History Vintage scattershields.

This was on my avatar, replaced it with a vintage wedge, that said Vette - Pass on it. Sorry no picture. I doubt NHRA would allow recert of an old part like this, but I don't do nhra anyway. Just glad I found this when I was preparing for the HAMB drags.

 

Re. the Palmini Engineering shield. It looks like they manufactured Go Cart (cast aluminum gas tank pictured)and Mini Bike components. The scattershield apparently was a venture into automotive speed parts. Wonder if they did any other automotive stuff? They were in South San Gabriel, CA. Never heard of the Co. Interesting.

 

Those look more like stress cracks. Could have come from a bad tranny mount ?

I am running a can for two reasons in my project, one is that I didn't have a bell anyway so I needed something to hang my tranny from and the other is that at the one race a year I run I didn't want any trouble with the techs. They let a lot pass but no headaches is best when you are all about having fun.

Not really worried about a flywheel or clutch explosion, but I know they happen and Murphy is king.

 

Yes in some cases age does play a part, In years gone by cans were bolted using 3/8 studs to the block, later the rule was changed to 7/16 studs, but if the holes were drilled out, the distance from the bolt to the flange edge fell below min spec and thus rejected. this caused the E-Bay ordeal. Cert is the manuf. accepting/covenent, the liability of its failure, and at his option can put a time on how long a can is good for, just like racing helmets, Tech is always improving. SPE cans, even if you find a new in box can are not legal, 1) because the Manuf is longer in business to re-cert them and 2) it was found that some cans went thru the wrong heat treat process, this was before the cert process so there is no sequence of serial numbers to reference them too. I suspect this was the reason for Roy to get out of the dragster business and sell the name to Cox and discontinue the can business before any lawsuits popped up.
In some cases with the combo being raced, there is no can available and with the rulebook guidlines a ring of steel is acceptable over the clutch area Volkswagons come to mind. But by the rules (unless something is stated) any and all safety items must be serial numberd and a SFI sticker of compliance w/Manuf & date must be affixed to said part to be legal to use and a sanctioned event and presented to inspection pryor to making a pass down the racetrack

 

SPE car

 

Welded can I built for the Ivo 4 engine car

 

I agree they were stress cracks, but I put a clutch in a few years ago, it was good at that time. This old vette has been around awhile. As well, it runs an OEM front engine mount so there is stress built in from the factory. If I was running real slicks, I would have a new certified can. The good part is, I put the vintage shield on it, (that thing is heavy) and exploded the clutch the next trip to MOKAN. No damage was done except to the clutch itself, so I feel pretty good. I fired it up this weekend, weather is improving so she'll be on the road soon.

 

The car was run by Larry Bowers of Bowers Blowers.

 

Its a funny thing about clutches, seems like there is no real way to know if they will hang in there or not. I have seen some ugly stuff over the years and there was really no reason for it to happen it just did.

 

Found in the Drag News 1959
Hello,

In all of the cars my brother owned before we started our Willys build in late 59-early 1960, nothing required scatter shields over the flywheel, clutch and bell housing. The stock classes were pop the hubcaps and race. But the street legal roadsters and gas coupe/sedan classes required these blast shields. They knew something we did not know or have ever seen before.

My brother and I were ready to install the 283 SBC /with 6 Strombergs to the 3 speed LaSalle transmission. It was ready and waiting in the Willys chassis. But, he mentioned that we needed to get one last safety item. A run to Reath Automotive at 10th and Cherry Ave, solved the problem to fit to the rules.

The curved, metal scattershield would bolt on to the bellhousing, while the lower plate would go underneath the housing with the provided brackets. When it was installed, it looked like it would withstand a hand grenade explosion. The modified, floorboard was neatly attached back in place and we were almost ready to go racing.

Jnaki

According to the racers, this was the best scattershield at the time. No one had those full 360 degree housings as yet. Explosions can be powerful… the results were horrifying…

If you raced after 1964 and did not suffer a horrendous blowout, thank Joe Shubeck…

From a previous thread:

...If Joe Schubeck’s invention was around back in 1960, we would still be involved in drag racing for many more years to come. We may have still been in the hot rod industry of some kind. His invention prevented many exploding clutches as strong as the clutch could be made, from flying all over the place. It was able to enclose the remaining parts inside of the 360 degree catch-all metal shield. This was a real “scattershield.”

My hat is off to Joe Schubeck for his ingenious development and that every time I see that red FED, silently, I thank him for saving tons of racers lives from the ravages of exploding clutches and flying metal pieces in all drag race cars. Sorry, you did not invent it in early 1960.

