lucky to be alive really..

[Alex J]

ok..

as most of you are aware i was involved in what i can only discribe as a near fatal collision on sunday around 12pm, i had the nova cleaned and stopped at the bp garage near mine and tanked up
i saw a few pals in there who said they were going to a small car meet down southend seafront of witch i thought, fuck it, ill tag along..

what happened next i could make up.

i left the petrol station, and started driving up the a127 towards southend, wasnt being a clown,about to change from 3rd to 4th, then suddenly there was a massive bang, the car pulled straight into the offside kurb at about 50/55mph, witch by then was to late, i hit it , snapped the other wheel off (track rod..tie bar, unsure yet) and carried on acosss both lane into a ditch, no brakes, nothing, nothing i could do, hit the ditch, foward barrel rolled 10/15 ft in the air from what people saw, and landed upside down on a concrete side of a pumping station in a ditch, crushing the roof down to my head and knocking me out.

when i came around the engine was still running, and i was upside down covered in clarrot , i reached for the keys, turned it off , and saw gallons of fuel pouring over the car, unclipped my belt (yes i was wearing one for once) fell on the roof and dragged myself out the passenger rear window.
helped by passers by and a few friends who saw the thing

once out i just stood there in total shock at what happened at such a slow speed so fast, and everything going through my head, if anyone was with me they would have been crushed to death, i take my daughter, and missus in this, and was going to that afternoon.

many people saw what happened , i wasnt speeding , being a dick etc, something snapped , broke and casued the crash, almost cost me my life, and people around it

id like to thank essex fire and rescue for putting the fire out after it caught alight, southend nhs staff for looking after me, and essex police who have the car in for investigation work, there is mention the car had streched tyres on the rear, but neither popped or came of the rim so not the cause. im lucky to be alive

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xat1/v/t1.0-9/13051573_1019736491435940_1769745131437987008_n.jp g?oh=f9e2227f5acf2dd60308a8921abea455&oe=57B89BFE
https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xta1/v/t1.0-9/13062390_1161250983938805_4175470961519984336_n.jp g?oh=e38779c0f2a3917bf844e541b1f04bd3&oe=57BE2024

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xat1/v/t1.0-9/13055446_10207423545281047_1806219581544865286_n.j pg?oh=0b4873a44f9fc4057c989103802a6977&oe=57B0C6BE

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xta1/v/t1.0-9/13010840_10207423550321173_628698214401699450_n.jp g?oh=7cbd9dea465d940411059fd56c804fad&oe=577270BB

[8valve-craig]

Glad to hear nobody was hurt. I am genuinely interested to see what broke and why.

[Alex J]

Glad to hear nobody was hurt and am genuinely interested to see what broke and why.from what i can see it looks like the tie bar snapped possibly pulling the drivers wheel into the arch, hence making me go into the driver kurb, bouncing off, and straight towards the ditch

[8valve-craig]

An original tie bar? The solid cast GTE ones or a home made set?

[Alex J]

An original tie bar? The solid cast GTE ones or a home made set?solid gte ones

[Plug]

Glad your all ok mate not sure I can say the same about the motor but you walked out of it, which is better that what happened on our bloody push bike!

ive had a tie bar snap before it's not a nice feeling at all, luckily I was only doing 30 and just slid along the road.

Reshell?

[millworm]

Glad your ok mate, sounds like engine might have had it running upside down

[Iain]

Good news you're OK sir.

[ABoresta]

Oh my! Glad your ok!

[Stuart]

You never piss about doing stuff do you!
Glad you're ok.

[Edd]

Glad you're OK

That looks nasty

[NovalutionGSi]

bloody hell. you are lucky to be alive that is for sure.

Sad to see a Nova in such a mess.

[Andy]

Good to see your ok mate.soon as i saw the pics of wheels pointing opposite way i thought summats gone on that to cause that.

[brainsnova]

Both my tie bars snapped on seperate occasions luckily nothing as serious as this. I'm also glad nobody else got hurt and that you make a quick recovery

[BRoadGhost]

Whoa never hear of tie bars sheering; I guess like driveshafts that fail, the weak point starts from the centre.

