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-   -   1,300HP Mercury Comet BRAKE FAILURE CRASH (https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=860047)

Half-Inch Stud 07-14-2022 08:38 AM

"Is that a lot of brake I smell? " " Yea i've got to ride em...". Driver then pumps the gas pedal..

My opinion is the Blower cars can easily float the idle high, and so a Blower engine that is quick to return to low idle is a sign of applied skills.

Car looks good from a distance, but my (and surely many others) "car show attitude" can be rather bad when engineering deficiencies are seen on such high hp cars. Surely we all have seen intentionally bad stuff along with unintentional/ignorant implementations.

Long longk ago i dropped a Q-JET Sec throttle plate while under hard throttle (Seka 650 sought the challenge). The GTOs unbridled HP never felt so wildly strong before! Well order of action was: downshift, ppress brakes, pump brakes, turn key off. Coasted into a parking lot and the Biker was concerned and pulled-in. Helmet comes off; was a Pontiac buddy! We talked and tore off the air filter: linkage fine, noticed vapors coming out 1 back flap. Climbed in over the carb and WoW! the plate was sucked down. Lots of small talk, and drove home on the primaries. That was a factory Plate install. Seems some Plate screws are brittle and the heads snap off super easy while other screws are tough. Pretty much been Un-TQ-reTQing them screws to test, then R&Ring my Baseplate screws since.

Tom Vaught 07-14-2022 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie Brengun (Post 6356664)
Like these? https://images.app.googl/rwPmtyEGoFghG9Tr6
https://images.app.goo.gl/rwPmtyEGoFghG9Tr6

I like how they integrate the shoulder belt, I'm going to remember this. My car no seat belts at all currently (and its road legal without them believe it or not).

I did not know any better until around 1970 when I visited a friend with a 66 GTO and he showed me the upper seat locks that kept the seats and flying Grandmothers from driving you into the steering wheel.

Road legal is not the same as ROAD SAFE.

The driver obviously wanted to be cool for the camera, (no seat belts) but cool and a poorly prepared engine
control system (Throttle cable/carb function) obviously caused the majority of the original issue.

The lack of wearing seat belts was bad for the guy in the right seat.
He put his life unknowingly in danger immediately.

If I remember the video correctly 2200 rpm engine speed on a 1300 hp engine can provide a lot of thrust
(HP) that most older brakes even in good shape could not stop.

The original sin was not fixing the carbs & throttle system so it was not hanging at that rpm. The rest of it was human error (even getting into the car in the first place) and ignoring the obvious issues.

Tom V.

428goat 07-14-2022 09:38 AM

Yup. Shut it off. Jump on the parking brake of he had one.

jhein 07-14-2022 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Half-Inch Stud (Post 6356696)
"Is that a lot of brake I smell? " " Yea i've got to ride em...". Driver then pumps the gas pedal..

Bad judgement and ignoring serious warning signs. The owner just seemed to have a lax attitude about things in general. Like driving a car that took him that much time and money to build without collision insurance and not using upper body restraints. That's just not having your head on straight. Which is why he was driving it before having essential things like brakes and throttle control squared away. But the paint was very shiny.

JLMounce 07-14-2022 01:05 PM

Definitely some hard learned knowledge on that one. Everyone's already touched on what went wrong, I won't comment on that.

The one thing I see with these style cars a lot is the propensity to put roll bars or full cages in these cars. It kind of goes against intuition because cages save lives in race cars, but in a street car, they are extremely dangerous. A cage becomes a meat grinder when used without a harness that contains an anti-submarine strap and a helmet. Yes this gentleman had foam around the halo bars, but that's not doing much of anything for you without a helmet on.

I've had throttle hang recently in my 69 bird and when it happened at a light, I immediately pulled into a parking lot to diagnose the issue. When you know something is off like that, it's still okay to tell the camera guys we gotta pull off to check something. In my case I discovered that my throttle cable was fraying inside the cable sheathing and causing it to hang just off idle. I carry two additional throttle return springs in my console box, so I threw both of them on and limped home.

vr1967 07-14-2022 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 65madgoat (Post 6356619)
Silly shifter. Only if you are missing an arm or leg should one run an automatic in a vintage car. Don't care how much faster an auto is apparently on the track. Just lame, and shifter like that on the street even dumber since he can't shift into neutral.

I guess I’m going to be lame, because I’m going BACK to an auto in my 67. Lame GM built it with one, and in 40 years plus of driving, I’ve never had an automatic transmission vehicle as a daily. My left knee also needs replaced. Guess I won’t be one of the cool kids anymore.

jhein 07-14-2022 01:24 PM

Not to mention that riding the brake means that nobody can tell when you're actually trying to slow down. It's basically like driving without brake lights.

My mother used to drive with two feet because she was scared not to have a foot always on the brake and she used just enough pressure to have the brake light always on. No matter what I said to try to get her to change, she wouldn't listen to me. Drove me crazy.

72projectbird 07-14-2022 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vr1967 (Post 6356761)
I guess I’m going to be lame, because I’m going BACK to an auto in my 67. Lame GM built it with one, and in 40 years plus of driving, I’ve never had an automatic transmission vehicle as a daily. My left knee also needs replaced. Guess I won’t be one of the cool kids anymore.

