Wasn't Farrah's biggest concern about the front end-lift?
One thing that I really don't get is the appeal of wind buffeting. It's exhausting. Even tracking a car with no windshield isn't much fun IMO, as it distracts from the important parts of driving. I'm fine with exos, sevenesques and the like, but much prefer them at autocross speeds and below to tripple-digits (which they'll barely do anyway because of the wind resistance).
GameboyRMH said:loosecannon said:I was raised that Darwin was full of crap but I've grown to embrace Darwinism
I'm a fan of Darwin's theory of evolution but no fan of social Darwinism (the two have almost nothing to do with each other).
Although I think people should be free to consciously take risks on their own once they aren't putting others at significant risk, which is what this guy did by chopping up and poorly welding together a Civic ghettocet and then driving it.
Yep, build a “deathkart” from an old Civic with booger welds and bubble gum? Ok, that’s your right to do so. Run it on your acreage or a buddy’s and kill yourself? Sucks, but that’s your thing. Take it on the street and kill or hurt someone else while killing yourself? Not cool. Not cool at all.
Fueled by Caffeine said:Those welds are a crime.
Ray Charles may have welded it, but I disagree he is a criminal.
In reply to Adrian_Thompson :
Texas Administrative Code Title 43 Part 10 Chapter 217 Subpart A Rule §217.3
(6) Not Eligible for Title. The following are not eligible for a Texas title regardless of the vehicle's previous title and/or registration in this or any other jurisdiction:
(A) vehicles that are missing or are stripped of their motor, frame, or body, to the extent that it materially alters the manufacturer's original design or makes the vehicle unsafe for on-road operation as determined by the department;
(B) vehicles designed or determined by the department to be a dune buggy;
(C) vehicles designed or determined by the department to be for on-track racing, unless such vehicles meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) for on-road use and are reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration;
(D) vehicles designed or determined by the department to be for off-road use only, unless specifically defined as a "motor vehicle" in Transportation Code, Chapter 501; or
(E) vehicles assembled, built, constructed, rebuilt, or reconstructed in any manner with:
(i) a body or frame from a vehicle which is a "nonrepairable motor vehicle" as that term is defined in Transportation Code, §501.091(9); or
(ii) a motor or engine from a vehicle which is flood damaged, water damaged, or any other term which may reasonably establish the vehicle from which the motor or engine was obtained is a loss due to a water related event.
Zero context is given for the rule making though.
That Texas law seems dumb.
Many body on frame cars can be rebuilt/fixed with low safety concerns. Unibody may prove otherwise.
also, what’s wrong with a rebuilt flood motor? Also super dumb
Cage design aside, I'm curious what his harness mounting points looked like. Given the quality of the rest of the build, I'm willing to bet that a failure to appropriately mount that "racing harness" and "racing seats" is what led to him being thrown.
The situation is sad, but I agree that this shouldn't lead to new laws restricting things like the Exocet. Totally different animal.
I wonder what they mean by "on track racing". Does that mean we can't drive/title things with a cage any more? How about a rollbar?
In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :
Here in Ontario you cant legally have a car with a cage and drive it on the street. Both the law and the insurance companies will object if you are caught. One explanation I heard is that the jaws of life can't cut roll-bar tube. I wonder if that is true?
Roll bars on convertibles are evident all over the place...Where it stops being a "Roll Bar" and becomes a "Cage" I am not sure.
In reply to Brotus7 :
I'm not sure there is really any way to make a Europa safer without completely re-engineering the car to embed a cage into the body and then reinforcing the frame to support it. Both operations would add enough weight to the car to likely change its character.
I concur with Josh about driving my GT6 and Spitfire. When you're so low to the road, the cars tend to disappear. I used to joke that the seat belts in my '64 Mini were only there to help keep the bits inside the car to make it easier for the clean up crew.
In the case of the "Deathkart" it seems to me at least some number of laws were already broken during its operation. I'm not sure how adding any more laws would have prevented it.
Vette carts on the streets, exocets... cool for the track I guess but I think they're ugly. That's neither here nor there but personally I'd rather have a slow pretty car than a brutally fast tube metal shell. I won't knock anybody for being in to these (safety reasons aside) but I just don't get it for the street.
TurboFocus said:also, what’s wrong with a rebuilt flood motor? Also super dumb
Sometimes flood cars are broken up for parts. The motor is sold on as a "used low mileage engine" when it's been flood damaged in a way that can't be seen from the outside.
EDIT: Also, a "rebuilt flood motor" is no longer a flood motor. It's your motor.
cmcgregor said:Cage design aside, I'm curious what his harness mounting points looked like. Given the quality of the rest of the build, I'm willing to bet that a failure to appropriately mount that "racing harness" and "racing seats" is what led to him being thrown.
You can take a look at his Instragram site and watch the videos, etc: https://www.instagram.com/p/BhIOcDRFt7h/?taken-by=2lo_2go
The seats were cheap adjustable back pep-boy style seats. Not fixed back seats. No back brace and who knows how they were mounted, likely on sliding tracks.
The harnesses were 4-point Scroth or similar and were not installed with a harness bar, just the shoulder harnesses run to the floor boards off the back of the seats.
Basically, he was a death or an injury waiting to happen. If he had read ANY of the cage building sections of ANY racing rule books, he could have potentially avoided some of it by adding a harness bar, wrapping the shoulder harnesses around it, replacing the seats with fixed back seats and using a seat brace.
It wouldn't have solved the junk welds, so it may not have ultimately saved him, its still a huge "What if" that his friends and family have to live with.
In teh below picture, I've circled the back of the cage and you can see the orange shoulder harnesss passing under the cage tubes and attaching to the floorboard
Sad that there is so much craftsmanship and attention to detail in the “windshield” header metal band. Wish it would have been spread around to the rest of the build.
It doesn't take a whole lot of craftsmanship to get a piece of steel laser-cut. He put padding on the roof bars so he was making some attempt to give a damn about safety.
My Samurai with a folded windshield, no doors, no tailgate, no top, springs over the axle and 33” Super Swampers with no sway bar was as bad as that thing is as far as driver safety goes.
That said, Id have the ability to ask for help if my welds looked like those. He was operating above his abilities to build a vehicle as safe as it could’ve been considering the design.
You'll need to log in to post.
