Close one today! If you don't have a fire extinguisher in your car you need one!
 

I took the car our to a local show this morning. After spending some time there I had to check out so I bolted and headed home. I pulled into my driveway about 30 mins later at which point I spotted smoke coming from the back of the car. Engine vitals were all good so I jumped out to see what it could be. To my surprise the car was on fire from the license plate area. I grabbed the fire extinguisher from inside the car and put the fire out. Of course I was pretty shaken and my heart was racing. I am aware many have not been so lucky but I did learn a pretty important lesson to always have an extinguisher in these old cars. You never know when you will need it. The damage could be a lot worse. The suspicion is an electrical short combined with a leaking gas cap was the cause. Still not 100% sure of the ignition source but man do I feel lucky to have been able to put the fire out without further damage.


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The one item in the interior I thought I would never need but today this guy saved my butt!
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Better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it. Good save.

Saw your post on ig. Lucky! I added fire extinguishers to my cars last year. You never know when your own or someone else's car might need one.

Lucky!

Make sure your extinguisher is of adequate size especially if your car has a mechanical oil pressure gauge and you're using the supplied plastic oil line AutoMeter includes. 2.5 lbs minimum IMO.

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Fuel fire started above 5,000 rpm and quickly burnt through the oil line causing a high pressure fountain at the back of the block.

If I wouldn't have had a couple cotton bath towels and a passerby happened to have a flat of bottled water in his vehicle to help smother it I was less than 60 seconds from being forced to abandon the fight and watching it burn......just after sunset out in the country. :sieg:

Saw that on IG. Scary stuff. One of our fears to say the least. Glad it wasn't worse and most of all, everybody safe. I can only imagine pulling into the garage, not knowing, and you kill the house too....#safetyfirst to say the least.

Hope you find the source, keep us posted to, that set-up is exactly like mine.

So what is everyone using for mounts? I saw someone posted a Drake mount that looked nice not too long ago.

I'm using drake mounts. One on the trunk with a red halo 2.5lb fire extinguisher and another on on the seat rail on the passanger seat.

I run a Joe's racing quick release in my camaro.


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Holy smokes!

Glad you caught it and managed to get it taken care of.

I have the same personal plate. Lol

Interested to see mounts and options... I don't currently have an extinguisher and don't want it just rollin on the floor when I do get one.

This is a great thread. Can't imagine sitting and watching my car burn. I'll be adding one of these to my car before it hits the road and maybe a second one in the trunk.

Glad it wasn't worse!

An extinguisher saved my car as well. Non negotiable!

That's crazy, glad you got to it fast. Almost looks like the plate bolt was contacting the bumper....spark perhaps?

Thanks Mike. Good call on the house. Rarely do I stop short of the garage but when I saw the smoke in the rear view mirror I decided to get out and investigate. Sure glad I did.

I am still not exactly sure what the cause is. A short in the harness effecting the fuel sending unit wire off the tank or the license plate light could have been a culprit as an ignition source. The other idea is the exhaust temps and fumes from the gas cap mixed with leaking due to a full gas tank could have ignited the fuel. Either way, I will post what the decided culprit is once we get it to the shop for diagnosis.

I'd like to get one. Anyone have pictures of where they are mounting them without a roll bar?

Thanks for the comments guys. The situation really got my heart racing.

Here is a couple pics of my extinguisher mount. The guys at West Bend Dyno in West Bend, Wisconsin put the piece together for us.

The base mounted to the floor on the tunnel:
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Don't mind the towel. I did not want to get the interior dirty with dust.
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Not the best quality pic but you can see up close how the extinguisher mount works.
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There is a good chance spark could have been an igniter as well. Definitely putting it on the list for consideration. Thanks for the post Vince.

Lucky man! Glad you posted this for everyone else to see as well.

Agreed! Thanks for posting this up.

