Discussion
Thursday lunchtime just left eurotunnel at Calais on motorway to Rouen on route to Le Mans I saw the very sad sight of a 911 fully on fire by the side of the road. There wasn`t much left of it but it was white and looked to be either late 70`s or early 80`s. Whoever it belonged to it was obvious they were on there way to Le Mans. Hope they were ok.
I appreciate your point....Please don't think that I am looking for an arguement here....
a small ammount of smoke would possibly be wiring,if you can pull it out then fine,,,the ammount of damage that an extinguisher can do to an interior is scary.
Personally I would get out and let it burn,,seriously,,it is only metal,,if it was a very rare car then it would justify the rebuild,,but for what most of us drive hardly worth it...I ahve put small electrical fires out in old Mini's in the past,,thankfully things do not happen so frequently in modern cars.
a small ammount of smoke would possibly be wiring,if you can pull it out then fine,,,the ammount of damage that an extinguisher can do to an interior is scary.
Personally I would get out and let it burn,,seriously,,it is only metal,,if it was a very rare car then it would justify the rebuild,,but for what most of us drive hardly worth it...I ahve put small electrical fires out in old Mini's in the past,,thankfully things do not happen so frequently in modern cars.
Puts me in mind of one of my very first Minis around 1970. I'd modded it by adding a vinyl dash, lots of instruments, carpets, gas-flowed heads, uprated wheels and tyres -- you know the form!
Of course, the floor-mounted gearstick (it was a 1962 car) came straight through the floor so I'd covered up the hole with carpet, which got oily from the stuff thrown up from the rear of the engine/gearbox assembly.
One nice warm day, going round a busy roundabout, the carpet caught fire, and I had flames licking round my feet! I managed to put it out by flapping at it (no extinguisher of course). I learned about the self-combustibility of oil-soaked fabrics from that...
Of course, the floor-mounted gearstick (it was a 1962 car) came straight through the floor so I'd covered up the hole with carpet, which got oily from the stuff thrown up from the rear of the engine/gearbox assembly.
One nice warm day, going round a busy roundabout, the carpet caught fire, and I had flames licking round my feet! I managed to put it out by flapping at it (no extinguisher of course). I learned about the self-combustibility of oil-soaked fabrics from that...
Nor me!
clubsport said: I appreciate your point....Please don't think that I am looking for an arguement here....
I think I'd get a CO2 extinguisher - don't fancy cleaning out a load of dry powder or foam!
...the ammount of damage that an extinguisher can do to an interior is scary...
I recall having to bail out of my first ever car - a 1963 beetle.
I was having a jolly old time on the back seat with my girlfriend of the time - as you do - when suddenly she said "I can see stars Chris".
Before I had time to pipe up with "Yes I'm good aren't I?" I looked down and saw sparks coming from under the seat.
The old beetles had metal springs with a type of straw padding which were covered by a sort of hessian material on the underside - it turned out that the hessian had worn away and the battery terminals were shorting on the seatsprings, and the straw was already smouldering nicely!
We bailed out in double quick time - naked - just before the whole back seat went up in flames. We managed to beat the flames out with some of our clothes, which obviously got fire-damaged.
We had to go to a mates house to clean up/think of a suitable story for our parents etc.
The moral - Don't bonk in the back of old beetles!
I was having a jolly old time on the back seat with my girlfriend of the time - as you do - when suddenly she said "I can see stars Chris".
Before I had time to pipe up with "Yes I'm good aren't I?" I looked down and saw sparks coming from under the seat.
The old beetles had metal springs with a type of straw padding which were covered by a sort of hessian material on the underside - it turned out that the hessian had worn away and the battery terminals were shorting on the seatsprings, and the straw was already smouldering nicely!
We bailed out in double quick time - naked - just before the whole back seat went up in flames. We managed to beat the flames out with some of our clothes, which obviously got fire-damaged.
We had to go to a mates house to clean up/think of a suitable story for our parents etc.
The moral - Don't bonk in the back of old beetles!
When I was learning to drive I often used to take our old 2CV for a spin round the field. On one occasion the car just stopped and the starter wouldn't turn over 
Then I noticed some smoke appearing from under the dashboard I couldn't get out fast enough, thinking it was about to blow up like that Ferrari in 'Le Mans' the movie 
My dad managed to run over put out the small fire with clumps of grass - the bonnet support had dropped over the battery terminals and was glowing like an electric fire, igniting the insulation on the bonnet!
Then I noticed some smoke appearing from under the dashboard I couldn't get out fast enough, thinking it was about to blow up like that Ferrari in 'Le Mans' the movie My dad managed to run over put out the small fire with clumps of grass - the bonnet support had dropped over the battery terminals and was glowing like an electric fire, igniting the insulation on the bonnet!
Being a track marshal at Oulton Park, I've seen more than a fair share of alight cars, enough to know it is almost pointless to tackle most fires with the piddly little things which come in most cars, admitted race conditions are different, but I'd be of the school of thought to leave well alone as all the powder and co2 extinguishers do is knock down the flames, NOT take away any heat which is needed to start a fire. SO even if you do put the fire out, it could start up again.
One thing though if you do have a fire in the engine bay and are going to tackle it, do NOT lift the lid and give it more air, squirt the extinguisher through the grill.
One thing though if you do have a fire in the engine bay and are going to tackle it, do NOT lift the lid and give it more air, squirt the extinguisher through the grill.
Unfortunate for the young lady if only she had a small Co2 extinguisher her car would still be here ????
Manek,,,I did take the mini fire thing to extremes...
I fitted a set of split 45 DCOE Webers,,,this involved fitting a clubman 1275 speedo stack,and cutting the bulkhead away so that the ram pipes could stick through where the original round speedo was,coming inside the passenger compartment...The mixture on these was always a pig to get right,,,this often resulted on FLAMES being spat back inside the car when cold or on the overrun....No passengers or myself actually caught fire and I have grown up a little since then..
Manek,,,I did take the mini fire thing to extremes...
I fitted a set of split 45 DCOE Webers,,,this involved fitting a clubman 1275 speedo stack,and cutting the bulkhead away so that the ram pipes could stick through where the original round speedo was,coming inside the passenger compartment...The mixture on these was always a pig to get right,,,this often resulted on FLAMES being spat back inside the car when cold or on the overrun....No passengers or myself actually caught fire and I have grown up a little since then..
clubsport said: ...this often resulted on FLAMES being spat back inside the car when cold or on the overrun....
Did you warn your unsuspecting passengers of this I wonder??
I remember reading about the Westfield SEight with the 4 twin-choke carbs sticking through the bonnet and how the driver often had to use the wipers to clear petrol-spray from the screen when changing gear!
We were roughly in convoy with the white RS and the tasty lady (and friend!) leaving Calais.
Sounded marvellous as she blatted past trying to keep up with a Pagani Zonda
She was driving it as the maker intended 
A guy in a Corvette was using an extinguisher on the fire as we went past a few minutes later, but this obviously wasn't enough, judging from the later reports.
Shame. The car looked very original, something about it said it wasn't an RS replica. Nice car to have gone up in smoke.
Sounded marvellous as she blatted past trying to keep up with a Pagani Zonda
She was driving it as the maker intended A guy in a Corvette was using an extinguisher on the fire as we went past a few minutes later, but this obviously wasn't enough, judging from the later reports.
Shame. The car looked very original, something about it said it wasn't an RS replica. Nice car to have gone up in smoke.
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