Jnaki

“I had built my own tubular chassis,”explained Schubeck. “that was the first tube chassis in 1958, and then in 1959, I rounded up a bunch of people that wanted them. So, I found myself in business. I called it Lakewood Chassis Company.”

"One of the most difficult pieces to construct was the aluminum transmission bell housing. He knew there had to be a better way to manufacture the part and while visiting a fabrication shop in Cleveland, he learned about a machine called the Hydroform."

"Through persistence and hard work, he developed a die to put in the Hydroform and 20 seconds after the engineer flipped on the machine, Schubeck was holding a gorgeous, seamless, aluminum bell housing. It was a tremendous product. His old friend, Jack Harris knew what it might mean to the industry. Across the country, drag racing was plagued with flywheel and clutch explosions. Chunks of cast iron were flying into the grandstands, blowing cars in half, sometimes proving fatal for drivers and spectators."

“It was obvious that what I needed was to make a bellhousing out of steel,” said Schubeck, “and Jack Harris told me: “If you could make that thing out of steel and it will contain that clutch, you would have a mult-million dollar product on your hands.”

"The catch to developing such a coveted product was that Schubeck was going to have to retire as a driver. He reluctantly stepped away from the cockpit, and the move paid off. Before long, he had two shifts going seven days a week, putting skid loads of new steel bell housings on trucks."

 

Saw this thread and dug up what I thought was a vintage Lakewood. It has the early bolt hole design flange as the 1 pictured.....'cept..... it has a pretty old "ET" sticker on the top. Did a little digging and can't find anything on it. Maybe your memories can help? It's an antique white color inside and out. I'll snap a pic later.

 

Sticker looks vintage and not sure why someone would add it to a Lakewood but cwazzy chit happens.

 

Was the Wedge M/T Mickey Thompson?

 

As far as I know M/T was trademarked early on and no one but Mickey Thompson used it.

@towithome the ET sticker looks like something that was added on after the fact. A lot of the steel full circle scatter shields look like a Lakewood product. But I am sure that they have been copied by about one of everyone at some point. All the out of the box Lakewood scatter shields that I remember seeing are orange.

The one I am using is vintage but probably not traditional vintage, it is dual pattern, BOP and Chevy. So I am assuming that mine is '70s vintage at the earliest and most likely newer than '80s. Either way mine is out of cert to be sure. But it does do one thing that is very important in our world it does hold the transmission up.

 

I'm blasting it in a short while but keeping the sticker intact. Hoping I find some identifying numbers under the paint. Again, it's white inside and out so I seriously doubt it's Lakewood. It's also got the short, square nut welded for the z-bar pivot instead of the reinforced brace that Lakewood used.

 

The one on my Vette is a Wedge Engineering, full surround, similar to your MT, but also says Corvette & NHRA approved cast into it. It's heavy. looks alot like this one, only mine is one piece.

 

Most racing organizations require a SFI certification on scatter shields. Lakewood might be the easiest to go with since they are still in business and can do the certification.

 

Yes, Mickey Thompson had something going with Wedge and sold the Wedge M/T through the M/T catalogs. I'm at work or I would post some catalog pics

 

E/T was a company out East I believe, They made and sold traction bars so maybe the ventured into scattershields. They are not the same E-T as the wheels, unfortunately I don't have any of their catalogs

 

I know one of these was shown earlier in the thread. Here is a 1957 ad. Interesting that it is made from Impactoloy....Who knew!

 

Anyone have a scattershield for a y-block? I want it.

 

I modified a FE blowshield to fit a Lincoln Y block. I imagine a SBF shield could be done the same way. Or something. I have done several for other engines that are not in catalogs.

 

Find Tim McMaster or Ted Eaton. Tim is required to have one at Bonneville and Ted runs at a lot of drag events with his Altered roadster. Both are on YBlocksforever web page.

 

I am restoring Ted Wells 1954 Ford AHRA drag car from southern California. The car as I bought it did not come with any running gear, only the correct 58 Ford wagon 9" large bearing housing. I was looking for a 1960-61 hipo 352ci FE engine like was in it, but couldn't find one and settled on a 64 352ci FE block. I had Dan Wendzel in Errie Colo. build me the 3rd member chunk with all the correct vintage Ford parts from his stash, and I am now looking for a ANSEN bellhousing, and a large input/output Ford 4 speed top loader. In all the info I have on the 54's stats, it does not say which ANSEN bellhousing, only that he used an ANSEN scattershield. I have located an ANSEN bellhousing, but it is not your typical ANSEN cast housing. It is rolled steel, and looks to be universal. It is stamped SEMA 6.1, AHRA & NHRA approved. Can anyone fill me in on this bellhousing and a approximate manufacture date?
Thanks,
Zane.

