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My buddy has a '68 Vette that he keeps outside with a cover on it. This morning when he went out to drive it to work he discovered a hole had been burnt through his cover directly over his gas filler lid.
And the bottom of the lid was scorched.
But the gas cap looked fine.
Here's what we think happened.
He took it out for a drive last Saturday and put the car cover on as soon as he got back. Saturday was pretty hot and sunny here. The cover held in all the heat from the engine and exhaust plus the sun was beating down on it making things pretty hot. All the heat caused the fumes inside the tank to expand and vent through the cap and the cover kept the fumes trapped in that area . Eventually the heat caused the fumes to ignite.There was probably flammable residue on the bottom of the lid from 47 years of fumes venting from the cap which continued to burn for a while melting the car cover.
I would think sabatouge personally. Is the car in a secure aria? Or any passer bay have access. Man that's to close for comfort as far as I'm concerned.
I would think sabatouge personally. Is the car in a secure aria? Or any passer bay have access. Man that's to close for comfort as far as I'm concerned.
I would agree, that looks suspicious to me too, I would be more worried about a fire in the engine compartment than the gas cap area. Stranger things have happened though. The car cover manufactures do say to let things cool before you cover the car.
My buddy has a '68 Vette that he keeps outside with a cover on it. This morning when he went out to drive it to work he discovered a hole had been burnt through his cover directly over his gas filler lid.
And the bottom of the lid was scorched.
But the gas cap looked fine.
Here's what we think happened.
He took it out for a drive last Saturday and put the car cover on as soon as he got back. Saturday was pretty hot and sunny here. The cover held in all the heat from the engine and exhaust plus the sun was beating down on it making things pretty hot. All the heat caused the fumes inside the tank to expand and vent through the cap and the cover kept the fumes trapped in that area . Eventually the heat caused the fumes to ignite.There was probably flammable residue on the bottom of the lid from 47 years of fumes venting from the cap which continued to burn for a while melting the car cover.
Anybody have any other ideas?
Close call. It takes fuel, oxygen (air) and heat (to the combustion temperature of the fuel) to make fire. The fact that it appears the fire was under the gas tank filler door is scary. Only a guess, but there was certainly fuel (gasoline), perhaps temperature, due to the hot day and sun beating down, and a limited supply of air, since the gas tank was sealed with the cap. You can get a smoldering fire even with gasoline, if you limit the air supply. Sounds like this may have happened until the fire depleted the remaining oxygen in the sealed tank and went out. Only possible if the temperature got hot enough. Usually a spark supplies the heat, but gradual heating by the sun could do it.
Just to be clear, I'm not suggesting there was fire inside the tank. There is no sign of that. Only that fumes venting outside the cap ignited and caused accumulation of flammable condensation on the bottom of the lid (not cap) to burn off.
Hi KV,
It appears in the 3rd picture that there's no rubber boot on the filler neck.
Was it there and since removed or???
I'm not inferring that caused what happened and I'm not sure that having the boot in place would have changed anything.
???
Regards,
Alan
Hi KV,
It appears in the 3rd picture that there's no rubber boot on the filler neck.
Was it there and since removed or???
I'm not inferring that caused what happened and I'm not sure that having the boot in place would have changed anything.
???
Regards,
Alan
Alan, the boot was gone when he bought the car about a year ago.
Just to be clear, I'm not suggesting there was fire inside the tank. There is no sign of that. Only that fumes venting outside the cap ignited and caused accumulation of flammable condensation on the bottom of the lid (not cap) to burn off.
Still scary there was anything resembling fire near the gas tank. Car fires spread FAST. In the summer of 1964 between high school and college I worked at Giant Market in Stroudsburg, PA as the kid who brought the carts in from the parking lot. There was a self service car wash across the street. One day I watched one of the local rich kids wash his 63 convert and start to drive away...........leaving a trail of burning gas on the pavement behind him. When he noticed what was happening, he pulled over and the fire caught up with him. Even though the fire department was only three blocks away, by the time they got there the car was toast.
the auto-ignition temperature I found for gasoline is 475 degrees. Seems in this case it would have needed something other than a hot day. The hole in the cover is extremely circular in shape. http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/fu...res-d_171.html
Maybe a spark from static electricity between the cap and cover....?
Brian
I think this is the most likely answer. Pulling the cover on charged the static electricity, and the heat buildup after that induced a static discharge.
Gasoline is very unstable. Most folks just don't know. Flash point is below 100* as diesl fuel and jet fuel is above 100. With that and he high heat I would suspect a lot of fumes. My guess would be a chemical reaction with the fibers of the cover and gas fumes. I would so think there where never flames at it would have gone into a blaze. That burn on the cover and scorching could be a chemical burn.
I have seen damage to a leather interior when a left a can of gas inside a car with no venelation. The leather shrunk wrinkeled and distorted.
Fire! A close call