An automatic with a high stall and crisp shifts is just as fun to drive as a stick imo.

BILL BOWMAN1 07-14-2022 02:03 PM

High end build—- uses B&M ratchet shifter!! 🤔

jhein 07-14-2022 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 67drake (Post 6356685)
Hard to say what I’d do in a panic, but turning key off would I hope be the first thing on my mind.

I hear what you're saying but instead of the word "panic", I'd substitute "emergency".

I'm not a professional driver. But, over the years I've found myself in many driving emergencies where a crash was about to happen. I'll say I've been scared every time, but I've never panicked. You keep driving the car in the safest way you can at the moment.

Emergencies are always tense, stressful situations. But, I think the driver of that car was totally unprepared for anything, other than good fortune. Kind of what I said in an earlier post, he was just not on top of anything. He seems like a goofball kind of guy who thought it would be cool to drive a ridiculous car around the street. He ignored everything that was wrong with it and drove it anyway. And he was totally unprepared to handle the emergency he faced.

67drake 07-14-2022 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhein (Post 6356798)
I hear what you're saying but instead of the word "panic", I'd substitute "emergency".

I'm not a professional driver. But, over the years I've found myself in many driving emergencies where a crash was about to happen. I'll say I've been scared every time, but I've never panicked. You keep driving the car in the safest way you can at the moment.

Emergencies are always tense, stressful situations. But, I think the driver of that car was totally unprepared for anything, other than good fortune. Kind of what I said in an earlier post, he was just not on top of anything. He seems like a goofball kind of guy who thought it would be cool to drive a ridiculous car around the street. He ignored everything that was wrong with it and drove it anyway. And he was totally unprepared to handle the emergency he faced.

Lol. Yeah I used the word panic because he looked in a panic to me. I’m only here today because of keeping a cool head in an emergency. Harleys are even less forgiving than cars.

sdbob 07-14-2022 08:45 PM

About 10 yrs ago I had brake issue with SD. My first startup every year I drive it around the cultesac,spl,across the road. I had some brakes. Then I hit them hard there,no brakes. So gingerly brought it into garage. The wheel cylinders were rusty. I replaced calipers, master cylinder, wheel cylinders.

67GTONUT 07-14-2022 10:36 PM

Holy crap....

These just went back on my "need to do " list

https://www.morrisclassic.com/collections/seatbelts

Mr Anonymous 07-15-2022 08:08 AM

Its easy to second guess this guy after the fact, but in this case - its just plain obvious that there was a whole pile of failures, both human and mechanical. I enjoy a sketchy car as much as the next guy, but I'd have been out and standing on the sidewalk after the first block. Damn, what an idiot.

JSchmitz 07-15-2022 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Anonymous (Post 6356948)
Its easy to second guess this guy after the fact, but in this case - its just plain obvious that there was a whole pile of failures, both human and mechanical. I enjoy a sketchy car as much as the next guy, but I'd have been out and standing on the sidewalk after the first block. Damn, what an idiot.

I have to agree. Have to ride the brakes because the throttle is sticking? WTF? Why did it leave the driveway? Especially with that much power and tiny brakes. I've screwed up too, but damn.

Tom Vaught 07-15-2022 03:49 PM

Like I told Charlie66 the other night, I had a brake line failure on my 64 many, many, years ago. Train Gates were dropping, lights were flashing, BUT fortunately there was a turn-around to go the opposite direction on a divided highway. I was only doing about 30 mph.

I managed to make the loop and go the opposite direction as no cars on that side of the road (gates were down, remember???)

I still went almost a football field length before scrubbing off the speed nudging the curb.

So chit happens. I should have checked the brake system parts occasionally.

This was in 1977. I ordered a new 1978 TA a month later. Still kept the 64 GTO.

The difference is, I had no warning. This gentleman had lots of warning signs which
he ignored. Riding the brakes, stuck high idle on engine, etc.

And I did not damage another persons car due to my lax inspection of the brakes.

Tom V.

CDN2PLS2 07-15-2022 07:58 PM

Anybody that lives in the RustBelt should not be new to Brake Failure!

Jeff Hamlin 07-15-2022 08:08 PM

Clearly a shmuck move on all counts.
I've been digging these AT vids during all this Corvid BS and
they have had some badass rides and then this went down and faded away.

Then Shawn brought it back up and now it has taken on a life of its own.
Sadly even my local rock station has a stupid news segment, and yup it was talked about.
So many big-time phuckups that it goes beyond comprehension.
These guys knew better and hopefully can recover.

We're not 20 anymore, THINK!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1pzE4weOp4

77 TRASHCAN 07-15-2022 11:21 PM

To quote Forrest Gump.
Stupid is, as stupid does!!!!
I truly can’t believe what happened in that video???

242177P 07-16-2022 12:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 67drake (Post 6356685)
Hard to say what I’d do in a panic, but turning key off would I hope be the first thing on my mind.

The fact that you even thought it says to me that yes, you'd do it instinctually.
I had a total hydraulic failure, zero drama, key off/E-brake on just happened.

Driver lacked common sense. Passenger could've reached over as well.


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