Clamshell popped open at 80 mph...

[TEXAS GT]

I've never seen anyone post about this even though I doubt I'm the only one this has ever happened to.

I was leaving a small car show today (where I won my class naturally:biggrin) and made the mistake of closing my engine cover from the passenger side. It didn't latch on the drivers side and it was jammed, nothing I did would reopen it so I could do it right. Since I was just a few miles from home and it seemed to be very tight on the side that was latched, I decided to drive it there and fix it in my garage. The clamshell had about a one inch opening on the drivers side that I could watch in my sideview mirror and I could keep an eye on the passenger side latch over my shoulder through the back window. No problem.

The problem came a few miles down the road when I got a little overconfident in the one latch. You just can't drive this car down the interstate slowly....it's just not possible. So at 80 mph I suddenly notice a distinct rise in wind noise and a little handling issue. I looked in the side view mirror and the clamshell was now open about 3 inches (my heart started beating a little faster about then). A quick glance at the passenger side latch through the rear window confirmed that the latch had released and the only thing keeping my clamshell from becoming a huge sail was the safety hook you have to push to raise the thing:willy. I exited quickly and was quite pleased to find there was no damage and this time the hood closed correctly.

I'm only admitting my stupidity in the hope that I can save one of you guys from making the same mistake. But if you do, I hope your safety latches work as well as mine.:lol Just picture in your mind the damage that would be caused by the clamshell flying open at high speed.:eek

 

[Jason's Auto Spa]

Wow :eek Glad it didn't do any damage. That clamshell would be up and off in no time if it weren't for the secondary latches. This is also the first I've heard of a clamshell latch jambing. Maybe its happened before and I just missed it (Highly probable)

 

[Daltondavid]

Thanks for sharing that story!! one of my greatest fears with my car is what happened to you. driving home from New York when I bought the car, the Door Open light on the dash would not go out. we opened and closed the doors, even the trunk. turned out it was the clamshell not closed all the way. now anytime I see that light on, I know nine times out of ten, get out and reclose the clamshell or at least press down and listen for the distinctive "Click" and watch that light go off!

 

[Kirby Vieira]

That's a scary thought. Thanks for sharing. :cheers

 

[Empty Pockets]

I've never seen anyone post about this even though I doubt I'm the only one this has ever happened to.

I was leaving a small car show today (where I won my class naturally:biggrin) and made the mistake of closing my engine cover from the passenger side. It didn't latch on the drivers side and it was jammed, nothing I did would reopen it so I could do it right. Since I was just a few miles from home and it seemed to be very tight on the side that was latched, I decided to drive it there and fix it in my garage. The clamshell had about a one inch opening on the drivers side that I could watch in my sideview mirror and I could keep an eye on the passenger side latch over my shoulder through the back window. No problem.

The problem came a few miles down the road when I got a little overconfident in the one latch. You just can't drive this car down the interstate slowly....it's just not possible. So at 80 mph I suddenly notice a distinct rise in wind noise and a little handling issue. I looked in the side view mirror and the clamshell was now open about 3 inches (my heart started beating a little faster about then). A quick glance at the passenger side latch through the rear window confirmed that the latch had released and the only thing keeping my clamshell from becoming a huge sail was the safety hook you have to push to raise the thing:willy. I exited quickly and was quite pleased to find there was no damage and this time the hood closed correctly.

I'm only admitting my stupidity in the hope that I can save one of you guys from making the same mistake. But if you do, I hope your safety latches work as well as mine.:lol Just picture in your mind the damage that would be caused by the clamshell flying open at high speed.:eek

If I remember correctly, it was proposed ORIGIONALLY to have the clamshell open the other way for just this reason.

I've never understood the logic of having it open the way it does. :willy

 

[BlackICE]

The safety latches worked well, as they were designed to do. If they were not there I am sure they would be more than a handful of clamshells flying off of the cars.

I think that headrests should have safety latches too. I was a passenger in a Mustang convertible driving on a highway in big inland of HI. I attempted to adjust my headrest higher by reaching behind my head an pulling up. The headrest was very tight, so I yanked harder, it suddenly decide to move, right out of the seat, high into the air, proceding to land more than 50' behind the car. Luckily it missed hitting the car behind us! A video clip of that would have made America's Funniest Videos.

 

[Mark O]

If there's a plus side to it all, the underhood air circulation would be improved.

 

[Empty Pockets]

If there's a plus side to it all, the underhood air circulation would be improved.

:rofl You're one sick puppy! :rofl :cheers

 

[427Aggie]

Funny Texas but this discussion came up in Detroit. The dual latches were put in place because in the wind tunnel when they canted the table the car was on for a 20 deg crosswind something came off the car??? Hmm what did they say it was..they said the wind tunnel guy told them to get out..he was very upset..oh yea the clamshell flew off and went right into other end of the tunnel

Now there were a couple of Kiwi's (thats what the engineers called them) that had the dubious distinction of testing just how fast you could go with the clamshell open and not have it screw you up..they said popping it at about 120 was all they cared to do because the car started to get a little light....so if they held at 120 I think you were ok

God I loved that rally and the stories from the engineers

 

[tpraceman]

Funny Texas but this discussion came up in Detroit. The dual latches were put in place because in the wind tunnel when they canted the table the car was on for a 20 deg crosswind something came off the car??? Hmm what did they say it was..they said the wind tunnel guy told them to get out..he was very upset..oh yea the clamshell flew off and went right into other end of the tunnel

Now there were a couple of Kiwi's (thats what the engineers called them) that had the dubious distinction of testing just how fast you could go with the clamshell open and not have it screw you up..they said popping it at about 120 was all they cared to do because the car started to get a little light....so if they held at 120 I think you were ok

God I loved that rally and the stories from the engineers

sounds like a challenge:banana anyone for 125:biggrin

 

[Silverbullitt]

I ALWAYS gently lift at the front of the rear wheel opening on both sides after thinking I have closed the clamshell.

