History Vintage scattershields.

Big HP and Clutches or even small HP and worn clutch parts have always been enemies. Sometimes clutch explosions can be fantastic or catastrophic depending on where you just happen to be when it happens.




So the question of the day is what companies made scatter shields ( blow proof bell housings) and when.

I know that Ansen made them.


And in my search have found companies like RC or Wedge.






I am not sure when Lakewood hit the market but they make or made tin cans



So help us expand our knowledge, pics are good but info is fine.

 

Perhaps a small, but important point. The Garlits explosion was a transmission,not a clutch

 

I remember reading that just threw the pic in there. I saw an FED cut in half by a clutch/flywheel explosion once a lot time ago.

But here is a fun one that I found after the time of FEDs and single disc clutches.

 

I doubt that a tech in the country would accept this one and I cannot read the info on it but these used to actually lay over your stock bell housing.

 

I think Roy Fjasted (sp) SPE built the first one.

 

That is a neat can. Can I assume that he is holding a removable sleeve in his hand? Good idea. I have never trusted one that has already contained one loose clutch. but I have seen several that obviously had.

 

Beaner, here are the pics from the listing. This shows the info....

 

A band aid will stop the flow of blood too.........but not for long.
Bought my first Lakewood scattershield about 1973/74.

 

Yep there was one listed in our own classifieds a few weeks back cheaper than the other shields, I wasn't afraid of it but it was not worth the risk of not getting on the track.

'75 for me

 

You should like this Beaner, great article from 1968 and related discussion. Pitchers too!
http://www.camaros.org/forum/index.php?topic=7891.0

 

The over lay shields were legal in SCCA racing when I was young. But not at Fremont. The cast steel bellhousings didn't last long either as legal. Either home made steel shields as shown, or the Hydro formed Lakewood type shields were all we could run. This shield was on my '32 when I bought it in '65. PO had a Y block in it It was still accepted for SCTA competition in 2010 behind my Packard V8.

 

You might mean this one beaner.

 

Yes, if i recall HOT ROD did an article about Roy ( or scatterschields) saying the force of the exploding clutch rolling around inside the can caused the bolts too pull out of the block so they went to titanium and never looked back

 

They passed the rule that all stick shift small block Chevys and all solid lift big block Chevys had to have scattershields . My brother had a Lakewood on his 66 427- 425 Corvette in 67. I bought my first one for my C/Mp 57 Nomad in 67. My other brother exploded his flywheel in his 66 Corvette in 68 and his scattershield is still hanging on the wall of his shop to this day to remind every body that he still has all of his toes.

 

All time favorite photo for me. Makes me happy to know I'm a little safer running a scatter shield. I can only imagine this. Then again I don't.

 

Just in case anyone is on the fence whether to spend their money on a scattershield, keep a copy of this photo close by.
When I was 15 my high school pal told the story of his cousin having a clutch explosion just like this. Kind of a "scared straight" moment that still reverberates with me.

 

Thanks for finding that photo. That picture has been stuck in my head for decades. I was trying to find it on net but you were faster.
Makes a case of gout look like a walk in the park.

 

I've seen several cars/drivers that have experienced a clutch/flywheel explosion; really messed up some nice cars, and the drivers all were lucky they were't seriously injured. I just sold my RC Industries scattershield to member "Chris" here on the HAMB, and still have my Ansen (KEEPING!). I sold my aluminum Ansen (RARE!) a couple of years ago, and still have a hydroformed scattershield with the Tri-Five side mounts. Better to have one, and not need it, than to need it, and not have one. I am Butch/56sedandelivdery.

 

I had a friend that bought a brand new Z-28 Camaro in 68 and made 3 payments when the flywheel came apart. The dash looked like the picture of the tri 5 that was posted. They totaled the car. He managed to snag the 302 before the insurance company got it and put it in a 66 Chevy 2 with a scattershield.

 

LOL I almost posted that photo. If you look close near the back of the block it looks like there is some sort of a pump. I no doubt am wrong, but I thought it was interesting.

That's the one.

 

Yes it's been talked about before. There's also this pic out on the net highlighting it.