 

This picture was taken in the early 70's, I doubt that any of the parts are really vintage, they were in their org packaging when I got them. The Accel distributor was junk and was shot at 20K miles. I should have kept the two four Vette setup at my left elbow

 

The famous 54 Ford from Adam 12?

 

"I have located an ANSEN bellhousing, but it is not your typical ANSEN cast housing. It is rolled steel, and looks to be universal. It is stamped SEMA 6.1, AHRA & NHRA approved. Can anyone fill me in on this bellhousing and a approximate manufacture date?"

Hello,

If you are trying to get a specific year, like 1960 parts for your rebuild, anything with SEMA should be dated 1963 or after. (SEMA was organized in 1963) Lakewood Mfg. was the first to design the full 360 degree safety housing in1964. Thank Joe Shubeck for any safety protocols back then from 1964.

After the initial development and marketing from Lakewood Industries, other manufacturers got on the safety bandwagon and created their version of steel 360 shields for protection. The exploding clutches and flywheels are no laughing matter and they become flying bullets if not contained.

Jnaki
It is a good thing we did not have a camera to take photos of the interior of our burned out 1940 Willys Coupe in August 1960. It would have looked like someone threw a million sharp metal bits all over the interior and wedged them into the dash, glove box and door sills.) Plus, there was a huge hole in the non existent floorboard.



PREVIOUS POST:
Here is our drag racing build and final end: There have been various parts on the HAMB somewhere in different threads over the last several years. This is a clutch explosion post that fits the new/old thread.

Hello,

My brother and I built a 1940 Willys Coupe in the early 1960. After racing our 1958 black Chevy Impala in the A/Stock class almost every week at Lions, we thought it would be fun to build something faster. The 40 Willys was set up to run 6 Strombergs on the 283 SBC motor, Howard Cams flywheel, and LaSalle/Chevy adapter, (LaSalle trans, 4:11 Chevy rear) first and ran well at Lions.

This set up included the all important legal approved 2 piece thick metal scattershield. This version ran well, but was under powered against those hot local B/Gas super stars. (Pittman, Thompson, Cook, Hirshfield, etc.)

Found in the Drag News 1959

The Willys then had a full rebuild to 292 c.i. small block Chevy, Howard Cam plus full kit, Jahns pistons, ported & polished heads, Joe Hunt Mag, with a 671 supercharger and 6 Strombergs on top. It was one of the first 671 kits available for SBC motors.

The car had red primer, no insignias, Traction Master bars, and black rims with Bruce slicks. With welded in steel plates in the trunk, it ran in the C/Gas class with times in the 12:60’s e.t. during all of July and all day on August 13, 1960.

We were in the finals at 9:00 pm against the class champion and my brother had a two car lead just past the tower. He was at least 3 cars ahead by the traps, when the clutch blew and exploded the Moon Tank in the cab. Later, my brother told me he tried putting out the fire with the on board extinguisher, it did not work as the fire was too strong.

The car was on fire going through the traps and my brother jumped out going about 60 mph ( as told to us by the racers on the return road) The car immediately turned right and crashed into the chain link fence on the spectator’s side.

Everyone nearby, tried over 10 bottles of fire extinguishers to no avail. My brother was put into an ambulance and taken to the local hospital. He had 3 degree burns over 30% of his body and face. The car burned to a crisp, wedged into the chain link fence. Lions was shut down very early with a lot of top eliminator races still to be finished, including the consecutive win streak of the Albertson Olds FED driven by Leonard Harris.

The next day, Atts Ono and I found shards of metal wedged into the dash, door, glove box, etc, The scattershield was nowhere to be found. There was a huge hole in the floor of the cab where the explosion had ripped open an escape route of flying pieces, the Moon Tank was melted away, the bolts were the only thing left, the glove box door was slightly melted from the heat. We took the burned out car back to Atts Ono’s house for disassembly. Then after an all-day, de-construction, we trailered the burned out car to a salvage yard near Lions Dragstrip.

The clutch explosion was such a force, that it blew the bellhousing to shreds, blew off the metal scattershield to somewhere and the resulting fire was the melting point of most things inside the cab. At this time period in drag racing, Moon Aluminum gas tanks inside of the cab with a pressure pump were completely legal and most every hot, race car had them nearby.

After this horrendous event, the rules committee banned all Moon Aluminum gas tanks to the trunk or in front of the motor. Sorry, if this started those ghastly, Moon Tanks mounted externally on later model gas coupes and sedans.

