Jeff Seighman
aka jeffnmo
What if your master cylinder **** the bed or you had leaks, the emergency/parking brake is mechanical, no fluid involved. Might not be the case with comet idiot but could help someone else in the future.
Which would’ve been an AMAZING reason to not post the video, or for the Mercury owner to not commentThis is horrible and avoidable, but there could be reason to not mention the other car occupants - active lawsuits. Just my 2¢
I think the fact that the motor has 1300 hp has little to do with the accident. Think about throttle position and power output. The throttle was nowhere near wide open throttle. Listen to the engine when the brakes went out. To me it doesn't sound like a motor that was putting out much power. Likely the throttle is sticking near the closed side of travel rather than the wide open end. Simular to a improperly adjusted idle speed around 2000 rpm. Think about how little power it takes to propel a car at that speed and rpm. The car didn’t appear to be accelerating rapidly. It was more or less just maintaining speed. I would say that the majority of our cars are capable of that kind of power output. The fact that he had zero brakes probably had more to do with the accident than how much power the motor is capable of producing. We all would be in trouble with zero brakes and little time to react. Things happen fast in the heat of the moment and sometimes our brains don't as well as we think they would. We can all pick out some detail of the accident and say it couldn't happen to me because of this or that. What ever we have to do to to convince ourselves that "I could never be that guy".I think with the power 90% or more of the guys have on this forum, that's an inaccurate statement. Most of our cars would be much easier to slow down and possibly even stop.
We're adult enough to agree to disagree. We can pick it apart a thousand ways but the bottom line I think we all agree on is that car had no business on the street.I think the fact that the motor has 1300 hp has little to do with the accident. Think about throttle position and power output. The throttle was nowhere near wide open throttle. Listen to the engine when the brakes went out. To me it doesn't sound like a motor that was putting out much power. Likely the throttle is sticking near the closed side of travel rather than the wide open end. Simular to a improperly adjusted idle speed around 2000 rpm. Think about how little power it takes to propel a car at that speed and rpm. The car didn’t appear to be accelerating rapidly. It was more or less just maintaining speed. I would say that the majority of our cars are capable of that kind of power output. The fact that he had zero brakes probably had more to do with the accident than how much power the motor is capable of producing. We all would be in trouble with zero brakes and little time to react. Things happen fast in the heat of the moment and sometimes our brains don't as well as we think they would. We can all pick out some detail of the accident and say it couldn't happen to me because of this or that. What ever we have to do to to convince ourselves that "I could never be that guy".
I would suggest you reread my very first sentence. Parking brake or emergency brake is moot but facts are he either didnt have a functioning one or didnt use itIt’s not a grammar contest to correct people who are claiming that things could be avoided if the “emergency brake” was put into use, the brain case behind the wheel was putting a ton of force on the brake pedal like his life depended on it, having a working parking brake wouldn’t do him any good, and acting like it would CAN cause others harm in the future.
Want the fix? Forget the brakes, they had nothing to do with it; the sticking throttle, ignoring warning signs and hotdogging a broken car are what need focused on. With a properly fitted and functioning parking brake the wreck happens 100% the way it did without it, dude didn’t even kill the engine, you think having some other doodad to mess with would turn things around? The guy is the reason carbs got anti tamper screws.
Agree. 1300 Hp or slant six sticky throttle needs to be fixed.We're adult enough to agree to disagree. We can pick it apart a thousand ways but the bottom line I think we all agree on is that car had no business on the street.
I think you're correct. That's why I've not addressed it. IMO it would have better to down shift.All this talk about shutting the engine off and taking advantage of engine braking - would you really get engine braking in that condition? The engine's off, the transmission is an automatic, the converter isn't turning the pump, so the clutch packs are released. I think the net result would be the same as shoving the shifter into neutral. Or am I wrong?
I have had the parking brake system save my *** a couple times when the car wouldn't stop because I had a bad master cyl. It does matter and is effective at stopping the car whether its twice the distance or not.What if your master cylinder **** the bed or you had leaks, the emergency/parking brake is mechanical, no fluid involved. Might not be the case with comet idiot but could help someone else in the future.
And here’s uncle Tony…
Like dis here.D & D speed shop made a video about it too but I on't know how to link it.
According to comments on the youtube video "all that" has already been settled.......but who really knows?This is horrible and avoidable, but there could be reason to not mention the other car occupants - active lawsuits. Just my 2¢
I admit, I don't check my brake fluid every single time I drive the car. I do check it probably three times a month though. I will say this. If I ever feel anything out of the ordinary, I come back home. Have done it before with the old single reservoir master cylinder. It had a very, very slow leak. I returned home after getting it out of the driveway, because the pedal was "a little" lower than normal. Come to find out, the leak was the master cylinder had a crack in it on the bottom port that had a plug in it. That's when I went ahead and made the switch to the disc brake master cylinder on it now. None of us is perfect, I mean that truly. But I think we can do a better job of trying than these guys did.Spend all this money on everything else than the brakes. What did he think was going to happen.
A while back we were working on a dart, putting a drive train in it, suspension, you name it to get this thing driving. On it’s first drive through town, a small town, we were good, got back to the shop after about 3-4 miles, then we switched drivers, and our buddy hammered on it a little bit down a back road, nothing crazy, but enough, again 3-4 miles, made it back to the shop, we switched again, I took it thought town, the same route, 3-4 miles, no problems, get back to the shop, I pull it in the door, and my buddy is egging me on to roast the tires, as it’s tradition to burn rubber in the shop, I get the tires spinning a little, *** end steps a little sidewise and next thing I know the brake pedal is on the floor, car is rolling forward in the shop towards the work bench, I slide the column shifter in park, and grab the brake and only thankfully rolled about 3 feet forward. All this is in-between a hoist, we roll it back, and as I’m putting the the arms under the car I see fluid on the pass front tire, get the car in the air, and the fresh 10 year old rebuilt KH caliper center seal let loose. Good thing it didn’t happen 5-20 minutes sooner when we were out in the wild. This is why a shake down and then check in necessary.
When my bro runs any of the vintage formula or sports cars in his shop, Protocol is to nut and bolt check the car after every session, check and bleed the brakes, drain catch tanks, wipe the car down, check everything, etc… BTW the sessions are 20 to 30 minutes, or 10 to 20 laps. Then when the car gets back to the shop it is again nut and bolt checked along with a full race prep. It’s critical for safety…
I look my car over each time I push it out of the garage, check fluids and then warm her up, shut her down and heat soak for a few, check for drips etc. I then go for putt through town, getting the gear box and diff hot, check the brakes, and head for the back road, taking it easy till the road opens up, drop a gear and ring her neck, bouncing the rev limiter, no lift shifts through all 4 gears and driving like I stole it carving the twisties…