Monday, March 28, 2011

Jackstand Safety II

In the interest of continuing the safety conversation, here is another post from the late Christian K's Dad.... reposted from another forum.

Frankly, I like the pin type stands also.


"Jackstand suggestions...

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until I design my own sailor proof stand... of course, the chosen support point is equally important as well... take a look at these. Keep in mind, a single ratchet six ton stand killed my son, and he had two in place plus a tire/wheel assembly under the rotor on the side the stand dropped. Don't save money on safety!!!

Link: Amazon.com: jack stands: Automotive

See items 4, 7, 11, 50, (60, 63 - kinda like the bases on these and distribution of weight but need to see the steel specs), 67 and 103. Personally, I am liking the pin only stands now as human performance does not enter into the equation. You don't pin it, it doesn't work. The double safety ratchet/pin design requires human performance to put the pin in. Without it, what do you have? A ratchet stand.

Also, I was taught as an engineer that you do your calcs and multiply by seven for safety and certainty. Hence, my suggestion you look at high tonnage capacity stands.

It is a life afterall - maybe yours - put a price on it. To have my son back I'd liquidate all I have and move to a tent.

Frederick Klorczyk, Jr."

Friday, March 25, 2011

Jackstand Safety

This was posted by bimmerforums member "potenza" in response to the safety issue and the tragic death of Christian Klocyzk.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd205/TKDJimi/IMG_0529.jpg

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd205/TKDJimi/IMG_0533.jpg

I am thinking I may build a set. And you? Comments welcome.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

TIME OUT: PUBLIC SERVICE SAFETY MESSAGE FOLLOWUP

I was stunned to receive this post in bimmerforums today, in response to the safety message that we posted recently in bimmerforums and on my other blog. The post is from the father of a young man who was crushed by his car while changing his oil.  He lives in a nearby town.  I had no idea that the father would read my post.  The original post that provoked this response is attached at the end of this post. It includes a link to the local newspaper report of the tragedy.  I have also included a link to the original post in bimmerforums:
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1619552

There is a lot to read here, I know.  It is a heart-breaking story, but it is the reality that we sometimes lose sight of.  Please read it all.

I present the father's post from bimmerforums in it's entirety.  Stay safe, fellas.

---------------------------
"I am Christian Klorczyk's father
Good Day,

I feel that I must respond to this post for the sake of accuracy, the honor of my son and family name and also to attempt to save other lives.
Lynne and I are the parents of three sons, Frederick III, Christian, Parker and our "adopted sons", his twin brother Jordan, Dimitri and Dan - all "carguys".
As stated in the article....
"The 21-year-old died Friday after a BMW he was working on collapsed on him in the family garage. Fred Klorczyk said that a floor jack likely failed while his son (Christian) was under the car changing the oil."

Jeff Johnson did a great job on the article on our son, brother and friend and I thank him for that. Jeff was a true gentleman who talked to us for hours in our darkest times to get an accurate depiction of our son and family. However, and unfortunately we do not have it on tape, nor is Jeff a "gearhead" and doesn't really understand jacks, jackstands and multiple layers of safety. I never said, nor is it accurate to say "that a floor jack likely failed..."

Christian is an experienced mechanic who started working on cars and following Formula 1 when he was a small child. He and our whole family witnessed Ayrton "Magic" Senna die at Tamburello 15 years ago. Yes, Christian was only six at the time and he would wake all of us up at 6:30AM to watch the pre-race show in Italy on satellite.

Christian is a true car guy as are his brothers and friends. My business is in the most safety conscious market in the world - nuclear boats, nuclear ships and nuclear power plants. That mentality is my life - has been since I was a kid engineer out of school. Ask any of my employees how I feel about safety. They have the right to stop any job and call me at anytime as no one is to ever get injured on our jobsites. This naturally carried over to my homelife. By the way, my father was a large machine mechanic by trade and a "gearhead" by avocation. No one would use the wrong tools - we have them all and all are of quality. No one in my garage or driveway would ever go under a car with only a jack of any kind holding it up. The jack elevates the car, jackstands support at proper points while working underneath and the jack is removed to improve accessibility. Period. Block the wheels if necessary. Emergency brake on. Car in gear. A lift would be better but we just were not at that point in our lives yet.

