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scatter sheild

9K views 49 replies 15 participants last post by  51 styline 
#1 ·
Hey guys. Should I be looking at going to a scatter sheild instead of my stock bell housing. It is mainly a street car that may see the track a few times a year. Motor is a SBC making aprox 450HP (estimated). I have a saginaw 4 speed(I'm sure it will blow up before the clutch let's go) with stock bell housing. It should hook pretty good as I have mickey thompson drag radials 295/55/15

Please let me know if we need more info
 
#4 ·
I bought a scattershield for my car.I doubt I will drag race my car,and it didnt cost that much. If you have a cast bell housing they are decent and would likely stop a disc.Ive never seen a flywheel come unglued. I remember when I was a teen and reading about Don Garlits losing part of his foot. I also use an SFI approved balancer. I just dont see any reason to cut corners with safety equipment.
Like you said though,the saggy will likely break before anything else. Have fun at the track,,,,
 
#12 ·
I remember when I was a teen and reading about Don Garlits losing part of his foot.
Actually, that was an exploding transmission that got Garlit's foot. He was experimenting with a 2-speed box and she grenaded on him at the starting line.

A piece of shrapnel flew across the track and nailed a 17 year old spectator in the chest/arm......

Timothy Daniel Ditt, age 17, with his fingers in his ears turned slightly to the left in anticipation of the final race towards the tracks end was suddenly hit on the left side of his chest and left arm that spun him violently around. Blood sprayed out of his left arm as it hung by only an inch of skin from his bicep. The shock of the sudden and massive blood loss from having his arm almost cut clean off had Tim screaming in horror.

The crowd around him cleared away from him as the spraying blood covered everything. A man ran down from the top of the stands and laid Tim Ditt down. Moments later another man stuck his thumb into Tim's armpit to slow the blood loss and save his life. Tim looked up at the man trying to stop the arterial flow and went unconscious.

Tim Ditt never saw Garlits' dragster explode, or the part that hit him.
 
#5 ·
A friend of mine was over today giving me a hand and he was the one that brought it up. He has a new "tildon" (am I spelling that right?) Scatter sheild and throw out bearing (the kind that bolts to the inside of the scatter sheild) he will sell me for $300 which works out pretty good as have one of those cheesy floating thow out bearings made by Ram. It has already failed once and it has very little miles on it. I'm just waiting for it to go again.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Here is the rule from the NHRA Rulebook, 2012. This rule applies to E.T. Handicap Racing, which is the type of class that 99% of the guys who drive in off the street will be in. This is bracket racing, so speed and E.T. are unimportant. Only thing that matters is cutting a good light and running on your dial-in. 11.50 and slower E.T. can use stock pieces, but you have to ask yourself, what are your feet and legs worth? I was standing in the starter box on the starting line at Firebird when an early Mustang fragged a stock, cast iron flywheel. It nearly cut the car in half. The flywheel busted into 3 pieces and the one that came through the cowl went several hundred feet in the air, then came down and landed just a few feet from the fuel trailer, which was in the pits, maybe 100 yards from the starting line.:eek::eek::eek: If I remember correctly, a small piece went through the side of the driver's shoe, but did not injure him.

CLUTCH, FLYWHEEL, FLYWHEEL SHIELD
Flywheel and clutch meeting SFI Spec 1.1 or 1.2 (two-disc
maximum) mandatory on any car running 11.49 (*7.35 in the 1/8 mile) or quicker.
Flywheel shield meeting SFI Spec 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, or 9.1 mandatory
on all cars running 11.49 (*7.35 in the 1/8 mile) or quicker. Cars with rotary
engines running 11.49 (*7.35 in the 1/8 mile) or quicker must be equipped with a
flywheel shield made of 1/4-inch-minimum-thickness steel plate
surrounding the bellhousing 360 degrees. See General Regulations
2:3, 2:5, 2:6, 2:10.
 
#17 ·
In the 60s a good friend of mine ran a 58 vette with a '64 409 and M22 and had a nodular Iron bell housing,when he nailed second the flywheel sheered all the bolts and took out the bell, it came through the floor and took his leg off at the knee shredding his leg like hamburger! It bounced off the door panel tearing it to pieces and took his chin with it as it went out the passenger window and top! The pieces of the bell and trans took out his rear slick and tore off the rear quarter and half the rear deck!

It only takes one time to learn a lesson but when that lesson is learned its too late!!

Jester
 
#20 ·
He still raced after that accident (automatics only) LOL!
Murphy's Law:"Anything that can go wrong will go wrong" There's nothing wrong with thinking things out!:mwink:

If I set a coffee on the edge of the bench and think man that might fall, and then think na it will be ok for a second my hands are full! And 2 seconds later (crash:eek:) After 50 years of those Murphy's Law moments you put things down and move the cup!!!! LOL We all have had those moments!

Jester:thumbup:
 
#23 ·
The world is a funny place. I was laying in bed last night watching the last few minutse of PINKS. A 70's chevelle pulled into the burnout box and proceeded to warm his tires and then BANG!! His clutch or fly wheel let go and came into the drivers compartment. The guy was ok put what ever came through the floor left a grape friut size hole in the tin. This was literally 6 hrs after my budyy said to me "your an idiot if you even think about using that stock bell housing"

I've already texted that I will come by later to grab that scatter sheild from him.
 
#24 ·
I've seen 2 cars totally destroyed by clutch explosions. A 55 chev and a 57 chev. Both were nearly cut in half. both had "only" mild 283 cu in motors.

Back in the old days we were running a blown BBC in a dragster. We had a full scatter shield with a block plate. The clutch let go right in the lights and blew the whole mess off the block along with one of the rear cylinders. It spun around and cut the car in half less one fram rail. So much for that car and motor.

