Disaster for neighbor

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BWDart

BWDart

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Neighbor took 65 Cuda for a drive yesterday said he heard a pop when goin over a speed bump, smoke came rollin from under the hood and within seconds flames followed, not much left, by the time fire dept got there it was over. We live in the country so it was a volunteer dept.

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Man, that's too bad. More importantly, glad he wasn't hurt. But, the car can come back from a fire..... just say'n.
 
Good thing they are ok.

The 100 bucks spent on a 5 pound halon extinguisher is a must for these old cars. It’s very surprising how many people don’t have an extinguisher in their cars.
 
Wow! Had to be terrible standing there watching it burn like that.

Old carburetor and wiring can be Russian Roulette.

But there's a lesson to be learned. A couple years ago I started my /6 and gas started to pour out of the BBS vent right onto the exhaust manifold. Luckily I spotted it pretty quickly and shut it off. Turned out the brass float developed a leak and was overweight with fuel, keeping the needle off the seat over flowing the bowl.

Now I keep a fire extinguisher in my old cars INSIDE within reach under the seat. Cheap insurance!
 
BWDart said:
Neighbor took 65 Cuda for a drive yesterday said he heard a pop when goin over a speed bump, smoke came rollin from under the hood and within seconds flames followed, not much left, by the time fire dept got there it was over. We live in the country so it was a volunteer dept.

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318willrun said:
Man, that's too bad. More importantly, glad he wasn't hurt. But, the car can come back from a fire..... just say'n.
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He said he hasn't moved that fast in yrs
 
I had a fuel leak in the garage a year ago. By the time I noticed it there was a puddle of fuel and it wasn't going on by smacking it with a towel and I had visions of the garage going up taking my Duster and road runner with it.

Luckily I had an extinguisher to put it out. Unluckily it was a dry powder extinguisher and you haven't lived until you get to clean up the mess those things make. I replaced the spent extinguisher with another dry powder unit, but really need to invest in halon or something that doesn't make a mess or take a chance on having to clean up another mess some day.
 
Halon is great unless it's a windy day... Back in 2010 I had my daily driver catch fire & burn outside a buddies shop, he grabbed a 10lb shop Halon & hosed the fire but it was a windy day & all that halon still couldn't eliminate the oxygen fully..... But the car sure was clean...
 
I was walking down a line of cars at a car cruise. I was paying attention to a really nice 55 Chevy going by and looked into the interior as he passed me. Poof the dash just erupted in flames!!! The driver stopped and started yelling , another driver in a Challenger T/A jumped out of his car with an extinguisher and had the flames out in less than 10 seconds. That guy saved another mans car by having a quick reaction AND a fire extinguisher on hand. It taught me a lesson and I have ALWAYS had one in my car since.

I was also taught something new after my girl friend worked at a fire extinguisher company recently. Fire extinguishers are not meant to put fires out , they are to provide you a pathway to ESCAPE A FIRE. In most cases a fire extinguisher is too small and doesn't last long enough to put fire out. I HAVE NEVER THOUGHT OF IT THAT WAY BEFORE. SURVIVING A FIRE IS YOUR FIRST RESPONSIBILITY.
 
I had to use an extinguisher when gas got on the manifold and started a fire. Lucky the powder didn't get all over, it was out very quickly.

My neighbor wasn't so lucky with his wife's road runner she inherited, it burned up after something in the rear caught fire bringing it home.
 
I've always known I've needed one but this post is scaring me into action. What size fire extinguisher would be appropriate? 5lb? 10lb? or maybe the ones costco sells for "in home?"
 
I disconnect the battery when not driving. Halon extinguisher by seat and a large drainage container under the gas tank (best to keep fuel lower than filler tube and sender).
 
BWDart said:
Neighbor took 65 Cuda for a drive yesterday said he heard a pop when goin over a speed bump, smoke came rollin from under the hood and within seconds flames followed, not much left, by the time fire dept got there it was over. We live in the country so it was a volunteer dept.
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Truely sad to see that. Did they figure out what caused the fire? Carb?
 
I have two smaller extinguisher's in the car at all times. I also have a quick battery disconnect on the negative side.
I use that disconnect every time im away from the car or when it's parked in the garage
 
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