 

Hey RF,

Nice photo of that steel scattershield. We had one that was also, simple in construction, that was considered legal by the Lions Dragstrip tech committee. It covered part of the bell housing and the bottom part covered the lower end. But, the full coverage was spotty at best. Who knew at the time? No other full surround steel bell housings were available until later in 1960-61. It was solid steel, covered most of the bellhousing and was legal.

To complete the whole set up, it came with a similar plate below, bolting on to the top curved shield. Thus, making it an approximate, 360 shield. It was legal in all associations’ tech inspections and sold everywhere in the parts stores. The Lions Dragstrip tech committee approved it upon our new 671 SBC build and weigh in at the scales for C/Gas.

But, the power of an exploding clutch from extreme horsepower, 292 C.I. 671 powered SBC
blew that shield to bits. When we looked inside of our 40 Willys the next day at while it was still wedged into the fence, that shield was nowhere to be found. The drag strip surface cleaner guys said they did not find any big scattershield parts. There was a huge hole in the floorboard of the Willy’s blackened interior.

What we found were bits and pieces of the original bellhousing and other unknown chunks of metal wedged into the dash, the door panels, and other parts of the interior. The discovery was also in addition to the melted seat frame, the now, gone Moon Tank + Foot Pedal and cracked glass and frames.

Did the scattershield do its job? Well, my brother wore a Bell helmet that protected his head on the jump and rolling in the gravel after the timing lights. So, if the scattershield was not there, it probably would have been worse than it was that evening.

Jnaki

Post 42 and 43:
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/scatter-shields.1020013/page-2#post-11774328

We were in front of Tom Sturm’s race car by 2 car lengths when the clutch let go. We turned a 12:60 e.t. and exploded. Even though we went through the timing finish line first, they gave him the trophy and win. (notice his time slip is recorded at 13.26 to our 12.60) The gas class information was mislabeled in the Drag News. It should have been C/Gas, not B/Gas for the trophy. The article also said it was a C/Altered that exploded, but it was our Willys in C/Gas. The events need to be correct all of these years later.

(Notice the above listing of Doug Cook’s win in A/G, not B/Gas. During this time period, he ran the 37 Chevy in B/Gas and it was not until the SWC days that he ran in A/G.)

There was all kinds of commotion after our Willys was on fire heading for the spectator’s fence. The whole dragstrip was closed for the early evening at 9:30 pm with tons of elimination races to go, including the win streak of the Albertson Olds FED of 12 straight wins. My brother was loaded onto the white ambulance and was taken to the LB Memorial Hospital.

 

In 1961, my buddy and I decided to go racing. A $5 (yes, that's right) '36 5 window coupe and a $15 '41 Merc engine from Carmichel's junkyard in Excelsior, MN provided the basis for our endeavor. A set of used finned heads and a dual carb manifold, and were were ready to race. Our first trip to Minnesota Dragways started with a trip through the "Inspection Process". They informed us that we were lacking a scattershield and safety hubs that the rules required. A quick trip through the "J.C. Whitney" catalog supplied a source for both. IIRC, the scattershield was $17.95 and the safety hubs (the good kind that required a ring to be welded onto the inside of the hub) were even less. A couple of weeks later, we were ready to go. As I remember, the scattershield was made from about 3/16" steel plate and must have been designed for an early flathead, since it fit so well. All in all, we had two years of fun racing in a car that we had less than a $200 investment.

Sorry to be so long-winded Beaner, but like any old fart, I just love telling these old stories. Long story short, our source was J.C. Whitney, although I'm sure it was manufactured by someone else.

Oh yeah, we held the track record in "D/Altered" at 16.44 for almost two years. Then, a couple of assholes from Fargo came down with a '32 coach with a 296" engine with four carbs and lowered it to 14.98. Until then, we got a bunch of trophies for running within 10% of our own "Class record".

 

Hey JG,

Our motor side firewall had a gas line hose set up that connected to a pump motor. Our stock Willys gas tank in the rear was full of water, so we were relying on our 2 gallon Moon Tank that was located inside of the cab. It was legal at the time to have those aluminum Moon Tanks inside. It was very handy and with the pump attached to the tank, pressure was almost instant.