Christian had the right front tire off so that he could shine his double halogen lights on the work area and see clearly. He also had that tire/wheel under the right front rotor as an extra measure of safety as is a habit of ours when possible. He had four ton Craftsman jackstands in use. Two were just bought at Christmas when I sent him to buy a new jack since ours is getting to be five years old. Hydraulic cylinders and seals degrade over time. He didn't buy the jack since he felt what Sears, etc., had were junk so he bought more four ton stands but without safety pins. I did not realize there were redundant safety stands until... it was too late.


Christian was using my father's creeper for the first time. He found the creeper when cleaning the garage over Christmas. When he applied torque to the ratchet handle to break the plug loose, he experienced the law of physics of "equal and opposite reaction". As the plug broke loose, the creeper did also in a direction opposite to the torque vector Christian applied. Some part of Christian's body, some part of the creeper, the mallet beside him, something - we have no video, just supposition and theory... tripped the right front jackstand lever inadvertantly from the underside and a ton of the BMW E46 3 series xi crushed his chest and his right cheekbone. He never took, or could even attempt to take a second breath. Death was immediate and painless. If I were beside him at the time this occurred I could have done nothing to save him. This has been verified by five friends of mine who are doctors. I used the floorjack Christian used to elevate the car to get the car off of him. It was parallel to the car just as he would place it when he removed it from the jackpoint. I had to engage the cylinder with clockwise rotation which tells me Christian removed it per proper procedure. I had the jack underneath and car off him in seconds. Jackstands were under before I crawled from under the valance while Lynne called 911. Lynne came under with me from the wheelwell and had a pulse on his neck. She said he it was strong. I was doing chest compressions and trying to get a verbal response until the EMTs got there. When I heard LIFESTAR waved off over the EMT radios I had a sick, sick feeling.


A critical factor, in my professional engineering opinion, is that the creeper raised his body 3.5" higher than it would have been if he would have been working on the concrete as he was used to. It also raised his head 4.5" higher as there is a foam pillow headrest. Both creeper caster wheels at the head position were sheared from the creeper. I can only wonder that if Christian did not use the creeper would he have had the jackstands that high, would the energy at 9.8 m/sec squared have been decreased to a minimum so that if the freak accident happened he would have been injured less, would the extra measure of the tire under the rotor have saved his life without the extra creeper height, would he be alive today? Only God knows.


Christian is a fine, fine man who was known for his smile, intelligence, passion and willingness to help anyone at anytime... just like all of his brothers and "adopted brothers". The five of them and myself were his pall bearers. He would have it no other way. We were that close.


Also, to my fellow "carguys" and "gearheads", please learn from this tragedy. Scrap your cheapo jackstands... do your research, find the best jackstands there are, use the secondary and tertiary safety factors, do not fall to the temptation of human nature and operator error - use the extra safety factors! It may save your life, or maybe the life of you son. Had I would have known such Christian would be with us today.


Lastly, if you want to drive fast please do not do it on the road. Racetracks are readily available for that adrenaline rush we all crave. Track days with instructors are cheap and you are protected far more than


Godspeed Christian! May you be driving God's Veyron for him.


Please feel free to cut and past this article anywhere you think it may prove valuable to fellow "carguys". I pray that none of you ever suffer such a tragedy. May God Bless you all.




Frederick J. Klorczyk, Jr.
Waterford, CT
fjk143@aol.com
Last edited by FJKII; Today at 05:17 PM.. Reason: typo"




This was my (Tom) response to the father (Frederick):

Amen.
As the father of two grown sons, I can only imagine the sorrow and pain you and your family have experienced the past two weeks. Words fail to capture the depth of sadness we feel at your loss. Please accept my sincere and heartfelt condolences. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us in your beautiful letter.
I posted my original post in several other forums, and, based on some of the responses received, I know Christian's story has been read around the world. Many people now know what a great kid he was, and he may have even saved a life. I know that can in no way make up for his loss, but I hope it is some small consolation to you.
God be with you.

Tom
Niantic
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Here is the original post from 3/14/2011 regarding the tragic accident to which the father responded above:

TIME OUT:  PUBLIC SERVICE SAFETY MESSAGE

This is a great, fun hobby.  But we should never lose sight of the fact that it can be dangerous, and actually lethal.  Please take a moment to read the very sad local story that happened this weekend nearby.

Safety first:  always, always use redundant safety systems when working under a car.  Please. 

