You got to be kidding?

[Lew Silverman]

Sorry to get back to the original topic..................

When the NHRA mandated that a "tether" be installed on bolt-together collectors they included a single product from one manufacturer as their "approved" solution to a problem which most people (not ALL people) agreed needed correcting. Had they included the statement "OR OTHER APPROVED DESIGN" when the original rule was published, they wouldn't have had to go back and correct it.

That being said, has there been any research into what actually fails that allows the collector to detach itself from the header? Would it not be possible to have the tabs which are welded to both collector AND header break and cause the problem? The two current designs of tether's that meet the NHRA's criteria seem to prevent the collector from breaking loose from the vehicle, whatever the reason for that malfunction might be. Maybe if the Tech Committee had published a notice that a problem existed and asked for a solution from those of us who work on these vehicles everyday, a great deal of the confusion that now exists might have been avoided.

"Build a better mousetrap, and the World will beat a path to your door!" - Ralph Waldo Emerson