I've come to the conclusion I have to make one this year because I fear for my legs. I doubt any tech will check me, but I figure the NHRA rules are a good way to start when looking at what will hold up.

Thus far I know
1) 1/4 thick steel
2) 360* around the tranny

what else? How far back past the bellhousing should the shield go? Do I need to bend the entire piece of steel around in a bellhousing shape, or will chop/angle/weld/repeat work to get the 360* around?

Thanks for any help. Some pics of some homemade SS's would be great from you guys

 

i think it has to be one peice, but i am not 100%

 

According to General Regulations Section 2:10, on a RWD car it should be one piece. Must also extend 1 inch forward of the flywheel, and 1 inch to the rear of the rotating components of the clutch and pressure plate. May not be bolted to either the engine or the bellhousing.

 

yup for your rwd miata it'll need to be one piece ... damn thats a ballin' miati running those times

edit: oh yeah on my 2005 Guiness Book of World Records, the Miata is the most favorite japanese car around the world ...

greg

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by old guy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">According to General Regulations Section 2:10, on a RWD car it should be one piece. Must also extend 1 inch forward of the flywheel, and 1 inch to the rear of the rotating components of the clutch and pressure plate. May not be bolted to either the engine or the bellhousing.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Cant be bolted to the bellhousing? How do these attach then? I've saw pictures of one for the tranny that cost $400 here:


It looks as if it bolts to the bellhousing/engine via the bellhousing bolts. THat isnt legal? Does it have to bolt to the body of the car?

EDIT: PS, I'm just not willing to pay $400 for a piece of bent steel in case you guys are wondering why I dont just buy that. $200 *perhaps*, but $400 is a bit steep....

 

Hey brian, this is Andy in TN. I was wondering the same thing on the tranny shield and I always thought the alternative to a steel shield was a scatter kevlar blanket. Anyone else know if that would work.

 

Andy, whats going on man. I saw your name in my phone the other day and thought to myself "I need to call him and ask how his car is running", then I forgot lol

Yeah there is the blanket option, however from what reading I did it looks like those blankets are form fitted to trannies? (Is this right?)

There are several turboII scatter shield options, however they are all &gt;$400, and I'm not even sure one would fit in the smaller confines of a miata with that tranny...(and its most deffinalty NOT worth gambling $400 to find out!) There is also one from australia that is rated at SFI 4.1 or something like that. It cost $500.

H-T, is there a generic blanket that is usable? Every wrap around I've found has been a "fits X transmission"

 

Golden Eagle makes a very nice B and H series scatter shield that bolts to the transmission, and it is legal, so it must be alright for a FWD to bolt to the tranny whereas the RWD cars have to have it bolted to the tunnel.

 

The shield pictured would not be legal under NHRA rules, if it attaches via the bellhousing to block bolts. (It looks like it does.) Only an SFI approved bellhousing, that replaces the stock one, can be attached that way. I checked with my sources, , and they explained it this way; If the homemade shield attaches via the bellhousing bolts, and the stock bellhousing comes apart, the bolts that hold the bellhousing (and the shield) could become loose. Then the shield is compromised.

FWD shields can be attached to the engine, though. The rotating mass of the clutch assembly on a FWD car is much less than a RWD car, so that's the reason for the different rules.

 

Jim,
The problem with the Honda tranny set-up is that the stock bellhousing is not replaceable. We made our scatter shield for a company a few years back that had the design SFI approved, so when I spoke with some of the people from NHRA, they told me that the design would be fine for now. I would like to get more info as to how to get an SFI approval rating on our shields. Any info you can send me would be great Jim. Hope all is well, keep in touch.
Vince Tiaga
Golden Eagle Mfg.
Bergenholtz Racing
Mazdaspeed Racing

 

Just to let you all know, our scatter shields are NHRA accepted and will be honored at any NHRA event or track

 

Vince, there is no SFI spec for FWD scattershields at this time. My sources tell me that SFI is not working on one because no one has indicated a real need for it. My sources also confirm that the Golden Eagle FWD shield is NHRA accepted.

 

So then what I want to do is to bend a piece of 1/4 steel to fit as close to flush as possible in the transmission tunnel, have some bolts somewhere to bolt the sheild to the body? It also has to be 360* around? How is that accomplished without welding since even if one were to bend the entire 360*, there would still be 1 spot where it wasnt connected (imagine bending a circle...there is still that spot where the two ends come together...)

Also, if it is to be a bent piece does that mean I'll have to slip it over the tranny, lift it into the car bolt up the tranny then bolt up the scatter shield? Or can I bend an upside down U shape for on top, bolt that to the chassis, then have another U on the bottom that bolts to the top U? (similiar to the red/orange piece I posted a pic of, though have it bolt to the chassis instead of the bellhousing bolts) I just dont see how to make a 360* setup that is even remotely close to managable to install w/ the tranny...

Thanks guys