More of a reason to oversize with a RJ & tube I suppose.

[88ESR]

I'm glad you were able to walk away from that...

There'll be other cars but you don't get many chances like that one.....

[Shamish82]

Glad to hear your ok. Take it easy

[Benn]

Even worse when you say what happened. Very scary. Glad you're ok and it was only you in the car!

Makes me think we all need roll cages.

[meritlover]

Makes me think we all need roll cages.

...or just stronger tie-bars.

[torquey]

Scary stuff glad you got out alive shame about the car.

[bazzap8389]

Looks like a bad one mate. Glad you got out of that one ok!

[marc69]

Saw this and some petty comments on facebook. Looks very scarey and like everyone, glad you got out ok and no-one else was injured. Scarey scarey stuff.

From a selfish curious point of view (I rely on my Nova and do driving all over the country on all types-mainly busy-roads). Is it likely the tie bar snapping is helped by bigger wheels/tyres putting more pressure on everything or can it be just as likely on standard 145 tyres? Running a roughish high mileage B reg as the daily makes mine a very old example and probably more prone?

[Iain]

I wouldn't panic about the tie bars Marc.

I've heard of them snapping but only high power turbos and stuff.

[TOZNOVA81]

Its fucking scary when shit like that happens!
Tie bar snapped on my old nova when I was about 17 and I ended up pretty much like that, rolled 3 times and ended up back on its wheels, doing about 45 mph but was cornering with a car full of people!
We all walked away from that with only one injury to my mate, who as it rolled his arm hit the road and it took all the skin off down his right forearm.
Glad you walked away from that with no serious injuries, someone was watching over you on that one.

[Plug]

I wouldn't panic about the tie bars Marc.

I've heard of them snapping but only high power turbos and stuff.

ive had one snap in the past on my 1.4sr

[Southie]

Glad to read your on the mend Merris, looks bloody terrible.

[wwmnw]

Glad you're alright fella, I also have never heard of a tie bar snapping and causing something as serious as this!

[Jonesfach]

Glad you are ok
driveshafts cv joint snapping would make a loud noise??
a tie bar would not make as much noise would it?? Just thinking aloud!

[Jeff16v]

You're alive and intact and that's the best bit.

Gutted the nova died but it held together enough for you to get out.

[ellis_12345]

scary stuff
glad you are still here to tell the tale :) could have been a lot worse

[paul james]

I'd not heard about tie bars breaking before either. A mix of good luck and bad luck I suppose. Good that it happened with nobody else getting hurt and the Nova held together pretty well considering and kept you mostly intact too. Bad that it happened at all of course.

[millworm]

This was on a 1.2 saloonhttp://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj141/millworm95/2016-04-19%2023.46.02_zpslxovjs8n.png (http://s271.photobucket.com/user/millworm95/media/2016-04-19%2023.46.02_zpslxovjs8n.png.html)

[Stuart]

I guess they are getting to an age where their condition needs a bit more than a simple "ohh one piece" look.

[peester]

Sorry to hear this, glad you're ok though.

[millworm]

I guess they are getting to an age where their condition needs a bit more than a simple "ohh one piece" look.

Hit everything with a hammer, works for me

[jimbob-mcgrew]

i know its crap standing back looking at a wrecked car that youve spent days/weeks on, and X amount of money, but i wouldnt worry, its just metal and plastic at the end of the day, it can always be replaced. unlike a leg, or a spine, or a life.

ya lucky man, coulda gone alot worse. :thumb: :cheers:

[Benn]

I guess they are getting to an age where their condition needs a bit more than a simple "ohh one piece" look.

Dipping them to chrome prob hasn't helped mine then...

[millworm]

It's why I'm not a fan of using heat to get bushes out as it weekens the metal

[Alex J]

after all that the ball joint was to blame! i have the car back!!

[Plug]

You reshelling then buddy ?

[marc69]

after all that the ball joint was to blame! i have the car back!!

I assume there was no sign play in the ball joint at the MOT?