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Hello All Fuelie owners,
We have a 1962 Corvette Fuelie, the engine compartment caught on fire (fuel fire) this past weekend. My question is, does anyone out there, know of any shops in Southern California that works on these cars?
Car has been in our family for over 60 years (not 4 sale)
The car will obviously need it’s fuel injection unit rebuilt, engine compartment re- wired and paint
Thank You In Advance for any recommendations
Jermo
Maybe. Maybe not. See the picture below and I'll discuss the possibilities.
YELLOW arrow: For my money, this is the most likely place from which you will observe fuel leaking. A leak here is due to the failure of the pump shaft seal and/or wear of the pump shaft itself. A leak here will probably start out as a drip which you might not even notice due to evaporation if the engine is warm/hot. Even so, it will NOT get better on its own. If you see fuel moisture here under any conditions, I encourage you to get the FI unit to someone who is competent to repair the leak.
PURPLE arrow: Leaks here seldom happen spontaneously. Typically a leak here will happen if the high pressure pump has been R&R-ed to replace the pump shaft and seal BUT, the gasket surface of the fuel bowl has not been lapped back to being flat. Still, fuel moisture here is cause for alarm. If you detect it, get the FI unit to someone competent to repair the gasket surface.
RED arrow: I chose red for a reason because a leak here is a precursor to a catastrophic failure. Such a failure will manifest itself as fuel gushing out of the bowl and onto the HOT exhaust manifold!! If you see any moisture here, DON'T EVEN START THE ENGINE!!! That is an expansion plug and sealing depends on the pot metal fuel bowl maintaining its grip on the plug, something which will ALWAYS fail eventually. The only correct repair is replacement of the plug. Many will try to staunch the leak by slathering epoxy goop over the plug. What a joke!!!
ORANGE arrow: Any fuel here is more a symptom of a problem with the float in the bowl than of an actual leak. The bowl itself is being over filled with fuel. Even if the engine will run (unlikely), don't run it. Just get the FI to someone honest and competent.
Maybe. Maybe not. See the picture below and I'll discuss the possibilities.
YELLOW arrow: For my money, this is the most likely place from which you will observe fuel leaking. A leak here is due to the failure of the pump shaft seal and/or wear of the pump shaft itself. A leak here will probably start out as a drip which you might not even notice due to evaporation if the engine is warm/hot. Even so, it will NOT get better on its own. If you see fuel moisture here under any conditions, I encourage you to get the FI unit to someone who is competent to repair the leak.
PURPLE arrow: Leaks here seldom happen spontaneously. Typically a leak here will happen if the high pressure pump has been R&R-ed to replace the pump shaft and seal BUT, the gasket surface of the fuel bowl has not been lapped back to being flat. Still, fuel moisture here is cause for alarm. If you detect it, get the FI unit to someone competent to repair the gasket surface.
RED arrow: I chose red for a reason because a leak here is a precursor to a catastrophic failure. Such a failure will manifest itself as fuel gushing out of the bowl and onto the HOT exhaust manifold!! If you see any moisture here, DON'T EVEN START THE ENGINE!!! That is an expansion plug and sealing depends on the pot metal fuel bowl maintaining its grip on the plug, something which will ALWAYS fail eventually. The only correct repair is replacement of the plug. Many will try to staunch the leak by slathering epoxy goop over the plug. What a joke!!!
ORANGE arrow: Any fuel here is more a symptom of a problem with the float in the bowl than of an actual leak. The bowl itself is being over filled with fuel. Even if the engine will run (unlikely), don't run it. Just get the FI to someone honest and competent.
Maybe. Maybe not. See the picture below and I'll discuss the possibilities.
YELLOW arrow: For my money, this is the most likely place from which you will observe fuel leaking. A leak here is due to the failure of the pump shaft seal and/or wear of the pump shaft itself. A leak here will probably start out as a drip which you might not even notice due to evaporation if the engine is warm/hot. Even so, it will NOT get better on its own. If you see fuel moisture here under any conditions, I encourage you to get the FI unit to someone who is competent to repair the leak.
PURPLE arrow: Leaks here seldom happen spontaneously. Typically a leak here will happen if the high pressure pump has been R&R-ed to replace the pump shaft and seal BUT, the gasket surface of the fuel bowl has not been lapped back to being flat. Still, fuel moisture here is cause for alarm. If you detect it, get the FI unit to someone competent to repair the gasket surface.
RED arrow: I chose red for a reason because a leak here is a precursor to a catastrophic failure. Such a failure will manifest itself as fuel gushing out of the bowl and onto the HOT exhaust manifold!! If you see any moisture here, DON'T EVEN START THE ENGINE!!! That is an expansion plug and sealing depends on the pot metal fuel bowl maintaining its grip on the plug, something which will ALWAYS fail eventually. The only correct repair is replacement of the plug. Many will try to staunch the leak by slathering epoxy goop over the plug. What a joke!!!
ORANGE arrow: Any fuel here is more a symptom of a problem with the float in the bowl than of an actual leak. The bowl itself is being over filled with fuel. Even if the engine will run (unlikely), don't run it. Just get the FI to someone honest and competent.
