rolled my GTV-6, check your wheels

[Samir Shah <gofast@xxxxxxx>]

Well, after many years of pushing it, I finally crashed the GTV-6 at
Lime Rock, yesterday, coming off the downhill. No damage at all to me,
not even scratches, and the car actaually does not even look too bad. At
no point did the body or roof touch the roll cage, attesting to the
strength of the basic structure. Its been a great car & a lot of fun,
and I'm bumming a bit due to the investment that I'd made to make this
car reliable, but, oh well...

Why it happened is the scary part: the left rear Ronal A1 15x7 wheel
decided to shear along the Os, separating into 2, and leaving the hub
portion bolted on, while under power as I was accelerating out of the
downhill onto the straight. The car then became a trike, the turning
radius widened, and the car rolled when it reached the sand alongside
the track. I remember thinking oh, shit, I have a flat.

I will be promtly discarding the rest of my Ronals, and I'd urge any of
you that drive on the track to get your wheels magnafluxed (I think
thats the process, right?). Carroll Smith recommends this in one of his
books, and I ignored this advice.  From the color of the metal at the
breaks, it looks like this has been in the works for a while, since only
some of the aluminium was shiny & fresh. with a decent amount being
darker and corroded, and very suspect.

At this point, I'm not sure whether Im going to get it repaired, part
out the car & sell the parts, or move everything to another car. If I
decide to sell the parts, I will post once I remove everything.

In the meantime, check your wheels. I dont think I will ever be buying
used wheels again. And get AAA-plus!

Samir.

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