Our Moon Tank set up had a pump and worked quite well. Then the clutch exploded just before the timing lights. That hose was somehow cut on our Willys clutch explosion and the Moon Tank was punctured with flying debris from the clutch, scattershield, and floorboard, causing a massive, in the cab, fire. My brother tried to put it out with one hand on the extinguisher, while driving and braking, but, the fire was too strong. (He jumped out after slowing down to around 60…as the return road racers told us later.)

As handy and cool looking while inside of any race car, these Moon Tanks were dangerous. The tech committee from Lions recognized its dangers. So, after our explosion from the Moon Tank, the installation on all race cars was to move it out of the cab and put it in front or in the trunk. (Sorry, for starting the Moon Tank in front of the grille, oddball look, phase)



Jnaki

Upon looking at the wrecked Willys wedged into the fence at Lions the next day, the Moon Tank was non existent, as was the aluminum foot pedal. The seats had slightly melted frames left and the steering wheel was only metal. The LaSalle floor shifter was bent, parts of the dash/glove box got warped and there were bits and pieces of metal wedged into all surfaces of the interior. Those came from the clutch, bellhousing and scattershield. There was a lot of power going through the clutch and the explosion was just as powerful and destructive.

It took a long time, but my brother survived the fast exit from the Willys and burn recovery, while thinking of what we were going to build next. That took his mind off of the horrendous incident that happened in August of 1960. But, within the next 9 months, he bought a VW Van, started surfing, helped me fix up MY 58 Impala, and finishing school.

 

I have one of these that had the info polished off of it long ago. Now I know what it is so thanks!

 

The article is wrong, First clutch cans were welded, then Frank Huzar (RCS) sought the first hydroformed can when demand of the Donovan welded units could not keep up. Joe Shubeck (lakewood) took over the can deal from RCS as they were more into manufacturing then car building.
Don Long was the first to make liners for the cans, brought about by him making an outside strap for the Shreeve automotive dragster. It was a bunch of work and about 70% done when he came up with the internal can as a simpler way to make it. Had the bands cut & rolled and then welded, Afterwords (the important part) sent them out to be heat treated. The heat treat made them harder then the steel used in the clutches and could not cut thru and get to the aluminum can itself. Other Manuf. copied the idea, but did not go thru the extra step of heat treating and used the material in anealed condition which did allow it to deform and cut thru and into the can. So they got away from the aluminum cans from that point and went with complete steel units and the liner. Roy just copied what was already out there for his own brand

 

COMPLETELY wrong about the use of Ti bolts in bolting the can to the back of the block. Ti is lighter but is equal strength to steel and being a course thread into the block the root dia of the thread would make the situation even worse with Ti because it can be crack sensitive

 

I'm not saying the bolts were titanium just the clutch can itself.

 

Sorry your post did not read like that and Roy was out of the chassis business (Ken Cox bought the name and inventory) way before Ti cans were introduced. The material the can is made of has nothing to do with strength, it has to do with weight, and those that can afford the $3700 for a Ti can, do it for the weight and nothing else. A customer lost the input shaft on his fueler during the burnout, although the clutch did not come out, it did cause the Ti can to deform and CRACK along the flange. Ti cans must be sent back to be inspected every year and re-certified, any issue that cannot be repaired by the manuf, the bottom of the can is cut off if you want it for a display/show car or they keep it and you have to buy a new one. This is done to keep racers from selling a junk can as used on e-bay, sending it in for cert and having it fail/rejected again

 

I remember a scatter shield that was like the bolt on cover over the torque converter that was legal NHRA back in the '60s. I imagine that it is still legal but I have not looked a current rule book. It was hangin' on the wall of my old man's shop when I was a little kid. The reason I recall it was because I asked what it was and the ol man said, "Its a clutch cover." I can still see it in my head. Resembled my current tin can only open at the rear, kind of like a ring that bolted around the bell housing.

@dreracecar I wondered about certification. I knew that if you had a clutch turn loose you were not allowed to use the can again, which makes perfect sense to me. But I always wondered if they were like a seatbelt and could get out of date. Weight wise my can is about as heavy as an aluminum bell housing, probably still lighter than an iron bell but its a heavy muther. Good info.

BTW I appreciate everyone's real world information. Genuine experience beats book learnin any day.