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May 18, 2011 7:37 a.m. Woody SuperDork

http://www.vintagerods.ca/showthread.php?2146-1938-Plymouth-Tragedy-Today

This 1938 Plymouth was out on it's very first post restorod drive today when the drivers rear wheel came off, the car dropped down and the gas tank was punctured. The owner had a fire extingusher behind him on the floor but barely had time to get the car to the side of the road and bail out. The rear end is from a late model Ford Explorer and all the studs were stripped of all threads.

All these were taken Saturday April 30, 2011
May 18, 2011 7:42 a.m. Duke SuperDork

Man, that SUCKS. Crossthreaded but he ran them on anyway, I guess?
May 18, 2011 7:44 a.m. CGLockRacer Reader

i like the patina, but that was a hell of a way to get it.

seriously though, that sucks!
May 18, 2011 8:08 a.m. Travis_K SuperDork

I have a 1970 chevy truck that has been sitting for a long time (long story) but around the same time it broke and didnt get driven anymore, I snapped several wheel studs driving along the side of a hill. I replaced them all, and I have driven it about 20 miles since. I was going to replace the tires, and I took one wheel off and the holes in the hub were big enough that the studs were about to pull though the hub, and the hub, brake drum and rim are all junk.

Holes in the gas tank are extremely scary too, I saw video of something like that happening once, and the people in the car pretty much had time to stop it, jump out and run before there were 30 foot high flames.
May 18, 2011 8:16 a.m. RossD SuperDork

Man that blows. When I saw the first picture the first thing I thought was "It refreshing seeing anything other than a Ford in that body style." Now its not even around anymore.
May 18, 2011 8:46 a.m. Travis_K SuperDork

I imagine it will be fixed, it doesn't look like it got that hot, and alot of those cars look like that or worse when people start working on them. It needs a diesel next time though :) Diesel wont burn near that easily.
May 18, 2011 5:06 p.m. a401cj Reader

not a fan of brown but it worked well on that car
May 18, 2011 5:22 p.m. fast_eddie_72 Dork

That. Sucks.
May 18, 2011 5:56 p.m. dean1484 SuperDork

Insured?
May 18, 2011 7:11 p.m. Raze Dork

I really don't want to sound like a hater, because I seriously got a huge sinking feeling when I saw the first pic and I HATED reading this. However, my personal rule when taking a ride after major suspension, brake, critical work, is to drive around my neighborhood taking corners. Then take it home, reinspect. Then out on surface streets, give it a good heat cycle, test cooling system, brakes, etc. Take home, inspect. Finally, and I mean finally, highway. No way I start there on a post major rework job. Sometimes patience is the reason old cars make it, sad but true...
May 18, 2011 7:21 p.m. Mazdax605 Dork

I just drove by that exit not 20 minutes ago,and wondered what the deal was with the pavement in that area. I guess that explains it.
May 18, 2011 7:26 p.m. alex SuperDork

Raze wrote:

I really don't want to sound like a hater, because I seriously got a huge sinking feeling when I saw the first pic and I HATED reading this. However, my personal rule when taking a ride after major suspension, brake, critical work, is to drive around my neighborhood taking corners. Then take it home, reinspect. Then out on surface streets, give it a good heat cycle, test cooling system, brakes, etc. Take home, inspect. Finally, and I mean finally, highway. No way I start there on a post major rework job. Sometimes patience is the reason old cars make it, sad but true...

QFT. My policy is frequent test runs in an increasing, roughly concentric pattern. Stay close to home base until you can trust it farther than you can push it. (Or worse, in this case.)
May 18, 2011 9:48 p.m. Gearheadotaku Dork

where's the "in tears" icon?
May 18, 2011 11:59 p.m. Travis_K SuperDork

I found a post by the owner of the car, and the story isn't quite the same. The car was actually built years ago by someone else, and purchased mostly finished. The owner had recently added wheel spacers and that was what led to the failure of the studs. The reason the fire started is the fuel filler neck was completely removed from the car by the loose wheel, so it was easy for it to start burning. Supposedly the car was insured, and someone was planning to buy it for a parts car who has another car of the same body style.
May 19, 2011 12:02 a.m. Grizz Reader

That makes me very sad.
May 19, 2011 12:52 a.m. WilberM3 HalfDork

In reply to Travis_K:

man, that's what constitutes a parts car for a 38 plymouth?

sucks but sounds like it was user error which is unfortunate for the car.
May 19, 2011 1:09 a.m. friedgreencorrado SuperDork

Travis_K wrote:

I found a post by the owner of the car, and the story isn't quite the same. The car was actually built years ago by someone else, and purchased mostly finished. The owner had recently added wheel spacers and that was what led to the failure of the studs. The reason the fire started is the fuel filler neck was completely removed from the car by the loose wheel, so it was easy for it to start burning. Supposedly the car was insured, and someone was planning to buy it for a parts car who has another car of the same body style.

Well, there are a lot of different kinds of wheel spacers out there (just like a bunch of other kinds of parts out there, I suppose..). I trust my H&Rs, not only on the street, but even while autocrossing. But I've seen some cheap ones that make me shudder in fear just to look at them, though.
May 19, 2011 1:14 a.m. Grizz Reader

WilberM3 wrote:

In reply to Travis_K:

man, that's what constitutes a parts car for a 38 plymouth?

Now that I think of it, yes.

Long as the metal is straight, there are a lot of body panels that could be used off that husk.
May 19, 2011 1:18 a.m. Travis_K SuperDork

I have seen H&R wheel spacers and I would agree that they are made properly. However, yeah, there are many scary ones.

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