This is why you don't use rubber fuel line on any corvette Not mine but I think you get the point.

 

If that is indeed the cause of the fire it's sad.
I see this a lot and warn people time and time again...

 

It sure does demonstrate the need to keep ignition sources away from anything of value that will burn. I'm not sure what else you could conclude from that picture.

 

A lot of cars came from the factory with rubber hose between the fuel filter and the carb inlet. One of those was my '65 when it still had the old, junk Holley 2818 on it.

 

Picture has been posted quite a few times, although I'm not sure the fuel line was the cause of the fire.

 

I've been on fire a couple of times, and they had nothing to do with rubber fuel line.

One was a Holley that the fuel needle valve stuck and pumped gas everywhere, the carb backfired, and the rest is well known. An old wool GI blanket smothered it.

Another was a dropped valve, split #8 cylinder wall, and pressurized the crankcase with a 200 psi charge to blow oil out on the hot headers. this went out almost as soon as I stopped moving, pushing fresh air in to feed the fire.




Contrary to most show car people, the 2 lb or less chrome fire extinguisher will most likely NOT save your car in one of these.

The pictures of mine went out since once the car quit moving and the engine had been shut off, no more oil pumped out and the "fuel" to the fire was consumed rapidly before the car itself could catch.

But I have fought one where the engine compartment had enough oil on fenderwells and firewall that the whole engine compartment caught, and we used about ten 10 lb fire bottles just to hold it until the fire truck 500 feet away got there.

A rubber fuel line won't get you in trouble if you maintain it and don't let it age 50 years like some people do. A fresh hose will survive a lot of fire before it will burn through.

An old hard, dried, and brittle one will crack and break, spraying gasoline everywhere. so if it is soft, you are probably safe. If hard and stiff, replace it.

You wouldn't drive with old radiator hoses, would you? Or old tires?

 

Exactly! There is nothing inherently wrong with a rubber fuel line. They just need to be routinely checked and maintained like many other items on our old cars.

 

What ever the cause of the fire, fiberglass fires are bad and are not easily put out. Now he has rubber tires burning and oil from motor and if the gas like was what cause the fire or not you can but it if not intact now and there is probably gas from the gas line feeding the fire also. Looks like burnt toast to me. Sorry to see it go.

 

I caught fire once also. Had a 327 with a new (at that time) dual AFB carb setup on my Chevy II. Fed by a rubber hose from the pump to the carbs.

I hit a huge chuckhole in the shutdown area of the strip going over a dollar's worth. I don't know exactly what happened except one of the carbs flooded over and ran gas on the hot exhaust and started a fire.

I had a wool Army blanket in the back seat and that is what I used to put the fire out. Had to drive home on five cylinders as the fire burnt three plug wires off.

Oh, the same rubber fuel line got me home. It was just singed a little.

 

Sad that car is toast

 

I've seen a number of cars burn up. Many new GM cars burnt to the ground with the leaking float bowls in the Quadra-Jets. There were probabaly thousands of them burnt to the ground. Brand new or near new. No recall either.

I can't recall EVER seeing a car burn because of a rubber gas line between the fuel pump and the carb.

But, it seems easy to pick on, doesn't it?

PS. Anyone know if the yellow car in the first post had a Quadra-Jet on it?

 

The last 2 corvettes I rebuilt were both fire damaged due to an "aftermarket" rubber fuel line that started to leak and cause the fire. The picture in my avatar is a 61 insurance fire total that I repaired. The original fire was caused by the rubber fuel line, then after that fire was out, the positive battery cable melted and finished the job into the dash area with the harness burning everything. The picture is after the repairs. I don't mind burn jobs as fiberglass repairs are a hobby of mine... so I guess I'll always have something to work on...LOL! I just believe, in my world, this type of thing can be avoided. Also I'm not sure if the car in my original post is caused by a fuel line, but it does look like cars I've bought in the past.

Chris

 

i've posted this many times before; definitely a fuel leak from the fuel injection pump shaft seal, then probably an arc from breakdown of carbon core spark plug wires when using a 'hot' CD ignition.... what saved the rest of the car was the top being up and windows up, snuffed it out when it got to the firewall... car was 'saved', yellow one might have been too..
Bill

 

Hey wmf62, can you save this one?

 

The guy who works on my car showed me pictures of a '66 that looked like that before he brought it back to life. He drove it cross-country after he finished it.

-- Steve

 

My braggadocios bro in law, (Corvettes are for the unwashed), had completed a rotisserie frame off on his 1956 Porsche but he used a cheap-o fuel line and filter setup (he cant explain it, I think it was out sourced). No extinguisher, but close to a gas station to run fetch one. But it was too late. I laughed and I laughed.

 

ANYTHING can be saved, just a matter of time & $$$

Bill

 

Why the freakout over rubber fuel lines? Just about every car made these days uses rubber lines in a least some part of the fuel delivery system from the fuel tank to the fuel injector rails (and the pump is in the tank), and most of these carry 20 to 60 PSI pressure all the time the ignition switch is on. If you insist on letting the hose come into contact with hot metal surfaces on the engine, you can expect problems.

Just don't use cheap, plain rubber hose is all. Use hose that meets SAE standard J30r7 and smooth band clamps.

 

Looks like the big secret is out!

 

Its just that the rubber lines require a little more scrutiny on a regular basis and the novices either use the wrong rubber lines and/or buy screw clamps and tighten the snot out of them until they are seeping gas. Sometimes they have the lines rubbing against some sharp object and the next thing you know --- carbeque.

Likewise some of these over-springed replacement fuel pumps are cranking out 13psi and the old carbs only need 3-5 psi and so any little line defect results in arterial spurting across the motor.

I use them on occasion but try to locate those sections other than over the intake manifold.