My brother inlaw & I took my car out last week, we stopped to have breakfast, on the way out a older women came over and said she used to ride in car rallies back in her day.. she drove a car similar to mine, she said my car was gorgeous... she mentioned the one she drove went on fire. That got me thinking i heard a few story's of older corvettes caught on fire but i haven't got a clue why??
Is it the ignition wires in the chrome Shielding?
Having ignition wires arcing out on each other is scary thought.
Frank

 

Electrical shorts under the dash are a big concern, but gasoline fires from bubba-ised fuel lines is probably the number 1 cause.

 

Yup, rubber fuel lines and inline filters put between the fuel pump and carb.

Though mid 1960's Q-Jets had a nasty tendency to have a lead fuel passage plug back out from the heat riser passage under the front of the carb. I *believe* that was manifold issue rather than a carb issue, and the fix was some sort of heavier heat shield plate between the carb and manifold.

Doug

Doug

 

Ok, so I was expecting the worst from the title to this thread. Glad to read that it is only a question.

I have fire extinguishers in all my C3s. They may not be the best Halon type, but I feel its better than not having anything at all.

And I dont use rubber hose from the fuel pump to the carb. But I did have the rubber hose from the steel fuel line to the fuel pump break and spring a leak.

kdf

 

Another 'source' of fires on non-stock cars is aftermarket electrical "stuff" not being wired correctly: stock wiring not upgraded to handle added current load; such equipment not being fused properly; the removal of fusible links in the stock wiring when wiring "upgrades" ( ) are done; etc.

 

Since you brought it up, yes, broken, cracked fuel lines, any kind of gas leak is your biggest hazard. But there is a specific electrical hazard that I worry about. It goes like this:

In the summer our cars run hot. On a very hot day you will notice that when you turn your car off, it actually gets hotter. You can observe this by turning the engine off and leaving the key in the on position so you can watch the temp guage. When you turn the engine off the water pump stops circulating coolant and the fan stops (unless you have electric fans) and the block remains hot, so the engine heats up.

This is a very dangerous time because after you turn the engine off wires can melt causing shorts and an electrical fire, and you may have walked away from the car. This is one more reason to use a battery cutoff switch. As soon as I turn the vette off I disconnect the battery, and I try to hang around for a few minutes and make sure there is not too much sizzling hissing and spitting going on.




And there is an additional hazard that sounds crazy. I read a story in Hagerty magazine recently about a guy whose corvette caught on fire, and the fire somehow caused his starter motor to engage which pulled his car out in to the street out of range of his garden hose so his vette burned up in the street. Always have a fire extinguisher in the car...... and in the garage.

in fact, started a thread about that last one.. http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...m-hagerty.html

 

Another big source is a sticky brake caliper. I saw a 70 454 burn because of this. Caliper and rotor get so hot the rubber brake line melts and poof...flame on. So... if you have a sticky caliper... DON'T continue driving it.

Another one is the fusible links. Make sure they aren't buried in the middle of a wire bundle. When they go they turn red hot and can start a fire in a wire bundle.

 

Just to clarify this, the engine doesn't actually get hotter after the ignition is turned off, because there is no more combustion and friction, which are the sources of the heat. The temperature of the coolant in the engine increases to equal the temperature of the engine because it is no longer being cooled in the radiator. The temp gauge shows coolant temp, not necessarily the engine temp.

 

if out driving in hot weather i usually open the hood if i stop for a break...i figure let that heat escape away from the engine, rad etc then if a prob develops i already have the hood up,, just a matter of grabbing my fire exting , from the cabin...
Pete.

 

Ambiant air temp increases as the engine is turned off, for a while, and then eventually decreases. The cast engine raises the coolant temp, plus the air temp, plus subsequent item in the engine bay. This can cause fuel to boil if temp increases enough. Al

 

idleing the car for a short time after driving will help cool the thing down.

 

a buddy of mine brought his newly purchased '69 BB to show me back in '80. We were looking at the car which was shut off when I noticed a funny smell. Popped hood and wow, flames at the carb. Electric choke had somehow shorted. Only minor damage to the choke.

 

Based only on my reading of news articles, it would appear that old vehicles being destroyed by fire is not something new, nor is it peculiar to Corvettes. I have always wondered what the "leading causes of death" of classic cars was, thinking that fire would be high on the list. I have never seen data on this, but it would be interesting.

 

I'd guess "leading causes of death" of classic cars to be good intentions (park and rot) followed by bad driving (crash and burn).

 

One more thing to watch for is the little rubber "S" shaped hose from the chassis fuel supply line to the fuel pump. This is not unique to Corvettes. If this gets old and develops a crack it will allow fuel to leak from the tank supply to all over the garage, then guess what happens when the water heater goes on or some other spark source. Simple maintenance item to keep an eye on.

 

 

I have to admit, I thought this was a thread of images showing corvettes that had caught fire. I learned some things today.

 

I clicked on it with one eye open.......whew!!!!!!!



One word.....errrrrr......two words.......



Fire Extinguisher !!!!!

Please buy one tomorrow.....




for those hard of hearing....
Buy one tomorrow !!!!!


Save a Vette............... Maybe even a Life !!!!!

 

I keep a fire extinguisher in all my classic cars, all the fire dept. can do on a car fire usually is cool them off. its up to you to put it out

 

and not the smallest cutest one you can find. Read the labels.
Not a bad idea for any collector car or the kitchen either for that matter.