Dont get me wrong - some people - make that alot of people do it - does it make it right? if doing something unsafe and getting away with it makes it right? nope!

The bottom line is there is a bomb in every single stock drum 727 out there. the part that explodes is the drum, you can dance with the devil your whole life and win, or tomorrow might be your time -

WHY RISK IT?

It could go through your body and kill you... is that really worth it?
just to say you can do it?

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Dont do STUPID SH***T... and 1 is letting off the
pedal in low gear at high RPM... I believe its 13.5K
for that stock drum to over rev and blow
EDIT
and when you let off at high evs it blows the sprag
and then it turns 2.2 times the engine

"Dont do STUPID SH***T... and 1 is letting off the
pedal in low gear at high RPM... I believe its 13.5K
for that stock drum to over rev and blow
EDIT
and when you let off at high evs it blows the sprag
and then it turns 2.2 times the engine"

That pretty much sums it up.

If a drum blows, it is because on either that run, or shortly before, someone did something dumb or made a mistake and never checked it. The sprag doesn't turn by itself. DJV, To insunuate that us old timers who have been using pretty much stock Torqueflites since Moby Dick was a minnow are either too stupid to know better or are spitting in the eye of the reaper is insulting. We just take issue with your statement. I'm pretty sure that I speak for all of us when I tell you that if we were convinced that it was an overly unnecessary risk, no one would take it. But, to my mind, it is low on the list of things that could happen, if one is careful and pays attention to what they are doing. Do I use a blanket? Of course, that is the smart thing to do. My belts are also up to date, and my suit and helmet meet specs. My brakes also work.

I've been doing this since 1964, and have only seen one explode, and it was preventable. This, of course, is not including the neutral start craze of 67-68, which is another story altogether. That was before the advent of high stall converters, and Chrysler itself was involved with that. Dave Wren "invented" it at the Chrysler proving ground, and everyone was doing it. The famous pic, earlier in this post, was of Dick Oldfield's Iron Butterfly 64 Hemi at Indy while the neutral start deal was in vogue. Ron Mancini had a big one at Bristol earlier that year, and NHRA stopped it after Dick's deal. Whoever posted that pic should have been more specific....that is famous pic that has appeared about everywhere. One needs to tell the whole story, providing they know it. Otherwise, hysterical threads like this have every eighteen year old kid who races a 318 Duster out buying $700 drums that they really can't afford because "every 727 has a bomb in it". Gimme a break.....big time overstatement.

I've been doing this since 1964, and have only seen one explode, and it was preventable.

Ok 1964 was a long time ago, so vs any of the older crowd getting bent lets just flip it around and blame these two recent exp. 727s on the ignorance of the youth of today.

With that the fact remains just this week there has been two blow and one guy hurt, I myself have never had an oem 727 come apart, however even in my street beater spray car I run a crt pro race as well with the blanket because I do value my feet and my passenger.

So really at the end of the day does it matter how old one is in this whole big picture, 727-s blowup.

What im really surprised about is the moral police on moparts should be all over this one but I guess as long as its not there foot busted up its ok.

Do I really care if one gets there foot blown off, young or old, not really its just silly to see it happen, when things can be done to prevent it or reduce the chance of driver harm.

Ive noticed that many who have not replied to this are the people running the right drums and shields or blankets as required by tech, and now dam, what am I to do with a guy like John Cope selling me a perfect working trans that I have zero worries with except say THANKS!

Ran the stock/lightened one on the right for 15 years or so. Early Tranz Act NON reverse band apply t-brake (still in the car). I started having some psi issues and had the trans freshened and went with a billet front drum. I asked about upgrading the rear roller assy and the builder said mine was fine and that he wouldn't spend the money unless the race was worn or loose.

...and been running this since....well a long time!

Sorry to hear about that disaster.
An aluminum front drum would have prevented the major damage.
But the cause is letting off the throttle in 1st gear with no low band (rear band) apply in 1st gear. Some valve bodies have it, some don't. The best thing to do in a TF trans is shift to 2nd when that happens, not just lift.

This one had the engine set back about 10 inches. Rear gear broke on the launch, folded the springs in the roller with the shock, and the rest made a mess.....and he walked away!!! Pieces of trans stuck in his door panel, dent in the roof, and a chunk of drum wiped out the gauges if I recall. This was long before Al Gore invented the interwebs so we hadn't ever seen/heard anything like it. But we learned!

I have one on the floor that's ready to blow up right now. It whines and rattles and starts humming like it is just waiting to blow.
It was in the valiant when the rear end let go lol So now im building a new tranny with an alum drum and a pro tree break.
Can't wait to be able to trans break it every pass.

You can put a CAST IRON shield around it... with two blankets. THAT might prevent the floor from being damaged ... but how about the converter, the case, valve body and everything else ? ...

Could be JUNK if all that happened.

A billet steel drum is good ... but a steel-jacketed alum drum is the ticket. The 727 can NEVER "blow-up".

So if I'm running the 17156 manual valvebody (no low band apply) that Turbo Action sells, I shouldn't let off the gas in first gear crusing down the street?

I'm aware of the no first gear burnout deal.

I think that`s the one I have and I never get on and off the gas in first ANYWHERE. Sometimes on the street I even take off in second and cruise parking lots in second also.

I have had 2 different sprag failures on my 904 without blowing the front drum(stock), both times I caught it early on launch as it acted just like the tires were spinning and never got the Engine Rpm up high enough to cause burst damage. I think many people mistake wheel spin for sprag failure to begin with. Glad your buddy hobbled away from this one. Hope he feels better soon.

904 drum has less mass than a 727. When I was talking to Dave Smith on this subject he said he'd never seen a 904 drum come apart.

Could loosing traction at the line roll the sprag?
Is there any signs that the sprag is shot before you start running the car?

Quote:

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To answer the OP - The drum exploded, you had the stock cast iron drum in there and you need to call John Cope and get a billet or aluminum drum in your next tranny.

The super sprag or at least a bolt in unit will prevent things from going bad as well, but the drum is what exploded.

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I still run a stock drum... its what you do and dont do
that keeps it from blowing... and a bolt in sprag
wont save anything... if you want a good sprag you
better be looking at a super sprag or the like

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727 6-Bolt Ultimate Sprag (1966-1989) - A&A Transmissions good bolt in spaq is 200 bucks here from a+a i dont build mine with out it. they dont blow up

they'll often fill the car with fire as an added bonus. super sprag, billet drum, blanket or shield, and a low band apply valve body, and he'd still be racing. my street car has all of the above and more. i like spending money on things that make my car more reliable at high performance levels. i hate fire and shrapnel in the car. it takes the joy right out of it.