Another potential fire hazard on our 40DCNF comes to my mind. When some botchers undo, or tighten the threaded fuel line connectors or inlet filter plugs without supporting the fragile protruding carb cover portion and creating micro cracks with this. Best Regards Martin
Of course. And regarding this topic and the following picture link: Rumours say, something broke off the carburettor. What else should break off, causing such a hazard, other than the part I suspect? http://rgambinoracing.com/images/ferrari/5TT/5TT%2008.jpg Image Unavailable, Please Login
Fire. This scares me more than anything. Having pulled the tanks and all the hoses as part of my restoration I am also now extremely afraid of being t boned. Those outboard tanks are gonna go off like the Fourth of July if anyone pegs you in front of the rear wheels.
First thing you do when you get an old Ferrari is change the fuel lines. Even if they look fine since they rot from the inside.
The interview I watched he said "it was parked in gear" and the heat caused it to pop out of gear and roll away.
When I bought my 83 first thing I did was change all the fuel lines. This stuff is scary and I only filled the car once before I had it done. Peace of mind.
Amen to that. First thing I did after buying my '78 was replace every single fuel line. The originals were literally crumbling in my hand. Very, very scary.
Wow. Sad and scary. Glad the owner and gas station avoided catastrophe. Thankfully the 308 had the good sense to run from the pumps.
The son of a neighbor of mine had a German car parked a few houses from me on the other side of the street up the hill from me. It caught fire, with big flames coming from under the hood, and I happened to see it right away through my front window...then, after a short time...it started to very slowly roll creeply down the hill...it went slowly past my house as I watched through the picture window...and I must admit, even though I knew the chances of it exploding were basically zero, I said to myself...come on keep rolling sucker, don't stop right here in front of my house...(pretty heartless, I know).... Well it did keep going, and went all the way down the block, turned slightly left and jumped the curb and finally stopped rolling against a wood clad stucco house at the intersection pretty much at the bottom of the hill. Fortunately it got put out (or stopped on it's own) fairly quickly and just left a burn mark on the side of the house, and no one was hurt, and no real damage done. Very strange watching it though...was almost moving like it was haunted or something, just creeping along on it's own....
But doesn't this apply to all classic cars, though different tank locations. My '72 Alfa has its fuel tank just in front of the rear bumper. 911s have the tank in the front. Almost none of the old cars have the fuel tank in a crash-safe location. Best Regards Martin
Mine too, replaced all of them with Dave's hoses. My original fuel pump hose looked fine on the car, realized it was heavily cracked when we pulled it off. Replace those hoses!
Those tanks are a very soft and malleable grade of aluminum. I have seen them take a direct hit with the end of a guard rail and not leak a drop. They crush like a beer can and maintain their fluid holding integrity. Anything can happen but I have never seen a fire in one from a breached tank.
Back to the original topic: What do you guys think, why the car drove away on its own? The guy in the video tells, that he parked the car in gear. I think, that the battery and solenoid cable of the starter melted and short-outed. I have once seen that on an old Volkswagen Bus from the German Post. Burned down while still full of parcels and when the fire department finally arrived, it tried to move away. One could hear the starter cranking. Best Regards from Germany Martin
Others claim yes, a member of of Northern California subgroup. He has posted. There is a post in Silver with a link to the No Cal group.
That's a little reassuring. Are they same on the 512? I ask because I know of a member here that was badly burned when his 512 was hit and caught fire.
Brian, You know a thousand times what I know about these cars, but when I look at the intermittent skid marks, (I'm assuming they are from this car) it appears that the starter engaged. I'm also guessing that intermittent compression cycles could cause those marks. Your thoughts, please.
Yes. I doubt the tank breeched. It's pretty well protected in a TR. There is a lot of plumbing that can get torn off. Gasoline is dangerous stuff. I doubt it would be allowed if someone invented it now.