NEVER trust a jack.  Chock the wheels.  Use several sturdy jack stands under safe, strong jack points. Watch for weak, rusted areas.  I like to throw a spare tire/rim under an upraised wheel... just to give me that little extra margin of safety, should all else fail.  It happens.

The article below was on the front page of the local paper today.  He was changing the oil on his BMW.  21 years old.  I don't care how strong you are, very few of us can bench press a car off of your chest.  I know I can't.  And I don't ever want that opportunity to prove I can't. 

Waterford man died doing what he loved most

Stay safe.

Monday, March 14, 2011

I hope my project can look like this....

I'd like to do something like this.... same car, same year, same color, same engine.  I even have a set of those euro-style headlights in my basement!

The W115 300D was also known as the 240D 3.0. early in production.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zlr22_HFb8Q&NR=1

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Choosing a used engine

I have been busy with some BMW stuff so I haven't been able to get back to this. My son, Brian, and I have done a little prep work to get the garage space ready for a project. I hit the Harbor Freight Parking Lot Sale today on our way to visit our older son, Andrew, and his wife, Sara. Picked up their 11 drawer tool chest to get a little better organized in the garage.

I am waiting to hear from a guy down state who has the engine I want... It is apparently still in his barn... Waiting for the snow to melt enough so he can get access to it. I will either pick it up with a truck, or he may deliver it for a fee. Six to one, half a dozen to the other.
The other engine I had my eye on .... Still in the vehicle.... I would have to perhaps take the whole car... Which he has largely stripped already, and haul it here from 110 miles away. Much simpler to just have this other guy just drop off the engine. We shall see, stay tuned.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Reconsidering the Rebuild: Is a Used Engine a Better Solution?

After consulting with several rebuilders, I am reconsidering the practicability of rebuilding this engine.  Depending how much work it needs (valves, seal, guides, rings, cylinder sleeves, pistons, gasket set, etc, not to mention possibly reboring and honing the cylinders...) estimates run from $1500 to $3000 and up.  How practical is that for a car whose value is mostly sentimental rather than financial.  After all, this is NOT a Gull Wing Mercedes!  It is a great driving, classic-style car, that is loyally loved and appreciated by the W115 aficionados.  Both of us.  It is not as if it is about to win the Concours D'Elegance at Pebble Beach.

So the question becomes how much is it worth to me to get it into good running condition.  Let us not forget that in addtion to all the mechanical work required here, it will also need some prep and a paint job, as well as some "freshening' of the interior.  Although I haven't really set a budget for this project, it is clear that costs could easily get out of hand here if I am not careful.... and practical.  So I need to consider if I have any alternatives to rebuilding the engine. 

After doing a few searches on craigs list, some possibilities have arisen.  Several people are selling used, low mileage engines for the 300D at the present time, spread a bit over southern New England and New York.  These are all 300D engines from the later series W123, however.  Prices range from $350-1200.  Some adaptability questions arise, obviously:  will this engine fit;  what are the differences between my engine and these later models, etc.  Is it the same glow plug/ignition system, or are these the later versions?  The basic engine is the same (some may be 2998cc vs mine which is 3005cc), and I think that as long as it is a non-turbo engine, it should be pretty close.  Even the turbo version should work,actually, but I don't want to go that route.

So I am presently pursuing those leads for used engines, and I have been in contact with three sellers, so far.  I still need to evaluate which, if any may work best, and which is the best deal, all things considered.  Two are some distance away, one is still in the car, and one can be delivered to my house.   If it is a decent engine at the right price, this is really a no-brainer.  I can do the installation in my garage... a quick and dirty solution, and relatively cheap.

Stay tuned.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Broken Piston Ring in #3 Cylinder

I pulled the rest of the pistons out of the block today.  #3 piston had a broken ring (shown above).  The other pistons appeared OK, again, to the untrained eye.  No other visible damage.  I will need to obtain a micrometer to measure them before deciding if they are still serviceable.  I took the cylinder head to a machine shop today.  They will examine it a let me know if it is still good, and what, if anything, it needs.  I also visited a local engine rebuilder.  Fascinating shop:  he is rebuilding a 12 cylinder Ferrari, a Fiat Racing engine, a 1929 Bentley, a Jaguar 6 cylinder, an Essex, and a bunch of others.  Nice fella from New Zealand, very cool place.