tin-man needs some advice.......

[Silverback51]

Originally Posted by tin-man

waaa, so if one of those springs snaps the throttle can get stuck? Wow, this seems like a poor design considering the consequences of a stuck throttle, so what are the alternatives to those small springs, hydaulics? John, AKA tin-man

No, the failure of one spring will not cause a stuck throttle.

I'm an engineer, so that means I tend to overdesign things, and I believe in redundancy.

[tin-man]

John, is there a better option than springs that can be considered as being best design to suit the application? I may sound like a novice here and I give way to the experience of the Club Members, but looking at the pictures you provied it sure looks like a flimsy option paticularly if your life depended on it. just sayin. John, AKA tin-man

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by tin-man

John, is there a better option than springs that can be considered as being best design to suit the application? I may sound like a novice here and I give way to the experience of the Club Members, but looking at the pictures you provied it sure looks like a flimsy option paticularly if your life depended on it. just sayin. John, AKA tin-man

You have a quarter inch of fiberglass protecting you on your door side (where the SUV is going to hit you in the intersection). John's three carb springs are the least of your worries....

[tin-man]

patrickt, never happen, I will be mounting a modified anti tank missile on the back of my Cobra that is fused for proximity threats. The SUV will never know what hit it. Can we get back to the topic of what caused the throtle to stick? tin-man

[Silverback51]

Originally Posted by tin-man

John, is there a better option than springs that can be considered as being best design to suit the application? I may sound like a novice here and I give way to the experience of the Club Members, but looking at the pictures you provied it sure looks like a flimsy option paticularly if your life depended on it. just sayin. John, AKA tin-man

Okay, you are approaching being borderline paranoid, or possibly jerking my chain. Not sure which.

Springs work fine. They have for over 70 years that I'm aware of, so don't worry about. In my 43 years of driving (I'm 59 now) I only had one instance where the throttle hung open. In that case it was a 66 Chevelle with an L88 in it. The motor mount broke and the engine torque twisted the motor enough that it stuck. During that time, I have had a lot of performance vehicles and only one issue.

And like I said, 99% of the "Throttle Stuck" stories are because the driver phucked up.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Silverback51

Okay, you are approaching being borderline paranoid, or possibly jerking my chain. Not sure which.

No, he's not jerking your chain. Now if it was me, I'd be jerking your chain. I'm even willing to go out on a limb and say that 99.9% of "stuck throttle" claims are bogus (not counting floor mats that creep on the accelerator pedal).

[tin-man]

Originally Posted by Silverback51

Okay, you are approaching being borderline paranoid, or possibly jerking my chain. Not sure which.

Springs work fine. They have for over 70 years that I'm aware of, so don't worry about. In my 43 years of driving (I'm 59 now) I only had one instance where the throttle hung open. In that case it was a 66 Chevelle with an L88 in it. The motor mount broke and the engine torque twisted the motor enough that it stuck. During that time, I have had a lot of performance vehicles and only one issue.

And like I said, 99% of the "Throttle Stuck" stories are because the driver phucked up.

and neither am I approaching paranoia, I am taking your hypothesis that the spring could have failed and held the throttle open and making an observation of that application and asking, what I consider is a very reasonable question, was there a better method that would not result in a failure brought about by stress and a hydraulic piston came to mind actuated electronically by the pressure of the accelerator. As you should know springs are subject to lateral stresses and fatigue, that in time can cause failure whereas a hydraulic set up would eliminate that. You see John, you are not the only engineer reading these threads and not to put a fine point on it I have been in the machine business for over fifty years where I have seen the transition from spring applications to controlled hydraulics to support a design feature. Maybe this concept is beyond the scope of the generally accepted automotive sciences, or is not economically feasible for mass production, but if my life could be in jeapardy based on the failure rate of a spring then I would want to consider another option, that's all and thus I threw out the question since maybe someone has done this already? However, that said, maybe this is not the right place to discuss design parameters, so lets move on. Cheers, tin-man

[patrickt]

TM, here's a shot of my carb set up with the turkey pan removed. You can see my dual springs. For a failure to take place, there would have to be a simultaneous failure of both springs -- unlikely. What's more likely is that one breaks and I don't notice it; then a while later, the second one breaks. That's an interesting aspect because it underscores two important points when it comes to our Cobras: 1) You must give your car a "pre-flight inspection" before you drive it; and 2) You have to be particularly aware of your car. A new sound, smell, or feel must be investigated because your car is trying to tell you something (like "dang, my throttle pedal sure feels easier to push today than it did yesterday, oh well, WTF, I'm just going for a hard drive and not think about it...." )

[Silverback51]

I'm done with this subject.

[tin-man]

Thank you John I apprecaite all what you have said. Remember I am a newbie and am arguably getting a very powerful car and wanted the benefit of experienced drivers like yourself to answer some of my questions. Again thanks, and have a great weekend. tin-man

[tin-man]

patrickt, outstanding, the visuals tell the tale exactly, thank you. I particularly appreciate your commentary about the preflight check, awesome analogy. You can be assured these two puppies will always be checked before I ever go for a ride. Cheers tin-man.