I caught my engine on fire and now I'm going to need a few parts.

[turbotaone]

My carelessness has taught me a very expensive lesson. I was in the process of changing the valvecover gaskets and I had to remove the metal fuel lines that run over top of the driver's side cover. I had disconnected the metal lines from the flexable fuel lines after I had relieved the fuel pressure,but a little gas had still seeped out of the lines onto the engine,and when I pushed the metal lines to the side and out of the way,one of them hit the hot wire on the back of the alternator(which did not have the protective cap on it)and it made a big spark which ignited the gas on the engine. By the time I got the car pushed out of my dad's garage and found a fire extingisher it had pretty much melted everything that was rubber or plastic under the hood. I know that I should of disconnected the battery first,but I was in a hurry and figured since the engine was cold that it would be alright. I won't make that mistake again! Anyway,I'll be posting what parts I need after I see what is salvageable and I'm hoping that you guys can help me locate them.

Thanks
James

 

[Lee_Burough]

Sorry to hear about your car....At the same time, I'm glad to hear you are OK.

Every one old enough to shave has a story like that to tell. Some of us are lucky and some not. Thank heaven you are unharmed.

Good luck getting it back into shape

Lee Burough

 

[turbotaone]

Thanks Iburou, I'm just glad that I didn't burn my dad's garage down. Even though the damage to the car was severe,at least it didn't get past the firewall and inside the car. I'm hoping to have it back up and running by summer.

James

 

[postal]

OH! SHAT!

I thought I was the only one who ever caught their car on fire from not disconecting the battery. At least the car I caught on fire was an old POS 71 Nova that I paid $1200 for. That mistake cost me about $400 to fix and I still had a nice burnt spot on the hood there after to remind me I'm a dumb a$$. Every time I walked up to or looked out through the winshield that little reminder was always there. That constant reminder of me being a dumb a$$ was the only time I ever felt "married" to a car. It was a cool POS though. had a mildly souped up v8 with a 4 speed muncie and a 12 bolt posi rear end. WOOT!

1st Morale of the story:
Just because their fun to ride doesnt mean you want to be married to them!

I'm going to go prepare the couch now, I may be sleeping there awhile .

2nd Morale of the story:
Ive gotten $400 worth of laughs out of that deal. Ive told the story lots of time over a few brews. Explaining how those flames just shot up, how I was like....OH! SHAT! ,how poor of an idea it was to try to smother it with my nice coat, ect..ect...ect... Maybe some day we could get drunk and share "Did I tell you about the time my dumb a$$ caught my car on fire" stories

Jason

 

[Razor]

8 years ago I flooded my BBC Camaro and hydrolocked the motor with fuel.. so I pull all the plugs out to spin the motor over and displace the fuel.. I forgot to disconnect the coil .. it spun over and wooosh my azzz was ablazing to get that put out.

Ya live and learn. I always use paper towels on fuel rails, so I can dispose of them.

 

[Lee_Burough]

I can top that!

In 1984 I had an air boat in Alaska. 16.5' long and 8' wide, with a 300 horse SBC and 80" propeller. It was as much fun as my TTA, and, you could hot rod it all the time

It had been a few weeks since my last fishing trip, so, it was necessary to prime the holly double pumper. To prime it, I had to reach inside the cage. I'm priming the carb and a little gas was dripping from the spout and making a little puddle around my feet Are you getting the picture?

I was taking a coworker and his wife salmon fishing. He was an Otolaryngologist....PLenty smart....I instruct him to "Turn the key and start the engine (keep in mind I'm reaching inside the cage and standing in gas) If it backfires, continue cranking the engine at all costs". I said that twice, and explained that cranking the engine would likely suck any fire into the intake and prevent a fire where we don't want it.

Long story short, it backfired. The next thing I know, I see flames coming from the deck up to my waist. What does he do? He leaps to the dock and RUNS. I throw the gas can to the dock, run and get the fire extinguisher next to the PAX seat, and put out the fire. Just a bruised ego and some soot on the deck paint. Lucky. I think I used half a lifetime of luck on that deal.