2 years ago, middle of the night on the way home from work in my 1 ton dually at about 55 mph the clutch let go. Fortunately the bellhousing is pretty stout on diesel trucks and the rpm was only 1900 so it was fully contained but it scared the heck out of me. It wiped out the entire clutch and flywheel and input shaft. $1400 So much for that weeks work. hahah

Get a scatter shield.....and put all the bolts in. I agree with Tech..no bolts no run.
 
#26 ·
Been away from stick shift racing for a longtime.I did grow up through the times of clutch failures and some pretty horrific blow-ups.Also grew up through the development of automatic trans blankets. Lakewood sold cans for stick cars. Auto trannies can do as much damage without a blanket.

Our racing operation has one rule above NHRA or IRHA's rule books. It is there isn't a race won or loss that is worth safety risks. Our driver found out how serious we are about that.We have warned him a number of times with him giving us lame excuses him slacking off on things like arm restraints and belts etc. So with one round to go to get to the top four,we benched him and packed it in to go home. Told him the next time he was going to get fired. No excuses.

Tech-got a question for you.How does a mid-plate play out for a stick shift car??. As long as it is thick enough does it replace the block plate??.
 
#28 ·
Tech-got a question for you.How does a mid-plate play out for a stick shift car??. As long as it is thick enough does it replace the block plate??.
No, here's the rule....

"Where SFI Spec bellhousings are mandatory, all applicable liners, large mounting fasteners, motor plates, etc., as required by SFI Specs or the
manufacturer, must be properly installed."

Where SFI Spec bellhousings are NOT mandatory, as in cars that run 11.50 or slower, you could use the mid plate in place of a motor plate and be legal.

That's the way I read it. If you have further questions about this, I'll put a call in to the Division Tech Director and get confirmation for you.
 
#29 ·
Always wondered how a Tech Inspector verifies the clutch is SFI approved without removing the trans. I suppose you could remove the inspection plate on the bottom of the bellhousing and use a mirror or something (of course that is on a SBC, not sure if other motors have that inspection plate).
 
#30 ·
The guy who is serious enough about racing to need an SFI clutch will have the SFI paperwork on all his parts, laminated in plastic and kept in the trailer. If they have no paperwork, I start gettin' nosy and will have them take it apart if necessary. But you can usually tell if a racer is legit about the clutch by inspecting the rest of the car. If the car is a rag, I'll put him on the trailer and send him home anyway. If all else is "jake", then I won't worry about it too much. These guys understand that they could die from faulty parts.
 
#33 ·
Trans shield or blanket 10.99 or quicker, SFI flex plate and flex plate shield at 9.99 and quicker. That was 2 years ago when I ran, it might have changed since then? I ran a short blanket but they wanted a long one! I still got to run but was told to have a long blanket next time.


Any non-OEM floor-mounted automatic transmission shifter must be equipped with a spring loaded positive reverse lockout device to prevent the shifter from accidentally being put into reverse gear. Functional neutral safety switch mandatory. All transmission lines must be metallic or high-pressure-type hose. All vehicles running quicker than 9.99 seconds (*6.39) or faster than 135 mph (217.2 km/h) and using an automatic transmission must be equipped with a transmission shield meeting SFI Spec 4.1 and labeled accordingly. "Blanket" type shield, appropriately labeled as meeting SFI Spec 4.1 permitted. All non blanket type shields must incorporate two (or one, per manufacturer's instructions) 3/4-inch (19.1 mm) x 1/8-inch (3.2 mm) straps that bolt to the shield on each side, and pass under the transmission pan, or transmission pan must be labeled as meeting SFI Spec 4.1. Permitted in all classes where an automatic transmission is used. 9.99 (*6.39) or quicker ET cars, and 135 mph (217.2 km/h) or faster ET cars using an automatic transmission must be equipped with a flexplate meeting SFI Spec 29.1 and covered by a flexplate shield meeting SFI Spec 30.1. Air shifter bottles must be stamped with DOT -1800 pound (124 bar) rating (minimum) and be securely mounted (i.e. no tie-wraps or hose clamps.)

Jester
 
#34 ·
Ok guys need some more advice. So it turns out the scatter shield he has requires a smaller fly wheel and clutch. He has everything he can sell me but he wants $900 for the hole works. (tildon scatter sheild with bolt on throw out bearing, Mcleod twin disc clutch (good for 800hp), Mcleod Aluminum flywheel. The problem is with everything I still need to buy to get my car going I dont really have the cash to shell out for everything. Being that there is no way I am going to run without a scatter shield I wanted to see if you guys think I could limp by on what I have till I can get the cash together. When I take it to the track I will be launching it on Drag radials.

Est. 450hp/400ft#
Street occasional strip
2500# car
Saginaw 4 speed
Ford 9" 355
Lakewood Bellhousings 77-150 - SummitRacing.com
This Scatter sheild
Zoom MU Series Clutches MU5505-1 - SummitRacing.com
This Clutch (Already have)
RAM Throwout Bearings 78125 - SummitRacing.com
This bearing (already have)
 
#45 ·
Just be aware that most SFI components are dated. Don't buy something that is out of "cert" or will be out of cert soon.
6.1 Flywheel Shield, Spec 1.1 & 1.2
(2-Disc Max, or 3-Disc, 8-inch dia. Max) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 years
6.2 Flywheel Shield, Spec 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 & 1.5 Clutch. . . . . . . . 2 years
(Check with Manufacturer; May Be Only 1 Year)
6.3 Flywheel Shield, Spec 1.2, 1.3 & 1.4 Clutch . . . . . . . . . . . 2 years
(Check with Manufacturer; May Be Only 1 Year)

If there is no SFI tag on the piece at all, walk away.
 
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