I don’t have a Fuelie, but this reply is one of the top replies I’ve seen on this forum. Jim, “Thank You” for the detail explanations and pic!
Here is a comparison of the air meter sides of a 7320(60-61) and a 7360(62 only).
The most noticeable difference identifier is the Choke (enrichment housing).
The 60-61 housing is on the top of the air meter and it is on the side of the 62 air meter.
These are the best pictures I have.
That is NOT a '62 unit. It appears to be a "7320" unit, used in '60 and '61.
Not according to the seller. It shows Serial 2583 & Part 7017360 and has its original tag. Jim would know if this is correct for a 1962 corvette. $3500 is not a bad price. Would need to be rebuilt...
That is NOT a '62 unit. It appears to be a "7320" unit, used in '60 and '61.
Originally Posted by L76_Cpar
Not according to the seller. It shows Serial 2583 & Part 7017360 and has its original tag. Jim would know if this is correct for a 1962 corvette. $3500 is not a bad price. Would need to be rebuilt...
As presented, that is NOT a '62 unit.
If the tag indicates that it is a 7360 unit, then, at a minimum, the Air Meter has been changed and, from what I see, the doghouse (plenum) has been modified. At best, it is a mongrel assembly of parts.
If you have any other pictures, post'em and I'll tell you more.
Hello Jim, Thank You for all your professional advise on these cars though out the years! I really appreciate it.
as always when i drive my car I ALWAYS after the car starts I pop the hood and check for fuel leaks, as i did on Sunday morning. I took the car on my usual route about 5 miles and i was returning home, the car was running good, as i came up to at stop light the car backfired, stalled and caught fire. I quickly got my fire extinguisher popped the hood and put the fire out, damage to wiring harness, Hood, and i would imagine all the seals in the unit. I had the unit rebuilt 8 years ago by Jack Podell.
In your opinion what would you think caused the fuel leak to cause the fire?
Hello Jim, Thank You for all your professional advise on these cars though out the years! I really appreciate it.
as always when i drive my car I ALWAYS after the car starts I pop the hood and check for fuel leaks, as i did on Sunday morning. I took the car on my usual route about 5 miles and i was returning home, the car was running good, as i came up to at stop light the car backfired, stalled and caught fire. I quickly got my fire extinguisher popped the hood and put the fire out, damage to wiring harness, Hood, and i would imagine all the seals in the unit. I had the unit rebuilt 8 years ago by Jack Podell.
In your opinion what would you think caused the fuel leak to cause the fire?
Thank You in advance for you’re thoughts
Jermo
Thanks for the kind words, Jermo.
Without more information and some pictures of the FI, I can't say with any certainly what went wrong. Too, your rebuilder is known to employ "unusual" repair tactics which expand the possibilities considerably.
That said, given the sudden appearance of the fire and its size, my hunch is that the expansion plug on the side of the fuel meter (RED arrow in my previous picture) may have popped out. If that plug came out, that would have resulted in a huge amount of fuel being pumped onto the exhaust manifold. A fire would almost certainly be the result
I've seen units from your rebuilder which, in lieu of proper repair, have dollops of epoxy glop (technical term) covering that expansion plug. That's a horrible way to attempt retaining and sealing that plug. Horrible!!!!!
Take a look at these two pictures which show epoxied plugs. Do you remember your FI unit looking anything like either one?
Without more information and some pictures of the FI, I can't say with any certainly what went wrong. Too, your rebuilder is known to employ "unusual" repair tactics which expand the possibilities considerably.
That said, given the sudden appearance of the fire and its size, my hunch is that the expansion plug on the side of the fuel meter (RED arrow in my previous picture) may have popped out. If that plug came out, that would have resulted in a huge amount of fuel being pumped onto the exhaust manifold. A fire would almost certainly be the result
I've seen units from your rebuilder which, in lieu of proper repair, have dollops of epoxy glop (technical term) covering that expansion plug. That's a horrible way to attempt retaining and sealing that plug. Horrible!!!!!
Take a look at these two pictures which show epoxied plugs. Do you remember your FI unit looking anything like either one?
[img alt="To me after examining the unit more, it looks like in the picture attached the o ring on the drive cable might have gave out because the drive cable is scorched black due to the cause of the fire.
"]https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.corvetteforum.com-vbulletin/2000x1504/image_583edc3c8ba2b7808c87ca7399b6910821 b23095.jpg[/img] To me after examining the unit more, it looks like in the picture attached the o ring on the drive cable might have gave out because the drive cable is scorched black due to the cause of the fire.
To me after examining the unit more, it looks like in the picture attached the o ring on the drive cable might have gave out because the drive cable is scorched black due to the cause of the fire.
I see the blackened drive cable casing. However, nothing about that casing relates to fuel sealing at all. There is a seal in the tubular extension of the high pressure pump (YELLOW arrow in my picture) and that's as far rearward as fuel can go.
What I notice is that there is more damage to the sheath on the temp sender wire toward the front of the engine. That suggests to me that is where the fire was likely to have been the most intense.
Can you make some pictures of the area at the front of the fuel bowl with some better lighting? (Better == brighter, uniformly lit, no bright spots, no shadows)
62 Fuelie fuel fire
begee22
