywheel. Until recently, most FF's were required to run twenty pound flywheels, which could really cause problems. The SCCA, and now most vintage clubs, have changed the rules so that cars can run lighter flywheels, which has greatly helped the issue. Still, there are a number of fords, including mine, still running heavy flywheels. (Though mine will be replaced with a lighter flywheel at the next rebuild.)

In any case, it's sad to see another Kent bite the dust. They aren't exactly thick on the ground anymore.

-Chris R.

djsilver wrote: I saw that car at the Georgia National Tour. It's quite a piece of work but it looked like it needed a full size radiator and it sounded like it needed some more tuning. Couple of real nice fellas running it.

Yeah, I've spoken to the owner and the two other people who drive it (owner's G/F and New England Region SCCA's equipment manager). Very nice people.

93celicaGT2 wrote: He's blowing up because of tuning. A built KA is easily as strong as an SR20, if not stronger, and more likely better for autocross. Bigger powerband, less lag, more torque, etc...

Maybe; I don't know the specifics on the engine. At least KA's are cheap as dirt...

It could have also been dropped before assembly.

Crankshafts and camshafts really don't like that.

Quite the odd assortment of objects you have there:a large drill bit,no drill,what appears to be a AA battery charger,Gatorade,a pair of head phones and is that a tiny heim joint on the left side of the photo?

The_Jed wrote: Quite the odd assortment of objects you have there:a large drill bit,no drill,what appears to be a AA battery charger,Gatorade,a pair of head phones and is that a tiny heim joint on the left side of the photo?

No great mystery here.

At the start of the weekend, it was the snack table for the crew.

By the end of the weekend, it was the "everything" table.

I ventilated the L16 block in my 510 race car this past weekend. I had just taken the one lap to go sign. I have a long history of doing something stupid on the last lap and taking myself out of the race. The first place car was to far ahead to catch and the third place guy was too far back to worry about. So this time I decided since my finishing position wasn't in danger I'd back off and make it a nice easy last lap. Going into turn 4 at VIR I loose some power and the oil pressure starts bouncing. Between turns 5 and 5a I hear the death rattle so I pull off line then right at the exit of 5a I hear a bang then the sound of metal bouncing off the bottom of the car. Another case of the last lap blues.