<VV> Safety First ! Prevent car fires!

[Alan and Clare Wesson]

About 10 years back, when I had my turquoise blue 65 Monza Coupé, I was 
driving along a country lane near here (single track, very bumpy, poor 
quality, passing places for if you meet someone coming the other way - 
here's a pic of one):

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_FOQXeW52-y8/RlNRJA95l_I/AAAAAAAAABA/z9HhbPrc9tA/IMG_0006.JPG

This one is below average quality, but not *that* much below average, and it 
shows why I could do something as apparently stupid as hitting a rock lying 
in the road! And as an aside, I really HATE living here! I would love to go 
and live somewhere more civilised (i.e. less mud, less rain and gas less 
than $7 a gallon! And no Discoveries like the ones in the pic - goodness, 
how I HATE Discoveries! They are all smelly, slow diesels and I get stuck 
behind them the whole time, even in my English flathead Ford (36 bhp).

But my wife won't move, and it's easier to stick with the same wife because 
I have got used to her (;-)))

Anyway, I heard a thump from under the front end. I got out and looked under 
the car, and found that I had hit a rock which was lying in the road, that I 
hadn't seen. There was also a colourless fluid dripping from the tank, which 
smelled of petrol (gasoline to you). I was not very pleased, as I had just 
filled up @ the then-price of 'only' $7 a gallon.

Luckily, it was all downhill to where I was staying, so I freewheeled there 
(I was worried about starting the engine, although probably with no just 
cause).

When I got back home the last drip of petrol was just exiting the tank (I 
think I had lost about 15 gallons - whatever the tank capacity is). I was 
staying on a farm, and one of the other guests was a Saudi pipeline welder. 
He got me to remove the tank, fill it with exhaust fumes and he welded it (I 
went and hid because I couldn't believe it wouldn't explode, but it didn't). 
I refitted the tank and had no further problems.

But I have always wondered what would have happened if the impact with the 
rock had caused a spark. I seem to remember, about 10-12 years ago, a pic on 
the front of the Communiqué of someone's car completely ablaze - I think 
they had hit an obstruction on the Interstate, and it had caught fire. They 
had managed to get out but couldn't do anything to save the car, so they 
took some amazingly spectacular photos instead.

Anyone remember who it was? Do they do VV?

Cheers

Alan

P.S. I was amazed to find, when I refilled the tank, that it took 3 gallons 
to get the fuel gauge needle *up* as far as the empty mark. It made me much 
less worried about running out after that, although I guess it probably 
wouldn't be able to pick up the last gallon or so??



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bryan Blackwell" <bryan at skiblack.com>
To: "Virtual Vairs" <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Saturday, October 25, 2008 10:43 PM
Subject: Re: <VV> Safety First ! Prevent car fires!


> Agree completely - the only time your car is really at risk of
> exploding is if you stumble across a movie shoot in progress :-)
>
> That said, it certainly pays to be careful when it comes to fire.  A
> Corvair burning to the ground is an event that's happened.  If you
> are in that situation, first off, don't panic.  Second, make sure
> everyone is out of the car.  If you have a fire extinguisher stay
> cool and follow the directions - hit the base of the fire, that's
> where it's really burning.  If not, move away from the car and call
> the fire department, or flag someone else down and have them call.
>
> Most of all, you can take a look at your Corvair over the winter and
> fix a few things that might cause a fire.  The event that was
> originally posted - a poor wiring splice - is easy to identify.  Look
> for poor connections and missing grommets.  Also, check the condition
> of the two rubber fuel hoses.  If your car has a bunch of rubber hose
> where it shouldn't, replace them with hard lines.
>
> --Bryan
>
> Bryan Blackwell bryan at skiblack.com
> http://autoxer.skiblack.com/
>   Corvairs: '61 Lakewood, '64 Greenbrier, '65 Corsa, '66 Corsa
>   '69 Road Runner, '97 Ford F-150, '99 Neon R/T
> "Why do something if you're not going to obsess about it?"
>
> On Oct 25, 2008, at 2:36 PM, Ron wrote:
>
>> An explosion in a vehicle and especially in a Corvair is a very
>> unlikely
>> scenario unless you're carrying dynamite.  With the gas tank widely
>> separated from the engine, it just doesn't happen and I've never
>> heard of it
>> happening.  There may be things to fear in life but this isn't one
>> of them.
>> RonH
>
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