How to setup a Beetle to have engine fall out at 47 mph

keep thinking

I didn't see any earlier post, did you?

To answer the question:

There are several ways to achieve this.

One key question is, does this event need to be repeatable with the same vehicle, or is this a one-time deal? If it's a one time only kind of thing, then we can assume that damage to the vehicle is irrelevant and allowed.

The process can be broken down to individual tasks:

1. how to implement a trigger that would activate at 47mph - where does it get it's input from, and what is it's otput

- input mechanical or electrical?

-output mechanical or electrical?

1. how to make the engine disconnect from the transmission

1. how to sever the fuel line and electrical lines and throttle cable on signal

2. how to take care of safety:

- fuel line shut-off

- preventing electrical shorts inside the car

- probably need to fabricate a rear apron and bumper that would also disconnect and fall out of the way, else the vehicle velocity and direction of travel may be impacted beyond the driver's control.Not to mention orientation: it could flip over if the engine falls out and catches the bumper.

- safety of the viewers or other traffic: how to control where the engine goes after disconnect

1. I'm not sure, but this may result in some legal repercussions if performed on a public road. I'll leave this part up to you.

I'm sure the collective wisdom in this group can find a solution to all of these, and get your project on it's way. I'll get back to it later, this is all I have (company)time for right now.

Jan

1. You could open the speedometer and rig up electric contact points onto the moving parts that hoook up to the needle (all out of sight, for the coolness factor), and once the contacts meet, a circuit closes and you can use the current to operate a relay. The relay would then direct power to.......
2. ....the exploding bolts that hold the engine to the tranny. The kind that jet fighter ejector seats/canopy uses. Same principle.
3. Electrical wire disconnect is easy, just use standard slip-on wire connectors near the firewall, the ends will simply disconnect when pulled. Fuel line disconnect could be a slip-joint with o-rings in between the two tubes, much like modern fuel line connections, but without the clips that secure them in place. Instead, run the lines so the tubes don't have room to separate unless the engine moved out of the way. This would have to be before the pump, where the fuel line enters the engine bay. (Not pressurized). The same trigger that signals the bolts to blow, could be used to activate a fuel shut-off solenoid below the fuel tank. The throttle cable is a bit trickier, I guess mechanical disconnect could be fabricated, allowing the cable to disconnect between the engine and the firewall, in case the engine moved away from the firewall.

4; Fuel shut off: as mentioned above, the trigger in the speedo would also activate an electrical fuel shut off solenoid. Short prevention: Same trigger switch again could be set up to control a relay or two that carry 12V to and from the engine bay. Simple. The rear apron and bumper eject are a bit trickier to do. Hmm. More exploding bolts, because they're so cool? I'm sure it would work, if you prep the apron in advance to be held on by just a couple of bolts. (A common trick many people do anyway). So how to control where the engine goes after it falls off? Maybe a safety cable between the engine and the vehicle would work. The engine would fall off, but follow the vehicle like a dog on a leash. It would fling about like mad of course, but as long as the cable holds, it should travel in the general direction of the vehicle it came from. Oil would most likely escape from it, and that's an environmental hazard. Maybe change the oil to vegetable oil just for this purpose. Not sure how well it would hold up under load in the engine.

Anyway, this is my first stab at it. There are other ways to achieve the same I'm sure.

Hope this helps.

Jan

easy !

back up to a tree, and floor it. Note the point you hit 47. reverse back to that point. Tie a rope round the engine, walk with the rope and tie it to the tree - keeping it tight. Reverse back to the tree and replace the engine mounting bolts with cable zip ties. now floor it as you did before and when you hit 47 the rope will catch and the engine will seperate from the tranaxel :)

Hope this helps !

Rich

I would say just have mario work on it except I doubt if it would get up to 47 mph unless it was behind a tow truck.