Mechanical Question

[jedibuttercup]

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.
~

Comments

The spouse's thoughts

[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

Re: The spouse's thoughts

[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......