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Carnage Photos: One Dead Hemi Courtesy of Nitro, A Connecting Rod Failure, And Mark Rebilas


Carnage Photos: One Dead Hemi Courtesy of Nitro, A Connecting Rod Failure, And Mark Rebilas

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(Photos by Mark Rebilas) -We’ve been on a roll lately with some wild photos of destroyed engines and it was only a matter of time until we would run one that was killed by the ultimate liquid death sauce, nitromethane. This engine mets its end at the NHRA race in Brainerd, Minnesota this year. It was making 8-10,000hp in the front of Bob Bode’s nitro funny car until it wasn’t and the results of that failure are shown here through the lens of bad ass photographer Mark Rebilas. Mark is usually the guy getting the insane action sequences but this is an aftermath deal. While it is all busted and broken, some of the shots of the shrapnel left behind are down right artistic looking.

While most of the reciprocating assembly is complete junk, the block will be welded up and put back into service. If you ever get the chance to check out used nitro engine blocks you’ll be amazed by the amount of patchwork and/or repair that have been done to most of them. Like human beings, nitro race blocks don’t get out of this thing alive. Note the thickness of the block and then think about the forces involved in blowing this massive ass hole in the bottom of it.

Mark’s photos pretty much speak for themselves. The Chevy and RB Chrysler blocks with the bottom blown out are in classes by themselves but this nitro hemi that met its maker is in a price category all its own when compared to the production iron blocks we have showed you before!

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE PHOTOS AND THEN HIT THE LINK TO SEE ALL OF MARK’S AMAZING CAPTURES FROM THE BRAINERD NHRA STOP!

Picture 9 Picture 10 Picture 11 Picture 12 Picture 13

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF MARK’S PHOTOS!


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6 thoughts on “Carnage Photos: One Dead Hemi Courtesy of Nitro, A Connecting Rod Failure, And Mark Rebilas

  1. Milkovich

    Those pan rails are looking pretty gnarly. Even where the rods didn’t go through. The repair would be a story on it’s own.

  2. Paul

    Nitro wasn’t the cause. RPM killed this bullet. It’s the reason all big show cars are killing parts. Super high RPM.

  3. Bobby Leigh

    My buddy Carl, had one of the first Pro-Streeters in eastern Virginia. Beautiful low dollar “66 Chevelle with big block, Turbo 400, and narrowed 12 bolt. He called me to come over cause he had a tap in the motor he was trying to figure out. We took the hood off and listened. It was running good with good oil pressure so we decided to take it out and see how it drove. We went down the road a couple of miles from his house to “let it eat”. We stopped, he nailed it, 6000 grand first gear, 6000 grand second gear, when he went to bump it into high gear, it let go. I saw some peices go by the windshield before it was covered in steam. Carl bumped it into neutral and we were costing down the road at a pretty good clip. You could here parts hitting the road and bouncing up against the floor pan. We were dieing laughing. We drug it back home with my car. There was holes in the block and pan. When we took the carb off, there was a large chunk of piston laying in the plenum. The whole motor was junk except the carb.
    I have busted a few, but that was the best. If you ever meet Carl in Ohio, and he’s missing a finger, tell him I said thanks. The finger is a whole ‘nother story. Bobby Leigh

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