Chin up, we're human.

 

[turbotaone]

Thanks guys for cheering me up with your"I was a dumbass also"stories, I feel better now knowing that I'm not the only one that has set their car(or boat) on fire. What really hurts is the fact that I had taken the full coverage Ins. off of the car for the winter,so it looks like I'll be working alot of overtime the next few months so that I can buy TTA parts. Come to think of it,this is the second Firebird that I've caught on fire, when I was 18 I got my first car which was a 74 firebird and I replaced the 2barrel carb. with a 4barrel and while I was at it I decided to replace the short piece of rubber fuel line that runs from the metal line to the carb. Well after replacing the rubber line I started the car and headed down the road anxious to test out my new 4barrel. I made it a few miles and then I heard a big POOF and the car stalled and smoke and flames were coming from under the hood so I coasted into a parking lot and tried to get the hood open but it was to hot so all I could do was stand there and watch it burn until the Fire Dept.showed up and by then half the car had burnt. The Morale of that story is"There is a BIG difference between rubber Fuel line and rubber Vacuum line" Yes, I had grabbed a piece of Vacuum line in the garage and used it as a fuel line not knowing that there was a difference in the two. Needless to say,I never made that mistake again.

James

 

[Razor]

Never take insurance off a car unless you can handle the consequences.

A local guy here own a 69 Yenko Nova, doesnt drive it, his garaje roof caved it.. stuff happens.. leave the comp on the car always. And fire is covered. Check the homeowners..

My 70 Camaro cuaght on fire while I was driving it. It was the second time.. first time listed above. It didnt make the second time. Hence why i have a TTA.

Good luck.

 

[IronEagle119]

Originally posted by lburou


Sorry to hear about your car....At the same time, I'm glad to hear you are OK.

Every one old enough to shave has a story like that to tell. Some of us are lucky and some not. Thank heaven you are unharmed.

Good luck getting it back into shape

Lee Burough

Well before I was shaving (10-12 yrs old?) I somehow caught the gas can on fire filling up my go-kart and chared some paint on the side of the garage entrance. Covered it up with some fresh paint, he never found out

 

[tta583]

When I was about 13 I was at a buddy's house sitting on his 3 wheeler just inside his garage. He drained some gas from the tank in to a plastic cup which promply melted and spilled gas on the floor. He then used another container to catch some gas which he poured over a model car and ignited via a firecracker (Like I said, 13). He attempted to stomp out the car which ignited the gas on his shoes picked up from standing in the puddle in the garage. In a panic he jumped, yup, right into the puddle which then ignited under the 3 wheeler on which I was still sitting. The gas can for the 3 wheeler and the family mowers was there as well. To this day I don't remember how we got that fire out before something blew up or the garage burned down.

Brent

 

[Lee_Burough]

!!!LOL!!!


And the next TB.com nominee for the Darwin award is....

 

[1badTTA]

I will have t oedit this post as I have 3 really good ones to add (one involves 2 fires in one night due to a missing float bowl plug in a holley), but I really need to go to bed.

 

[Captain Mark]

Being in the fire business, I thought I had seen/heard it all. But, there are some pretty good stories here!

Back around 1985 we got a call to a car fire, just a couple of blocks from the fire station. We pull out of the station and can already see smoke, so we know it's gonna be a good one. As we approach I hear the Lieutenant say "Oh damn, is that a '63 vette" Well, come to find out, that's what it was. It was a convertible, and the owner had left the top down. this thing was burning like crazy. It was a total loss before we could get any water on it. Oh yeah, it was around midnight.

The poor owner is there when we pull up, trying to get his water hose turned on and put it out himself. Can't say that I blame him. After we got the fire out, the owner says....."it was my damn girlfriend"

We found out later from our arson investigator that this guy's girlfriend had caught him earlier in the evening with another woman, and was naturally very pissed. She caught them making out in the vette, so she figured she would get back at him in the most severe way. A malatov cocktail, right in drivers compartment did the job.

Hell hath no fury...........well, you know the rest.