Fire in the engine room

I had not started my '77 GTB in a couple of weeks and decided that I at least needed to take it for a drive, even a short drive. I was warming the car up (about three minutes running time) and noticed a tendril of smoke going across my nose and thought, "This car is smoking a lot more than usual." Then I saw some smoke curling up around the garage door and then I looked in the rear view mirror. I saw dark, thick black smoke rising out of the driver's side engine vent. I turned off the engine and jumped out and immediately saw flames inside the left engine vent. I pulled the safety pin on the halon system and then pulled the handle. Three seconds later the fire was out and I had to go outside and settle down. My wife came out and asked, "What's that noise?" I told her that it was the fire suppression system and she got real serious about whether or not the fire was out. I told her that it was and I started unhooking the battery.

I kept thinking, "If it only saves your life once, it's worth it." I could have lost the house on this deal. Halon works great and is wel worth the money. Summit has systems pretty cheap, compared to the price of the car.

What this post is really about is the halon fire suppression system. I think I only need to rebuild the carbs and replace the hoses with Teflon hoses. So the damage is minimal, thanks to the halon system. It really works great.

I'm guessing that one of my hoses was leaking and the fumes spread to the distributors. The spark from the points caused the fire to flash and then it settled on the hose.

I need to convert the ignition system to electronic. I think it's much safer than the point system I currently have. Also, convert all the fuel hoses to Teflon.

I strongly suggest that if you have a carbed car, check on the halon fire suppression system. It's much better than having a fire extinguisher strapped to the floor. I'm really glad I put that system in the car right after I bought it.

Before you ask, the bottle is on the left side of the luggage compartment right behind the wheel well. Two nozzles are mounted, one on each side of the engine compartment. The activation handle is located on the fire wall over the driver's left shoulder. You can't activate it while you're driving, but once you get stopped and can pull the pin and the handle on your way out of the car. I know there are those who would say that their car is insured for a reason. If the car is in your garage when it catches fire, then you may want to put the fire out anyway.

Bob Wassam

 

Bob,

Sorry to hear about this incident, but glad that you and your family/house are OK! I've had many frightening thoughts of "what would I do if this thing caught fire in the garage...." I have the extinguisher in the passenger footwell and one in the garage next to the car, but may have to re-think my approach...

JIM

 

Of crap Bob, that sucks! I'm sorry to hear it. Were the fuel lines new?? Have you made a thorough evaluation?

 

FYI, I have always pushed my 308 out of the garage before starting it, mostly to keep the damn thing from filling the garage with stinky catless exhaust hydrocarbons, but this is another reason not to start the car in your garage. I would much rather have a car on fire in my driveway than my garage. Sounds like you got it under control before much damage was done. I don't have a built in halon system, but I do carry a fire extinguisher.

Birdman

 

Halon is outlawed. The "legal" variants are much less efficient than the original fire killer stuff (that ate away all the oxygen).
AFFF (foam) is what's mostly recommended for car fires these days.

 

(knock wood) I'm hoping this auto bottle will knock it down long enough for me to get to it with the chemical expinguisher I keep up front. I also have "the mutha of mega extinguishers" in the garage for just such occurances.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

How come you mounted it there and not on the firewall? (That is where I was going mount my new one soon)

 

The manufacture recommends mounting as upright as possible. The halon eats away at the seal in the neck if mounted other than upright, at least that's what was in the instructions? (Yes..I actually read the paperwork) I couldn’t see a way to keep it “somewhat” upright on the firewall and its just easier to install and service where I pulled the smog pump. I’m not saying it’s a perfect install. J

 

Glad to hear your ok.

I always sit with the car as it idles and leave it in the driveway for a few minutes before i pull it in. It's extra steps like this that keep me from driving the car (2500 miles in two years).

 

Interesting. I'll have to ask the guys here in Melbourne. They didn't seem think mounting horizontally would be a problem.

 

I mounted two (always need a backup) on the firewall. As for mounting them horizontally... they are inexpensive enough to replace if they go.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

As halon in banned in Europe can anybode give me a source for these?
they do look oke mounted in the engine bay and i assume they work " automatic"?

too many stories on fire to leave this issue unattended.

 

http://www.firefight1.com/

 

Bob, good that you have the right thinking about these cars, but what really happend, old hoose?
Btw Im glad that you and your car is alright and yes I have my fire extinguisher strapped to the floor and to be honest I dont think you had pulled this off with a floor mount.
A good idea might be that the trigger for the extinguisher also kill the fuel pump.

 

thanx Joe,

i will contact these guys asking if shipment to the netherlands is an option

 

I keep mine behind the passenger seat; I would not want to reach across the engine towards the firewall (no pun intended!) to unhook it if a fire started in the engine compartment.
I actually practiced how quickly I can reach it and jump out; for me it's the easiest, quickest way. (hopefully I won't ever have to use it.)
Good topic for a winter's night.
Kevin

 

The engine bay mounted systems usually have a remote trigger.
There's no getting to them to use them involved. That's their big advantage!

 

The ones from the link above use an automatic temp sensor. Free refills if they discharge in a fire.

 

this is also why every year in spring my car goes in for a fliud change and all the hose's are inspected,alot of heat is in the engine compartment which brakes down the rubber hose's,also hose's can work them selfs loose from driving,also do a yearly check up......and I'm sorry to hear about your car.....robert

 

Their SS-50R has a remote trigger version too. So, like the OP, a cockpit trigger can set off engine bay extinguishers.
IMHO, the big advantage is speed and not feeding the fire by opening the bonnet.

All these small extinguishers rely on early intervention, stopping a fire before it really gets raging.

 

When my 308 had its engine bay fire in late October I had my fire extinguisher right beside my right elbow between the back of the seats. When I saw the 2 foot flames coming up through the louvers and half a tank of high octane right underneath the fire, I just hustled my tail out of the car and sprinted away to a safe distance. As much as I love the car, I love life more ... and wasn't willing to take a chance of flipping up the deck lid to face a potential exploding fuel tank. The way I see it is that they made over 10,000 of these cars, but they only made one of me!

Cheers-Colin Firth -Ontario Canada

 

That might be a bit difficult to arrange but a master shut-off mounted in the same area is an excellent idea. I'm partial to the ones from OMP but there are many others.