Well after a whole lot of work installing dual weber's (used, mistake #1 thought I would save some money) as well as a whole slew of other stuff to get my car ready for spring it all ended in a flaming goodbye.
Long story short, something was wrong with my carbs. backfire through one of the throats, caught the engine bay on fire. Carb on right side was leaking gas. Still don't know why. Cost me the car.
$100 fire extinguisher would have saved me my ride. Almost bought one but decided to wait until I had a little more cash...DON'T CUT CORNERS!!

Sorry for your loss buddy

That sucks Pete.

That sucks!!!!

Aw shit Pete - that's gotta hurt.

Oh man! That sucks! I am sorry for the loss! At least you are ok!! :cry:

nooooooo

Damn Pete. This REALLY sucks, what the hell is going on around here lately?


Let me know what happens with the car. Mike is now in need of a roller and you may need to dispose of a roller. If possible get the car back and we may be able to work something out

Horrific. That's the worst nightmare. At least you got out okay.

I've always had the impression that an engine fire would warp a car from the heat. But then again, I've seen people fix up burnt cars. Is yours just heading to the scrap yard, or are you going to at least pull a few parts off it?

Oh man, WTF is going on this month. Sorry for your loss

Man that sucks, sorry.

T

OMG


sorry

That sucks, big time.

Looks like the gas tank blew or caught, the way that lid is all tweaked.

My guess is the lid is tweaked because the firefighter cranked on it with his ax

Ayup, the FF used a large pickle fork to get to my gas tank to see if there was a leak when I crashed....that was when Noel started to cry

Sorry man! That really sucks!!

This is a good reminder that we should all have fire extinguishers in our cars. I am going to get one very soon.

EDIT: Before I drive my car again!

BALLS! You OK?

Big bummer, dude!
I would agree that the metal is probably not structurally sound with that much heat involved. Welp... I guess it's time to and build yourself a tube chasis racer! If you can at all avoid keeping it out of the scrap yard, do so. Sorry for your loss man. That sucks! Everyone be careful out there.
Mark D.

I dont know what to say, you and Mike in a matter of days, this is very troubling to me...

We are here for you if in need of counseling and support.

Mike I just read your post! Yea, this month sucks. I had comprehensive so Allstate has the car now. I don't know their intent with the car. I was poking around the junkyard. Grabbed some pics. Body really was in pretty good shape. But might be too far gone now...
The firefighters were having a blast wacking holes in the side of the car. I was cringing the whole time. I kept telling them to just use the trunk latch but instead they wrecked the hood. Just doing their job though...
Thanks for the support guys. I don't know what to do with myself in my free-time now. Didn't realize how much time I spent driving and working this car.
Learned a lot though. Can't put into words how disappointed I am.

That's heartbreaking, glad you are ok

Wow man.... That's just heartbreaking... Sorry to hear about this.

Glad you're OK. I'm glad I carry extinguishers in both my cars. That's downright scary.

OH MAN!! that frickin sucks!!

Sorry Pete

Ouch! That really sucks.

I carry a Halon 1211. See http://kansasfire.com/halon.php

Ed aka W9R1

That does suck. Dude I am sorry. It's settled I am not driving mine for a week!

holy sh*t!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sorry about your loss, and the other 914 that has passed away this month (evil's*)

funny how there was a tread about the fire extingisher going on. Cheap insurance i guess really is needed



sorry about the loss though, those pictures bring a tear to my eye.


glad you are (physically) alright

..

I beginning to think that an onboard fire system is what is needed, they are not that expensive compared to some of the parts we put in our cars and with the thought of totally losing the car to fire this maybe the best insurance.

http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/advcat.as...yID=FIRESYSTEMS

I'm soooo sorry for you. The bad news is that we've lost two cars this week. The good news is that we havn't lost any drivers or passengers. Although this is a sad loss, we should still say our blessings...

I deeply feel for your loss. I'm glad you were not injured.

A warning to those running Weber carbs....

Please check the lead plugs that seal the float bowls. (Each carb has 2 lead plugs)

I was lucky enough to have had one of these plugs come loose and fall out at a track event maybe 20 years ago. Luckier than that, another 914 guy (Rocky Rookie sp.) was there and actually had spare plugs with him. He said it was fairly common for the plugs to come loose, leak or fall out. He had me stake in the remaining plugs and helped me replace the missing one. He also suggested using epoxy to help insure that the plugs stayed in.

