jedibuttercup

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I'll keep taking comments on the feasability of my running a crossover edition of Last Fan Fiction Writer Standing until tomorrow night, before I make a decision.

In the meanwhile, in the interests of research... What exactly would happen if every piece of metal under the hood of a moving van actively driving down the road (and every other piece of metal in the front half of the van) suddenly transmuted into lead? I mean, from the point of view of someone in the passenger seat of the cab? I've been trying to unstick the

lesser_men_saga off and on for months, and I keep running up against that question. The answer will directly affect the rest of the action in that chapter, and none of the stabs I've made at working it out sound right to me.
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From:

anabels.livejournal.com

so this may not be gospel and would require further research. But lead is heavier than the metals that would be used in engine and chassis construction which are mostly aluminium and steel - the exact mix would depend on the age of the vehicle. So at the very least the van would slow drastically. Also lead is soft so the moving parts may begin to deform and the fluids moving over the lead may also pick up contamination from it. Not sure how fast that would come into play though.

Interesting question...

From:

anabels.livejournal.com

The suspension would collapse under the extra weight probably blowing the wheels off and the motor would blow up or otherwise destroy itself. He seems to think this would happen pretty much on the first piston cycle

From:

jedibuttercup

Interesting. And thank you for asking!

I was kind of afraid of that, actually. I have two flammable vampires in the back of that van, in the middle of the freeway, on the way to from Sunnydale to L.A., and no way around the plot point.

Also, I have to worry about exactly what qualifies as "metal" for the purposes of the spell Rack was casting, anyway, because obviously if it was thorough enough to catch the iron and trace elements in people's bodies then the three humans in the cab would die many times over even supposing they didn't die when the van went kaput.

Hmmm......

From:

wolf-j.livejournal.com

Lead melts at 327 degrees Fahrenheit and, like other metals, it gets woobly a bit short of that. It doesn't conduct heat very well, so the half-molten engine compartment wouldn't transfer its warmth to the passenger compartment too quickly, but said engine would drop out the bottom of the van almost instantly, helping compromise the already negligible structural integrity of the vehicle. It would, as mentioned, collapse under its own weight, leaving a smear of molten lead over the highway as it ground to a halt. The van would look like it had been put through a paper shredder.

Everybody better be buckled up, because it would really suck to be thrown halfway through a thin lead wall. (And the walls would be thin, because remember that almost every metal wall of a car is _hollow_)

From:

jedibuttercup

Very interesting. Thank you for the thought-out description; that put a clear picture in my mind.

I wish I'd written a little more timing into the plot so they could already be in L.A.; very dumb of me to corner myself this way. I didn't want to strand a van with two vampires on the back of it in the middle of the interstate on a sunny day. But maybe I can make it serve another plot point... Going to have to think on it a little more. But thanks again for the input!