Yes, there was a large flash fire out the back. I saw a few flaming parts
scatter out the bottom, thinking they may be pieces of exhaust wrap or
something,
not large pieces of aging cast iron.
Then I felt my car skew just a bit.
Bob made like a debris flag, from the side of the track, for a few laps while
we figured out there was some Triumph Roadkill on the track.
> In a message dated 07/07/2003 10:35:35 PM Central Daylight Time,
> rkramer3@austin.rr.com writes:
>
>
> > For those that weren't there, I had the misfortune of breaking a rod in
> > turn
> > one at Mosport. The guys behind me tell a story of a couple of fireballs
> and
> > parts flying about. It's a sad tale. I tore the engine down to the short
> > block
> > tonight in situ. The number 3 rod broke at the oiling hole at about 6000
> > rpm,
> > ventilating the block on both sides. No signs of heat damage or spun
> > bearings.
> > The piston did not hit the head as the rod cracked the liner all the way to
> > the top and the piston wedged itself in place. The blowup removed the oil
> > galley and I think the instantaneous loss of oil pressure may have saved
> > some
> > parts by keeping metal particles from the oilways. The rod was a stock TR
> > rod
> > that was magnafluxed, lightened and polished. The big end still spins
> > perfectly on the crank and the small end is just as free on the remains of
> > the
> > piston. I'm hoping the crank is OK, but I'm not sure. It appears to me that
> > the rod broke, caught the camshaft and broke it, then took out one side of
> > the
> > block and rebounded to take out the other. Anyhow, that's my tale of woe.
> >
>
> Amici:
>
> On purpose, or not, Bob Kramer choose to have this incident occur
> immediately
> across from the TRIUMPH Competition Paddock, which was just down the road
> from Turn ONE. It was spectacular. To say, "...a couple of fire balls" is
> just
> not very descriptive. For about three seconds, the entire bottom of the
> car,
> and thirty feet to the rear was engulfed in flame. Too bad someone did not
> catch this on tape, as it was SPECTACULAR. Bob was sharing a stall in my
> tent
> for the week end. So we had lots of visitors rushing down to see the red
> TR4
> with holes in both sides of the block. All but Kas, that is. Kas didn't
> rush
> down to see it. He said, "I've seen these holes before!" Bob's got a great
> attitude, and his enthusiasm was not diminished.
>
> Bill Dentinger
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