When the plug was out, there was perhaps a 1/4" stream of gas flowing from one of the carbs and it really stunk like gas. I am really glad there was no fire, and I'll never forget that guy who had spare plugs at Watkins Glen......

what a nightmare! sorry for your loss she looked so purty before too.

Jeez. Another one gone. I soooo sorry this has happened to you.

You know the help you'll get here, though. Glad you're alright.

Paul

sorry brother. totally sucks.
I had a 60' VW bus burn down on me and broke my heart.
Then I walked 12 miles to the next house.

yeah, I am not driving the 914 until May! I am really bummed for you man...

I have been dragging my feet a bit and finally started installing my fire system last weekend... well, no doubt this is motivation to get my shit together! I saw a car burn last year at the track and the track was unprepared to put it out so the car just burnt until there was nothing left to burn basically (by the time the local FD got out to the track and so forth).

What a bummer. This is exactly what I fear - losing a lot of investment both in money and time to a fire. My friend years ago had a beautiful 55 Chevy he restored with his dad when he was 16. He barely had it all finished and running when he was setting the points and somehow an arc sparked a fire (IIRC - this was in the 80s) and he damn near burnt the house down! He got it pushed out of the garage just as the flames were whipping up and started it on fire. He used the one extinguisher in the garage to save the garage and the car sat in the drive and burned away FD got there and put it out and when we were 30 he still had the car... sitting in the yard with the windshield still melted into the dash... waiting for the day to restore it again. Sad event so I empathize with you!

I can't even begin to imagine watching my baby burn and being helpless to stop it...

And that child molester won the lotto. Bad things happen to good people.

Sorry.

Damn! Good to see that you weren't hurt or burned. There doesn't seem to be much left of the engine and interior.

I've been putting off purchasing a fire extinguisher; until today. And I'm gonna drive real slow to get there.

Oh man, that's just awful. Sorry about your car.

Fire started out pretty small. Easily manageable with a single fire extinguisher. Had I had one the car would have been easily saved. Further, I would have had no other option but to install a Raby motor. DAMN!

Again, thanks everyone. I hope to be back...

Terrible Pete... just terrible.

It just seems to me for an investment of 400 bucks for an onboard fire system makes the most sense, some of us have sunk ++++$$$$ into our cars that we could never recover unless we are able to save it ourselves.
I am running over 100lbs of fuel pressure in my car now i would hate to see how fast a leak there could turn into a nightmare.

wow, what a disaster. what john stated is ABSOLUTELY on the mark. if the lead plugs on the inside of the carbs look like they are proud of the carb bodies, watch out!! they should be recessed a bit. when one lets go a steady stream of fuel pours directly on the center of the engine. like an open hose. happened to me last year. i smelled fuel while driving and shut it down. the whole center tin was puddles of gas. i stood and waited for the car to go up in flames. fortunately i wasn't on the freeway. i don't think a fire extinguiser would have saved car.

k

It's time to ground the fleet. Everyone needs to do a preflight check this weekend. Check the lugs, the suspension, tire inflation, look for leaks, and get a fire extinguisher. Let's be careful out there!

Sorry man, that sucks, glad you are okay!

good idea!

I'm actually not going to drive mine until i have at least 2 extinguishers in the car. I cant swing a fire system just yet, but my car tends to backfire out the carbs on occasion and i dont need this money pit going up in flames! too much time and effort to have it go up in smoke.

Sorry man, i would be pissed at the FF for just randomly beating on the car like that, but it was for his own safety so....

Sorry for your loss..... that REALLY sucks !!

Thanks for the reality check......I need to take action.

I've got the ubiquitous ABC fire extinguisher ....in my front trunk

Not too smart.

After reading this thread I just ordered a Halon extinguisher which I WILL mount in an accessible location IN the car.

I'll also check my Webers and fuel lines etc. this weekend.

In addition I will get rid of my presuure regulator/stock fuel pump setup...just asking for trouble.

I'd also like to replace the plastic fuel lines with the nice stainless ones soon too.

Tim

for your carbed car you only need to order the large line from chris unless the new low pressure pump has a return feature. rotary pump+stainless line+new soft lines should run you less than $130. pretty cheap when you look at the big picture.

k

Sorry for your loss Pete. Too sad for words.

I keep an extinguisher behind my seat. One of these small kitchen ones. For me this works because I drive with the seat a little forward. Probably won't work for a lot of taller drivers. Maybe we see some pictures of where you keep the extinguisher. I know I would prefer to have it more available. Pics anyone?