Exhaust flames
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Joined: Sep 2006
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From: Beckley WV
Exhaust flames
I thought that that title might get some attention. I have a question. My uncle installed a system on his '50 Mercury where flames will shoot out of his exhaust on command. Have any of you ever modified your Corvette's exhaust to do this?? I've heard of people plumbing a small propane tank to the exhaust for this purpose in other hotrods. My uncle says his does not use propane, but rather (if I understood this right) his sort of stalls the engine and I guess that results in raw fuel in the exhaust........hit some sort of ignitor and whammo...flames. Sounds dangerous, but cool as hell! His has hydraulic snake heads with open mouths that slide out the back and then spew the flames before pulling back. My Vette won't be numbers matching and I want to do a few modifications to it and thought this was neat. I'm planning a few body modifications and some other nifty things. What do you guys think. I know it's just a show thing, but hey....why not?
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2006
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From: Columbia Missouri
Check with you local authorities. In almost every state I can think of a Police Officer would probably nail you for flaming in public. It's not safe to the car or anyone or anything around the car when it does this. Sure looks cool, and a local guy has a Hot Rod truck with flames. He has spark plugs in the tail pipes, and a dual position switch. One setting kills power to the IGN for a second...long enough to send a lot of unburnt fuel through the exhaust. The other switch send power to the spark plug, and he floors it. Whammo...lots of fire.
It's not too hard to do to any car or truck, but be very careful and look into it very seriously before you ever commit to doing it.
It's not too hard to do to any car or truck, but be very careful and look into it very seriously before you ever commit to doing it.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Jun 2004
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From: I tend to be leery of any guy who doesn't own a chainsaw or a handgun.
I built an oscillator and coil controller for a buddy of mine who wanted to do the same thing. On carb'd vehicles they usually kill the ignition for a while to pump raw fuel and air into the exhaust. It certainly works, but you have to keep cycling the ignition switch. I was curious to see if you just run the engine rich for this period (choked or wider pulsewidth injection) and then plumb in an electric air injection pump from a '90's Corvette, would this accomplish the same thing (fuel and air hitting the spark plugs) without having to keep shutting the engine ignition off. Would this put out a steady flame like a jet engine? The exhaust flow should keep the actual flame away from the bodywork, but there still would be the radiant heat issue. Would this work well? Don't know. Haven't had an opportunity to try it yet.
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2006
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From: Fishers IN
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Redondo Beach, California
I remember seeing a flammer kit for sale. I suppose you could find the name of the manufacturere with a Google search. The kit's operating principle was pretty simple. It included a small electric pump that squirted fuel into the end of the exhaust pipe and ignited the gas with a spark plug. I get the impression this thing was targeted at the low rider crowd. i
Seems like a good way to get rid of people riding your bumper, but it might be a little bit of overkill. Also, I imagine there's a vortex/whirlpool wind pattern behind your car. You might burn some paint.
Seems like a good way to get rid of people riding your bumper, but it might be a little bit of overkill. Also, I imagine there's a vortex/whirlpool wind pattern behind your car. You might burn some paint.
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2007
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From: Kalamazoo Mi
http://www.hotlicksexhaust.com/ i have herd that theses guys are reliable. Thought about doing this set up on a street rod. I do hear that you do need to change the oil more frequently as you are pushing raw gas through. It depends on how often you use it.
Racer
Joined: Jul 2007
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From: Visalia CA
this is something i plan on doing to my hot-rod truck but not my vette. It is cool though. The problems lie in that your killing your engine and pumping gas through it without burning it. This means lots of gas in places it wasn't meant to go including the oil. Do one good fire fest free for all, better change your oil if you want your engine to last at all. You can also damage your valves by doing this. Also, the flames are not huge or anything spectacular. If you want huge flames fuel injectors or propane injection is the way to go, just be careful. I want to do this on my truck like i said and I will have plenty of places to hide and store all the equipment, I don't know where you would put all this on a vette. Also, my truck won't be "fast" so the extra weight isn't an issue. I wouldn't want to add all that weight to my vette.
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From: Beckley WV
I wasn't tossing the idea around to impress my friends necessarily.....or maybe I was?! I'll have a Vette with plenty of impressiveness without the exhaust flames. I just thought it was neat on the hotrods I've seen and wanted to check to see if any of you have tried it on a Vette and how it worked out or didn't work out. From what I've read....probably a bit more dangerous than I'm wanting to try with a car that I will have dropped a load of cash on building the engine and not to mention the risks of ruining some not too cheap paint / fiber glass. Thanks guys. I appreciate the input.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2006
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From: Wilmington DE, Drive it like you stole it, 68 327 4 speed coupe
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 8,319
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From: Wilmington DE, Drive it like you stole it, 68 327 4 speed coupe
Instructor
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From: St Louis Missouri
I put a flame kit on my 75 Bronco when I was in college. The key to mine was a manual choke. Just like previously mentioned, a three way switch cut the ignition power and powered to spark plugs that were in the exhaust tips. With the manual choke, I could control the size and color of the flames it was sweet, and scared the **** out of more then one tailgater.
Racer
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 402
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From: Nassau
I think its more useful to use it to keep your car safe like they do in South Africa 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDRme...ch%3Cbr%20/%3E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDRme...ch%3Cbr%20/%3E
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 1999
Posts: 2,897
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From: Moon Township PA
I saw a section on TV on one of those shade tree mechanic programs where they did this.
The gist of it was they plumbed a fuel line, with a solenoid control, to the tail pipes. They added a spark plug to each tail pipe and an ignition control. Of course, they made it look easy but I would suggest that, unless you have extraordinary skills, plumbing up an extra fuel line could be quite dangerous.
Gary
The gist of it was they plumbed a fuel line, with a solenoid control, to the tail pipes. They added a spark plug to each tail pipe and an ignition control. Of course, they made it look easy but I would suggest that, unless you have extraordinary skills, plumbing up an extra fuel line could be quite dangerous.
Gary
