Wow, just saw this video, was/is this an Fchat member? Great thing nothing happened to him! Sorry if it's a repost! [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L3l43HewDQ&list=PL626D997CA6A0D765]Ferrari 308 caught fire - YouTube[/ame]
This is what happens when you neglect to replace the filler neck hose. Seen the video before, but always a bummer when stuff like this happens. At least no one was hurt.
I've seen that video before. They keep saying "static electricity." We all know better -- leaking hose, most likely the filler neck, dumped gas onto the hot front manifold, and WHOOOOSH!! He was lucky to walk away from that. Time to inspect hoses again before springtime.
That guy is so lucky his clothes did not catch fire. Most likely nozzle intake hose was leaking. That car is toast. One less 308 on the road.
Fuel hoses are a much-debated topic around here - some folks still don't "get it": hose is made of rubber - rubber in the engine bay gets hot - hose was never designed to 'last' a quarter-century - hose needs to be replaced every ten years or so - good hose is better than cheap hose - hose is in metric sizing - Ethanol is a concern - Dave Helms is your best friend in the whole wide world....
If you can't reach Dave, these folks have SRI hoses and other Ferrari fuel lines in-stock, sized to match your car: Ferrari Service of Bedford
This is OLD, OLD, OLD. This guy never replaced his hoses, he spent all his time and money on the body and interior.
I'm not disputing the old hose explanation here (my return line was just replaced because the old one stunk up my car! You could smell fuel from 3 cars away...), but I wouldn't ignore the possibility of static electricity fires at the fuel pump. In aviation we ground our airplanes when fueling for the reason explained in this old PSA: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAiMtnPxlNc]Fire hazard from static electricity during fueling operations 1948 - YouTube[/ame]
Ethanol is not a concern it is the primary culprit behind age. If you store you car do everything you can to get ethanol free gas.
I am glad that no one was hurt and it's a very sad loss of a beautiful GTB. I also cringe a bit when thinking that the uninformed out there see this and tell each other that the old Ferraris are fire hazards or are dangerous.
I prefer to drive my car instead of store it - ethanol-gas that doesn't 'sit' doesn't cause problems....
He spent a year and a half restoring it and didn't replace the fuel lines? Replacing fuel lines was something high on my list. Paint and interior I can live with but going out in a blaze of glory wasn't.
It was at least ten years ago that it happened. Long before ethanol was in high usage here in the northwest. But in the the end it was traced to the filler neck fuel line being split....