 

[Mark06GT]

I took my GT to the local drag strip last summer (my first and only attempt at drag racing). Everybody naturally wanted to see what was inside, so I had it opened up while we were waiting in line. When my turn came, I quickly closed everything and drove off to the line. My light turned green and I hit the gas. A dash light came on about 1/3 of the way down the track. I was worried that I had broken something, but it turned out to be the door light. My first panicked thought was the clam shell, so I lifted off the gas just in case. Then I noticed the front hood flapping up and down on its safety catch. With a quick thank you to Ford for putting the hinges in the front, I floored it:biggrin. Ever since then, I always double check my hatches.

I did have the clam shell get jammed once when I was showing the car to a guy who claimed to be a "real car guy". I should have known something was wrong after he tried to force his side of the clamshell open without looking for the safety latch. (If something doesn't open easily it just means you have to pull really hard, right?) After we got done looking at the engine, he slammed the clamshell down hard from the passenger side before I had a chance to push on my side.:mad It must have been angled pretty well when it hit the latch because the driver's side latch completely missed its hook and got wedged pretty tight.

 

[paul b]

At least you know how to unstick it now

 

[Neilda]

Glad nothing major happened! :eek

I would imagine that apart from the too hideous to imagine damage that would be done, there's a risk that the 'air-dam' created by the clam opening at speed could run you off the road too.

My shell sticks from time to time - it's when I don't exert pressure on the center to shut it, shutting it just from the drivers side for example. When I go to shut the passenger side, it won't budge, nor will it open. However sliding my fingers through to the catch to release it, fixes it. I think it's because the clam skews to one side very slightly when not centered - if that makes sense.

Good catch for us all though to check those fasteners.

 

[GFORCE]

Had a bad safty latch?

Ive had my clamshell close off center,It was when i was not paying attention.
Talking to someone while closeing it.And having a bad latch, thank god for
the #2 working.Cost was about 70$ 4 1,got another 4 back up.Had trunk
open at 120,it just raised up 1 inch when i slowed.It was the square latch.
I thought i did't close it right but on further inspection the 2 bolts that hold
the latch were lose.

 

[kmillen]

Now there were a couple of Kiwi's (thats what the engineers called them) that had the dubious distinction of testing just how fast you could go with the clamshell open and not have it screw you up..they said popping it at about 120 was all they cared to do because the car started to get a little light....so if they held at 120 I think you were ok

God I loved that rally and the stories from the engineers

Why is it always the New Zealanders/ "Kiwi's" that are considered the crazy ones?

I am not sure if any one noticed it on our car but we actually drilled a hole through our clam shell and installed some quick release pins because we were a bit concerned about this very thing. With the windy/hilly roads in New Zealand the last thing we wanted was for the clamshell to pop up as we were already getting light over a brow. It looks really bad and I would not recommend anyone else do it but our car is dedicated to function not necessarily form.

 

[THamonGT]

Small World. While at a car show with my GT Sat. a new owner was about to leave the show and slammed his clam shell from the Drivers side and jammed it badly. He yelled at me to come and see if there was a defect in the clam shell ( I always get those questions as a Dealer) or what (he had owned this car for one week). I got it un-wedged on one side and told him to never close it from one side and to ALWAYS CLOSE IT FROM THE CENTER OF THE FRONT OF THE CLAM SHELL OR FROM THE REAR WITH BOTH HANDS FIRMLY IN THE CENTER. Closeing from one side will get you into trouble with the clam shell as well as the front hood. Driving with the clamshell hooked on the safety hooks will cool your engine quickly but is a little dangerous! Tomyps We forget sometimes how little new owners know about their GT's and their workings.

 

[soroush]

Small World. While at a car show with my GT Sat. a new owner was about to leave the show and slammed his clam shell from the Drivers side and jammed it badly. He yelled at me to come and see if there was a defect in the clam shell ( I always get those questions as a Dealer) or what (he had owned this car for one week). I got it un-wedged on one side and told him to never close it from one side and to ALWAYS CLOSE IT FROM THE CENTER OF THE FRONT OF THE CLAM SHELL OR FROM THE REAR WITH BOTH HANDS FIRMLY IN THE CENTER. Closeing from one side will get you into trouble with the clam shell as well as the front hood. Driving with the clamshell hooked on the safety hooks will cool your engine quickly but is a little dangerous! Tomyps We forget sometimes how little new owners know about their GT's and their workings.

Hi Tommy

I met the fellow youre talking about, he also has a black no stripe car, we missed you at the nifty fifties event on the north side of town, there was a blue white and a red white car there as well, ,Btw those hand prints in the back of his clamshell must have been yours.:biggrin:cheers


now for the clamshell opening that would be very scary, I had the hood on my old mustang come up on me, It flipped completely backwards and broke the windshield, ruined the cowl area, and put a nice dent on the roof, not to mention, scared the s--- out of me.:frown

 

[roketman]

According to gt rich ,the ford gt team did some testing in regard to the clam shell safety latches .They released the interior latch at 120mph to be sure the 2 safety hooks held.

 

[Mark McGowan]

Jeff Walsh (kiwi) was doing the driving, I (American) was in the passenger seat pulling the clamshell latch at our APG VDA. We started at 50 mph and just kept upping the speed. We stopped at 120 mph as the rear started to get light. It is more dramatic if the clamshell is latch first and then open at speed (not recommended). Did the test severial times with no issues. Latches held up well.