<VV> Why you should carry a fire extinguisher...

[George Jones]

Bill,

Sorry to hear about your bad luck. That's a sweet looking ride.

You're right on both counts: I always carry a fire extinguisher, and a
battery disconnect is another good safety item to install in all Corvaris
(as well as any car that sits for a while). I recently ended up with the
hard luck award because I burned a spark plug wire in my 65 V8 Corvair. Used
my fire extinguisher for that one too.

Good luck with getting the Benz back together.


On 5/30/07, Bill Elliott <corvair at fnader.com> wrote:
>
> Yesterday I took my recently restored 1967 Mercedes 250SE
> http://fnader.com/Mercedes  out for a drive in the countryside (and to
> run some errands). The car ran flawlessly.
>
> On the way back, I stopped at Lowes hardware to pick up some paint...
> when I got back to the car, I turned the key to start and nothing
> happened. I released the key... and heard the starter motor turning over
> very slowly. About that time I started smelling smoke. I turned the key
> off and nothing changed... now I'm seeing smoke coming up through the
> defroster vents.
>
> I quickly raised the hood and saw a wire running from the firewall to
> the injection pump melting down. Thinking (incorrectly it seemed) that
> the pump was shorting out, I pulled the wire. That only served to make
> whatever was shorting under the dash short worse. So I started
> disconnecting the battery (which in retrospect is what I should have
> done to start with).
>
> By this time thick black smoke is rolling out from the dash. I asked a
> bystander to call 911 at this point.
>
> I finally got the battery disconnected, but by this time flames were
> evident inside the car. I grabbed my fire extinguisher (I carry one in
> each car) and unloaded it up under the dash. Even after emptying it,
> smoke was still rolling. I quickly pulled the speedo (easy to pull out
> on these cars as it's just a pressure fit with a rubber gasket) and
> flames were still visible. A good portion of the wiring and the firewall
> insulation was still on fire.
>
> By this time a Lowes employee had run out with a large extinguisher. We
> were able to shoot it in through the speedo opening and get the flames
> out just as the Fire Department arrived.
>
> The fire burnt hot enough to crack the windshield and melt the sunvisor.
> Everything behind the dash is melted plastic (which actually ran down
> onto the mats).
>
> I had the car towed home and spent the afternoon cleaning 6 or 7 lbs of
> corrosive dry chemical out of everywhere... had to strip out the
> interior, etc.
>
> In the end, I was VERY lucky. No paint damage and no leather damage
> (even on the dash!). Looks like the headliner is likely a loss (smoke
> damage) as well as some of the dash wood, but overall very minimal
> damage considering the intensity of the fire.
>
> My Mercedes expert buddy seems to think the ignition switch shorted
> out... and being unfused it started the meltdown.
>
> Lessons learned:
> 1. Carry a fire extinguisher. The bigger the better. (Had I not carried
> mine or had this happened out where a larger extinguisher was
> unavailable, I'm certain the car would have been a complete loss)
>
> 2. Add a quick disconnect to the battery. (This alone might have saved
> me from the damage I had).
>
> 3. That dry powder gets EVERYWHERE and burns skin....
>
> Bill Elliott
> Urbana, MD
>



-- 
__________________________________
George Jones
Corvair Society of America (Since 1987)
Tidewater Corvair Club (Since 1987)
Central Virginia Corvair Club (Since 2006)
'65 Monza Crown V8 Convertible   http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2397326
'66 Monza Coupe (Custom in work)
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