I'm glad you were able to save the car!
Now I've gotta order mine

Thought of something last nite, the lite brown wire to sending unit goes over the top of the tank through the grommet (by the filler tube) into the main harness by the trunk latch lock, the stock tanks are concave the distance across the top, where the factory wire was supposed to go, the Ricks Tanks are flat across the top, necessitating us to move the wire 'around" the tank, i did not, i ran 'shims" across the top so it wouldn't pinch. Looks like i have a small project "to be sure..."

First, I'm glad you and the 'bird are ok. That is very repairable damage, although that doesn't make it any less frustrating!

Having had an oil fire in the engine compartment last year during the GG autocross, I can attest to the importance of having an extinguisher at quick disposable. So much so that after that event, I ordered a second one. I now have 2 inside of TOW, one behind each seat attached to the rollbar. I can't find a picture at the moment, but this is what I used to attach them.

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Given how that mount works, I think it could be attached to about anything with the 2 holes in the base, although I use stainless bands to attach to the rollbar.

Also, I have a Halotron extinguisher. I do not remember the details at the moment, but the different extinguishers are designed to tackle different types of fires. As I recall, the Halotron is a clean agent that doesn't leave residue (ie: much easier cleanup) and is designed to target chemical fire moreso than a material on fire.

Point being... Don't just buy the cheapest product you can find, as some may not be good for the type of fire we are most likely to experience. This is a place that research can be time well spent!

Jay, keep us posted on what you find, although there may not be enough evidence left to get a good answer. Oil and gas fires are no joke!!! At the COTA event I attended earlier this year, there was a car that burned to the ground due to a gas fire. He pulled the extinguisher system as he got out, but a fuel like ruptured and just kept feeding it. Scary!

Gasbag and others have good posts here.


Something I learned from my "big" boat days..... Wires should be fastened every 6 INCHES..... so they can't chafe. Think about that small little shielding -- and as you drive it's vibrating with every little bump.

Ditto fuel and brake lines --- fasten the damn things so they can't vibrate and crack! Stainless steel isn't very good at "vibration".

Inside that shielding is copper wire.... wiggle that a few times and see how long it goes before it breaks... then that break creates high resistance.... If I recall 8th grade shop class... a toaster is "high resistance". :>)

Thanks Bryan and Greg and others for the posts. I got lucky and was prepared.

Glassman, I am beginning to chalk this one up to the light brown wire from the tank. The shielding vibrating, chafing, getting hot, melting away, and then coming into contact with the fuel filler neck to the tank creating the ignition source. I am not sure I will ever know for sure but it has to be replaced. I will post a pic of what the wire looks like now after I can get it loaded.

Time to start thinking about some mods to the wire routing, exhaust, a different style gas cap/fuel filler neck, and what I might do with the paint on the back of the car.

In a sick sort of way a repair becomes a new project. I think you guys all get what I am saying. We all seem to have the same illness.

Wow that was a good save. A little more time and that would have been 1 Hot Bird

Scary. God I hate these posts. And they also bring me fear to put my car in the garage (that is underneath the living room) once it's done.

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at the 7 sec mark you can see my fire extinquisher mounted to the seat. The drake seat mount are too big so i shaved them and redrilled. The only downside i see is the fact that i probally have $400 to $500 into the setup. If i ever have to use it I'm sure it will save me a lot more than that. I pray i never have too

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heres another look of it
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I also mounted one in the drivers side trunk. This is one thing i researched and wanted to make sure that if i had a issue putting out a fire wouldn't cause more issues.

heres the one in the trunk

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Jay thank god you caught it in time!

Let's not forget extinguishers in the house and garage, either :thumbsup:

No kidding TC.

A friend of mine lost his 69 camaro to a fire yesterday... David Hamilton if anyone else knows him. They were welding rear sway bar brackets to the frame, caught it on fire and the car and his friends shop they were working in were a total loss.

It's sickening... scary... and totally preventable with a little bit of safety preparedness. How many times have any of us skipped a safety step or two in the sake of time? I know I have...