Hot Rods Fire sucks!!!!!!!!!

Fuel line came unseated and sprayed directly on the distributor. Could have been much worse. Starting to get it back to running shape.

So always have a fire extinguisher ready!!!!!!

 

Sorry to see that .

 

Those pictures are a good reminder for all of us. It certainly could have been much worse.

 

Glad you saved it, Randy. Hate fire around cars...
My job was 'fireman' at a Buick agency in the '60s.
The guys called me that after getting 3 'fire jobs'. Worst was the '64 Riviera...must have had 3 miles of wiring. AGGH!

 

Sorry to hear it Randy. Glad it's saveable.....and no-one was hurt.

 

wow, that sucks!

today's fire prevention tip: make sure to flare the end of the steel tube, so the rubber line can't slip off. The first step of a double flare operation works great.

 

Good point.
I also have another suggestion learned when I was inspecting for Volvo-GM heavy truck.
When attaching hose clamps use TWO at EACH connection. Run them opposite. By that I mean like this.

 

I remember Randy posting about his fire and I went out that day and bought a huge fire extinguisher to carry with me,also with the ethanol used in gasoline today it is a good ide to change your gas lines to the type used with diesel engines. HRP

 

Bummer. Guess it could have been worse.

 

Sorry to see that damage to your ride. Please, while you are doing repairs get rid of that glass inline fuel filter,
and seeing it against the alternator bracket is even worse yet!
A friend lost his newly redone Mustang because the filter broke and dumped gas everywhere before it caught fire. The results were a total loss of the car.
Glad to see you caught the fire before it got out of hand!
KK

 

Sorry to see that. Glad to here that you're getting it back in shape. But please get rid of that glass fuel filter assembly they tend to leak like crazy.

 

I'll be checking mine for sure!!! That's terrible. I carry a fire extinguisher in my DD truck, and had to use it one time on someone else's car fire. When the fire dept showed up, and the fire was out, I got some dirty looks. When I asked them where I could get my fire extinguisher recharged, they all played dumb. ??????????????????? True story, and they were a Snohomish County Fire Service, that I somewhat knew from my work at the hospital. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

What would you recommend?

 

Good save and I'm glad your ok. did it happen inside the garage?

 

5/16" use Wix 33032

3/8" use Wix 33033

 

Thanks @lothiandon1940 and @squirrel. I get it now, anything glass can break, I sure do like how the gas looks going though them when the car runs but FIRE SUCKS. Thanks again guys.

 

and vibrations can cause them to unscrew on either end. And the o rings on either end can leak.

 

I had a gas fire under the hood on a vehicle last summer. It burned the paint on the hood and damaged three wiring harnesses, along with a myriad of other things. It took two 10 pound fire extinguishers to get it out. When the first one was emptied I was pretty sure I was going to loose the vehicle. It pays to not give up. Ended up being less damage than it looks like Blacktop has. Fixed and driving again.

That was the worst underhood fire I'd ever been involved with. It wasn't my vehicle but it happened on my watch.

My takaway from that experience was that you can't have too many fire extinguishers and if there is any hope at all, try and put it out. In most cases the fire dept. won't get there in time to save it. Oh, and, FIRE SUCKS.

To re-state what has already been said, always flare a steel line you are going to put a rubber hose on, and yes, please, use a steel cased fuel filter. Both very good insurance.

 

Caught a 57 Chevy on fire years ago, fuel line came off filter and sprayed until it went up in flames. Ran on the gas in the carb, got it put out and fixed it but was never right afterwards. Had wiring issues but didn't replace loom inside the car and had damage to it too. Looks like you were lucky, glad you were able to save the car.

 

I run a GM filter for an 88 Chevy pu. You will need metric oring fittings that I get at the wrecking yard. Put the filter under the car. On the fuel line rubber hose fitting I use clamps for fuel injection. That way you only need one clamp after the dog knot on the steel lines.

 

Another small fuel line tip is make sure the line , lines up with the inlet on the carb. If you have a bend in the rubber line that is an area where it can crack and spray out....on a Ford it usually sprays right at the distributor cap. The picture that BG posted has a good "bad example" of what I'm talking about.

 

I always run steel gas lines from the fuel pump to the carb. I only use rubber lines to go from the frame to the fuel pump to allow for engine movement. An underhood fire will burn rubber gas lines up and increase the intensity of the fire. Just saying....

 

I'm glad no one was hurt. I ran one of those glass filters on an off topic car when I was in high school. It came loose and sprayed gas all over the engine. I was tuning the car up at the time and was lucky enough to shut things down before I had a fire. I cringe every time I see one.

 

Sad to see that.
Those take apart glass filters are notorious for taking themselves apart or leaking. From what I have seen they leak more than actually break. I had an ot truck that I bought for cheaps that came with one that got replaced when I saw it leaking a few drops.

The fuel line does need to have that ball (dog knot) formed on the end of it with your double flare tool to keep the hose from slipping off too. You don't even need a high quality flare tool to do that.

 

Diddo on glass fuel filters Friend lost his car to fire years ago due to these

 

Lothiandon1940 has it right. Use those disposable metal filters. Learned my lesson a long time ago with those glass filters.

 

Similar thing happened to me when I was 15 building my first hot rod. Lesson learned? When rebuilding a Holley Carb make sure all the parts go back in the carb. I forgot to put the fuel transfer tube between the bowls in. It was late evening, car half in the garage with the door open, got in the car, cranked, and cranked until the HEI ignited it. Fuel ran off the intake, under the car. down the driveway. I put it in neutral, rolled it back and had the extinguisher handy and extinguished the flames. Damage was mostly to the wiring, replacing some wiring, cleaning the residue, repainting some motor parts, and buffing the paint. Lucky that the house or car didn't have more damage.

 

Good save. I also had a glass filter break. Luckily no fire but that got changed to steel one. Snowman

 

No rubber hose and screw clamps. You can get fuel line and fittings at any good parts house and a bender and flare tool at HF plenty good quality for how much we would use it. Make pattern with coat hangers... it's not rocket science and really improves the look under the hood.