280 dead :(

[gog440]

That was an exciting afternoon.

Spent ages trying to get it to start, had a fiddle about with the fuel pump which must have had a slightly loose connection, and it started
then after a minute or so the fuel pressure seemed to drop and it slowly started dying then there was a bang and flames appeared through the bonnet vents! I must have fking levitated out of the car because I dont remember getting out, called 999 then spent 5 minutes with my neighbours hose trying to keep the flames down up until another big bang which was my nsf tyre exploding when I decided discretion was the better part of valour and decided to go stand at the end of the drive and wait for the fire brigade.

Everything under the bonnet apart from the rad is trashed, the bonnet is quite badly damaged, the nsf wing is fooked, nsf wheel/tyre are fked, windscreen looks to be smoke damaged as does the passenger window.

In the brief chat I had with the insurance company they think it will be a total loss

[Danny Hoffman]

Blimey - on a positive note there are loads of Wedges for sale at the moment :-)

[mrzigazaga]

Holy fk mate...Sounds like one of the plastic fuel lines has ruptured and caught fire..Or it could of been the alternator, I had one catch fire one morning as i was about to set out..Good job you wasnt in it at the time..Sorry to hear that mate..Are you still coming to the fest?..maybe look a whats for sale there..Maybe a V8?...Really gutted for you...Ziga

[400SE Dave]

Bugger!!! As painful as it is to watch, always better letting the pros handle this type of situation

[QBee]

mrzigazaga said:

Holy fk mate.....Good job you wasnt in it at the time..

Errrrr....he was

[gog440]

mrzigazaga said:

Holy fk mate...Sounds like one of the plastic fuel lines has ruptured and caught fire..Or it could of been the alternator, I had one catch fire one morning as i was about to set out..Good job you wasnt in it at the time..Sorry to hear that mate..Are you still coming to the fest?..maybe look a whats for sale there..Maybe a V8?...Really gutted for you...Ziga

Still coming to the fest, I am sure it was one of the fuel lines that split as the engine slowly started to die then the big bang, plus the worst of the fire was on the lhs of the car where all the fuel system is.
Bloody annoyed, when it fired up it sounded as sweet as a nut then after a minute or so ......BOOM
A bit of an odd one really as the pipes looked ok this morning, no obvious signs of decay or cracking.

And all my new ht leads (put on this morning) are burnt to a crisp, as are some of my tools, there is a hole in the drive where the tarmac has melted and the plastic coating on the wire fence to next door is all burnt off.

[gog440]

QBee said:

mrzigazaga said:

Holy fk mate.....Good job you wasnt in it at the time..

Errrrr....he was

It was a tad exciting to hear the big bang and then see flames come through the vents and out the nsf wheelarch
I am ok now, I have had a wipe and changed my undies

[QBee]

gog440 said:

QBee said:

mrzigazaga said:

Holy fk mate.....Good job you wasnt in it at the time..

Errrrr....he was

It was a tad exciting to hear the big bang and then see flames come through the vents and out the nsf wheelarch
I am ok now, I have had a wipe and changed my undies

Glad you are ok. My wife had that happen in an old shed she drove when I first met her....not funny.
At least as a TVR driver you always wear brown trousers, so nobody noticed your errr discomfort.

[gog440]

QBee said:

Glad you are ok.

Thanks QBee

I am really pissed off but there is fk all I can do about it now, I dont really understand why it has happened but it has, I am ok, and it is insured so hopefully I can get another wedge once the insurance pay out.

[MonkeykingZX]

Wow that sounds fairly terrifying, shame about the car but the fact you got out safely is more important!

Edited by MonkeykingZX on Thursday 11th July 19:33

[gog440]

MonkeykingZX said:

Wow that sounds fairly terrifying, shame about the car but the fact you got out safely is more important! Plus as others have said this may give you an excuse to upgrade to 8 cylinders

Too busy getting out and calling 999 to be scared.

A little bit of advice, change all your fuel lines, we dont want another one to die like this

[MonkeykingZX]

gog440 said:

Too busy getting out and calling 999 to be scared.

A little bit of advice, change all your fuel lines, we dont want another one to die like this

Yeah I think that's the first thing we'll be doing once we get back to work on it after reading about this

[assynt road]

Gutted for you gog, but at least your ok.
Let the dust settle then move onward and upward as they say, make thinks better tjan befpre, that way its just anotjer step up pn the staircase of life!
Keep the faith ......

[RichChef]

That's really bad luck, hope the insurance does you right

I'm half way through changing my fuel lines, not thought about the post metering head but I did find a small split forming before the filter. The other half can't understand why I'm doing it... This was a good point with underlining to explain why!

Rich

[V8 Fettler]

Danny Hoffman said:

Blimey - on a positive note there are loads of Wedges for sale at the moment :-)

Ha! Hope in adversity. All the original fuel lines fitted to Wedges passed their throw-away dates a long time ago. Petrol fire = nasty

[gog440]

V8 Fettler said:

Petrol fire = nasty

It took the firebrigade at least 10 minutes to put it out once they arrived, with 2 fkoff hoses pouring water in.

[grahamw48]

Save the chassis and running gear !

You can buy complete front ends too...if you want to do a deal with the insurance company (ie, buy it off them).

Maybe sell the car to the racing boys ?

[gog440]

grahamw48 said:

Save the chassis and running gear !

You can buy complete front ends too...if you want to do a deal with the insurance company (ie, buy it off them).

Maybe sell the car to the racing boys ?

Engine looks to be fubar.
All the fuel lines, electrics etc gone

It was also a bloody hot fire, the tyre burst with the heat/flames I would be worried that the chassis was damaged by the heat.

[mrzigazaga]

QBee said:

Errrrr....he was

I meant driving it!..Glad you are ok and still coming to the fest mate..The fuel lines are plastic and are easily ruptured if you lean on them by mistake..I did it once and fuel was squirting up like a fountain..I managed to plastic weld it and its been ok ever since..Goodridge can make a complete set out of copper and there is a kit that you can buy to DIY...I would rather let someone else fiddle about with them..The bang was probably your battery...What a sad end to a wedge!..see you soon..Ziga

[gog440]

Tasmin isnt looking very well