So Sean just left my shop...the car is pretty bad. Cage moved about 2" to the left on impact. Drivers side of car is bowed out, door is jammed. Roof is bent all the way to windscreen, glass is broken. Rear floor is way out of kilter, rear shock mounts bent, backstay on pass side is bent in about 8" to a foot. Could all be fixed but if he does it again he wants a few upgrades to the cage so likely easier to just start over. Derricks cage held up great. Bent bars, cracked paint everywhere but the welds all held.

That's probably good news; makes the rebuild direction to go simpler, if not the big decision to continue or no.

Sean, relax a bit, and go watch the sea and the birds, and be philosophical for a few days. The right answer will become clear to you.

Mark B.

PS: And, no pressure for this, but when you're all relaxed, and only if you feel like it: Give us a millisecond by millisecond 'it all seemed to happen in slow motion' kind of synopsis, and some thoughts about what went awry. I am sure that certain things happened in a sequence, and expect many might learn from such an experience. It migth be just an odd spot on the course.....

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BillyElliot
I had a shunt with a tree this weekend in Tennessee as well that didn't turn out well. Like ours off, glad everyone was OK in yours with the circumstances over the weekend.

You were smokin' the stages to that point, Billy.

As we say in these hyar parts, "You really barked that tree, boy!" Sorry to see this happen, but glad it was relatively minor (loooking, at least..). What stage was it?

Regards,
Mark B.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2011 05:52PM by starion887.

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starion887

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BillyElliot
I had a shunt with a tree this weekend in Tennessee as well that didn't turn out well. Like ours off, glad everyone was OK in yours with the circumstances over the weekend.

You were smokin' the stages to that point, Billy.

As we say in these hyar parts, "You really barked that tree, boy!" Sorry to see this happen, but glad it was relatively minor (loooking, at least..). What stage was it?

Regards,
Mark B.

definitely quick times, bummed to see the DNF in the results, even more bummed to see the pics.

and I'm pretty sure it's only minor looking - getting that trailing arm into that position probably means that 2 of the mount points on that corner are trashed beyond repair, and the other two are pretty bent up at best.

Same here, glad you guys are ok... lot of carnage on that last stage.

We stopped to tell your family you were OK but that it'd be a while before you'd come off the stage. I think I said something along the lines of "your dad put a very big dent in the car" and one of your sons replied "mom is going to be maaaaaaad"... had a good chuckle at that.

Anyhow, I have a mostly caged shell you might be interested in.

Scott
Mazda RX-7 Car 990

Gene, I havn't seen Sean's car in person but if all that stuff is bent that much your right, time to stick a fork in it...sorry Sean you clearly put a lot of thought and outright love into your car.

And again >>> Sean!! >>> you've got one hell of a wife!!! Maybe put her in the driver seat next time around Take your time figuring out what you want to do, rally stages will always be there, no rush.

Here's a link to the pics..I think http://s270.photobucket.com/albums/jj87/heymagic/No%20cure%20Merkur/


Teaser

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Aaron Luptak

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starion887

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BillyElliot
I had a shunt with a tree this weekend in Tennessee as well that didn't turn out well. Like ours off, glad everyone was OK in yours with the circumstances over the weekend.

You were smokin' the stages to that point, Billy.

As we say in these hyar parts, "You really barked that tree, boy!" Sorry to see this happen, but glad it was relatively minor (loooking, at least..). What stage was it?

Regards,
Mark B.

definitely quick times, bummed to see the DNF in the results, even more bummed to see the pics.

and I'm pretty sure it's only minor looking - getting that trailing arm into that position probably means that 2 of the mount points on that corner are trashed beyond repair, and the other two are pretty bent up at best.

Was on tree farm reverse. Was just a dumb over correction, caught grip in a wet corner and then continued the slide to wetmud/leaves on the shoulder. Still need to sort through all the in car but I'll put it up. The nut for the toe link was torn from the chassis, the top uca sheared from the dogbone and the trailing arm bushing broke in half and got pulled out.

I'm going to dive into it this weekend (I dropped it off at Bushore's on the drive home) and I'll see the extent. I know the toe link mounts can be rewelded in, need to do measurements to see how bad mounts got tweaked.

It is for sure not fixable.

If I do it again, it will be an XR.

The things I will do different, door bars will be nascar style, plus a sill bar. The seats will be mounts will be tied into the cage. Add a bar between the bottom of the main hoop. Add a dash bar. Add a short intrusion bar to the foot well stump plates.

Gene, thanks for the talk, your really made an impact on my mental state, I feel a little better now.

So I'll bring the new shell over Saturday and we'll get started!