Jnaki

In that last race, I thought it was Tom Sturm’s C/Gas modified Chevy. But no one can remember. I have talked to Eddy Grist of the Grist Family. He was on the return road with his family after his dad had just made a run in A/Gas. He saw the whole explosion, resulting fire and crash. It was something he will never forget as quoted to me back then. There were other families and racers on this return road, but they remain a mystery.

Last year at the June 2017 Lions Dragstrip Museum opening event, I talked to the author/editor of the “So Cal Thunder, When Lions Roared”… book. He was a 19 year old in the spectator stands all day, watching our Willys race and win against all opponents. He was impressed. But, at that 9:00 P.M. final race, he described the huge clutch explosion, sparks under the Willys, a ball of fire racing through the cab and out of the windows. Then he saw the driver door open, more flames following and something falling.

The last vision was the 40 Willys veering toward the spectator’s fence burning and stopping, finally, wedged into the fence with flames coming out of all windows and doors. He will never forget that sight and was giving me chills as he was describing the series of events that took place right in front of where he was sitting.

From the Vintage Scattershield thread:

My brother and I were ready to install the 283 SBC /with 6 Strombergs to the 3 speed LaSalle transmission. It was ready and waiting in the Willys chassis. But, he mentioned that we needed to get one last safety item. A run to Reath Automotive at 10th and Cherry Ave, solved the problem to fit to the rules.

The curved, metal scattershield would bolt on to the bellhousing, while the lower plate would go underneath the housing with the provided brackets. When it was installed, it looked like it would withstand a hand grenade explosion. The modified, floorboard was neatly attached back in place and we were almost ready to go racing.

Jnaki

According to the racers, this was the best scattershield at the time. No one had those full 360 degree housings as yet. Explosions can be powerful… the results were horrifying…

If you raced after 1964 and did not suffer a horrendous blowout, thank Joe Shubeck…

From a previous thread:

...If Joe Schubeck’s invention was around back in 1960, we would still be involved in drag racing for many more years to come. We may have still been in the hot rod industry of some kind. His invention prevented many exploding clutches as strong as the clutch could be made, from flying all over the place. It was able to enclose the remaining parts inside of the 360 degree catch-all metal shield. This was a real “scattershield.”

My hat is off to Joe Schubeck for his ingenious development and that every time I see that red FED, silently, I thank him for saving tons of racers lives from the ravages of exploding clutches and flying metal pieces in all drag race cars. Sorry, you did not invent it in early 1960.

Jnaki

“I had built my own tubular chassis,”explained Schubeck. “that was the first tube chassis in 1958, and then in 1959, I rounded up a bunch of people that wanted them. So, I found myself in business. I called it Lakewood Chassis Company.”

"One of the most difficult pieces to construct was the aluminum transmission bell housing. He knew there had to be a better way to manufacture the part and while visiting a fabrication shop in Cleveland, he learned about a machine called the Hydroform."

"Through persistence and hard work, he developed a die to put in the Hydroform and 20 seconds after the engineer flipped on the machine, Schubeck was holding a gorgeous, seamless, aluminum bell housing. It was a tremendous product. His old friend, Jack Harris knew what it might mean to the industry. Across the country, drag racing was plagued with flywheel and clutch explosions. Chunks of cast iron were flying into the grandstands, blowing cars in half, sometimes proving fatal for drivers and spectators."

“It was obvious that what I needed was to make a bellhousing out of steel,” said Schubeck, “and Jack Harris told me: “If you could make that thing out of steel and it will contain that clutch, you would have a multi-million dollar product on your hands.”

"The catch to developing such a coveted product was that Schubeck was going to have to retire as a driver. He reluctantly stepped away from the cockpit, and the move paid off. Before long, he had two shifts going seven days a week, putting skid loads of new steel bell housings on trucks."


If there are any contacts you may know, photographers that were there in 1960 (April to August), racers, families, drag strip staff, etc. someone may have taken some photos or movies. Please let me know. By the way, after our clutch explosion and resulting fire, the Lions safety committee made it a rule that no aluminum, Moon gas tank(s) would be allowed inside of the cab of any vehicle. Everyone had to move it in front or to the rear of the car.

Our late friend, Atts Ono, (who was instrumental in helping us get our car ready, was in our pit crew, and helped in the immediate tear down after the explosion) moved his Moon tank in front of the motor, out of the cab, in his own 40 Willys build, later.

 

Yes, the same car.

 

Thanks for your reply. Was that a LAKEWOOD or ANSEN scatter shield?
Zane.