'You bend it, you mend it' - Piper sues Hales

'You bend it, you mend it' - Piper sues Hales

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Podie

Original Poster:

46,630 posts

274 months

Friday 18th January 2013
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Seems David Piper is suing Mark Hales for blowing the engine on his 917...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/9808987/Y...

... is there more to this than meets the eye?

hornetrider

63,161 posts

204 months

Friday 18th January 2013
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I would guess only one person knows what really happened - the guy behind the wheel.

HustleRussell

24,602 posts

159 months

Friday 18th January 2013
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Surely Mr. Hales can simply pay a comparatively small fee to have the condition of the gearbox assessed, proving that it was the cause of the over-revv? (assuming it was, but in actual fact probably wasn't)

SuperchargedVR6

3,138 posts

219 months

Friday 18th January 2013
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How did they know it revved to 8200rpm? Does a car that old have an ECM?

HAB

3,632 posts

226 months

Friday 18th January 2013
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SuperchargedVR6 said:
How did they know it revved to 8200rpm? Does a car that old have an ECM?
917 rev counter will have a tell-tale needle:


MartG

20,619 posts

203 months

Friday 18th January 2013
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SuperchargedVR6 said:
How did they know it revved to 8200rpm? Does a car that old have an ECM?
Tell-tale needle on the tacho probably

Podie

Original Poster:

46,630 posts

274 months

Friday 18th January 2013
quotequote all
MartG said:
SuperchargedVR6 said:
How did they know it revved to 8200rpm? Does a car that old have an ECM?
Tell-tale needle on the tacho probably
If an engine blows, does can it over-rev as it lets go? (I have no idea)

HustleRussell

24,602 posts

159 months

Friday 18th January 2013
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Podie said:
If an engine blows, does can it over-rev as it lets go? (I have no idea)
Not without an increase in throttle or a clumsy downshift over-speeding the engine through the drivetrain. A gearbox issue, however (missed gear, jumped out of gear etc) would suddenly unload the engine and it would rapidly speed up even if the throttle position remained constant.

Ozzie Osmond

21,189 posts

245 months

Friday 18th January 2013
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What a pair of clowns! Spending money on lawyers will only increase the cost dramatically. It's a classic case that they should pay half each just to get rid of the thing. But I guess no-one's keen to shell out £20k for a short day out.

However, the real question is whether Piper can prove a full "you bend it, you mend it" agreement and that the £2,000 deposit wasn't the maximum recoverable.

slinky

15,704 posts

248 months

Friday 18th January 2013
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HustleRussell said:
Podie said:
If an engine blows, does can it over-rev as it lets go? (I have no idea)
Not without an increase in throttle or a clumsy downshift over-speeding the engine through the drivetrain. A gearbox issue, however (missed gear, jumped out of gear etc) would suddenly unload the engine and it would rapidly speed up even if the throttle position remained constant.
yes

We've had a clutch pack failure in a lenco lead to a massive over rev as the loaded engine is the free to spin.

Imagine working hard to undo a bolt with a spanner, then it suddenly lets go.. That energy has to go somewhere!

mini1380cc

2,944 posts

170 months

Friday 18th January 2013
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HAB said:
917 rev counter will have a tell-tale needle:

Whenever I see the tell tale needle i think of Days of Thunder.

mrmr96

13,736 posts

203 months

Friday 18th January 2013
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You'd think that the journalist would have insurance to cover this kind of thing?

slinky

15,704 posts

248 months

Friday 18th January 2013
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mrmr96 said:
You'd think that the journalist would have insurance to cover this kind of thing?
Accident damage, yes.. Mechanical failure, unlikely..

Ozzie Osmond

21,189 posts

245 months

Friday 18th January 2013
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mrmr96 said:
You'd think that the journalist would have insurance to cover this kind of thing?
I imagine insurance would cover a crash but not mechanical failure.

Tankslider

833 posts

222 months

Friday 18th January 2013
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There is more to this. He wasn't driving it for giggles, and he is about as well qualified to drive something like that as a journalist comes.

Very sad that it has ended up in court.

RicksAlfas

13,354 posts

243 months

Friday 18th January 2013
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It's a shame as both guys (in my eyes) seem very respectable gents who I imagine know each other well and should be able to sit down and talk about it.

As an aside what happens in historic racing where it's often a guest driver racing (and pranging) someone else's very expensive car?

SuperchargedVR6

3,138 posts

219 months

Friday 18th January 2013
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HAB said:
SuperchargedVR6 said:
How did they know it revved to 8200rpm? Does a car that old have an ECM?
917 rev counter will have a tell-tale needle:

Aha! Thanks!

HustleRussell

24,602 posts

159 months

Friday 18th January 2013
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RicksAlfas said:
As an aside what happens in historic racing where it's often a guest driver racing (and pranging) someone else's very expensive car?
That's exactly the scenario 'bend it, mend it' was invented for. Certainly I wouldn't consider lending my car to anyone who couldn't afford to either insure it or fix it, and I would never consider lending a car to anyone with whom I'd need more than a 'gentleman's agreement' with. Mine is only a cheap car but the logic still applies.

ETA: It's always a little more complicated around mechanical failure though, because the argument will always exist- was the part 'due' a failure, was the car ill-prepared? Or was the failure caused by careless driving? As Ozzy Osmond said, you'd hope that in this instance they could reach a compromise, based on when the engine was last rebuilt- at the end of the day, it's a highly tuned competition engine and it has a finite life between rebuilds, there is a risk every time it is run.

Edited by HustleRussell on Friday 18th January 12:32


Edited by HustleRussell on Friday 18th January 12:37

GC8

19,910 posts

189 months

Friday 18th January 2013
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I wouldnt describe Mark Hales as a 'journalist'. He is an extremely experienced racer who now writes too.

TA14

12,722 posts

257 months

Friday 18th January 2013
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HustleRussell said:
RicksAlfas said:
As an aside what happens in historic racing where it's often a guest driver racing (and pranging) someone else's very expensive car?
That's exactly the scenario 'bend it, mend it' was invented for. Certainly I wouldn't consider lending my car to anyone who couldn't afford to either insure it or fix it, and I would never consider lending a car to anyone with whom I'd need more than a 'gentleman's agreement' with. Mine is only a cheap car but the logic still applies.
I would doubt that. Either you invite someone to race your car and enjoy the benefits and liabilities or don't invite them.
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