http://www.vetteworksonline.com/cata...ex.php?cPath=1

 

Here's one no one has mentioned; I guess it only happens to me . . . I'm not surprised Right after I bought my car, I noticed water leaking on the passenger side carpet from the firewall. OK, heater core leaking, I'll disconnect the hoses and by-pass for now. I pulled the hoses off intake & water pump and installed a by-pass hose.

All was good until the "dangling" hoses, still connected to heater core, rubbed against the headers. I was test driving the car, pulled into the garage and noticed smoke coming out from under the hood and first thought it was a busted radiator hose. I popped the hood and a big ball of fire shot up out of the engine. All I could think about was not only my car buring to the ground, but also my house. Luckily I had a fire extinguisher in garage and put the fire out. I was beside myself about the car damage until I realized the fiberglass fenders only had superficial damage from soot. I got LUCKY!!! What if I had not been at home? Since then, I always carry a fire extinguisher in my vette.

 

My recent experience with fire was from a power steering hose that blew!
Shot the fluid right onto the header. It made quite a flash, and no real damage. Just a big mess to clean up. Keep a fire extinguisher handy always.

 

what have you guys done to protect your aircleaners from catching fire from a carb backfire?
I had planned on using my K&N round aircleaner with K&N x-tream filter top but don't have any backfire protection.
Any ideas?

 

This happened to me. I used to smoke (thank God I no longer smoke) but:

I had just installed brand new ACC carpet from Ecklers. New dash components, console, etc.
The car was looking great. I was soo stoked to be driving the new interiored Vette

I grab an American Spirit cigarette to "reward" myself for a great job redoing the interior. I light it up, pull hard on the first drag....switch the cigarette from the left hand to the right hand so I can roll the window.. "Dwoiiip" the MF'ing cigarette falls out of my hand and into the tight little crevace between the freshly re-done seat and my even fresher brand new carpet.. ..I am driving 45mph on a main thoroughfare with no shoulder...."F*&K!!!" As I am frantically trying to jam my hands into this little spot to crush the "cherry" while driving & swerving, I begin to smell that all to familiar smell of burning carpet
The smell is worse & I can see the smoke already coming up from under my seat...D@MN! I finally get off the road & pull into a convenience store. I plead with the person to let me have a cup of water...Run out to the car & just start dumping water all over the seats, new carpet & center console.


I am happy to report that I quit smoking 4 days after that happened!

 

2 yrs. ago a very stupid mechanic (insert my name here) did a brake job on my '79 at a friend's garage.....the last thing to do was replace the mc and when stupid mechanic (insert my name here again) was finished, he did a road test...about 5 mins. later the rag that the stupid mechanic ( you know whom I'm referring to ) left under the mc, to catch any brake fluid, caught fire on a busy street.....fire was put out quickly by brave person,( guess who), and no damage was done....the stupid mechanic got a swift kick in the butt by my friend when I came back to tell him what just happened....... jim....

 

Solid LT1...any comments? Anyone?

 

So So Sad!!!

 

Back in the 70's when I had my 69 Vette. I was sitting at a light and smelled gas. Pulled off the road and popped the hood. The Rochester 4MV and two ways to supply fuel to it. GM used one and put a lead plug in the other. The lead plug was leaking. I later read in a magazine that Vettes were having problems with fires from the plug falling out.

 

Working under the hood, Left a Piece of rag tucked under the master cylinder, the Headers caught it on fire while I was driving. Burned the wiring harness and minor quarter panel damage by the time I got it put out.