eye candy, fire extinguisher

Gary Knox

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Jesus (et al),

I do not give a 'blank' whether it is period correct or not. It is critically important - in my opinion - for anyone driving an older or high performance car to have one on board. It was mandatory to have one accessible to the driver in my High Performance Driving Program with Porsche. I've known 4 people whose engine caught fire in 'normal driving/activities' and ended up with 10-20K US$ in damages to their car as a result. I will always have one in three of my cars - e9, e31, and the SL55 AMG. I use 2.5 lb Halon extinguishers (put out the fire, and there is no mess) and mount them on the vertical panel on the front bottom of the back seat. Readily accessible to the driver in that location.

Just a suggestion to all on this forum - seriously consider what you'll do if you do have a gasoline fire in the engine compartment (or the power steering hose ruptures, and that fluid catches fire).

Happy AND SAFE motoring.

Gary-
 

Mal CSL 3.0

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Whilst a fire extinguisher is a mandatory legal requirement if you want to track your car (at least legally required by CAMS the motorsport confederation in Australia - dont know about other countries).

But would there be much chance of needing an extinguisher in the average road going E9 (or any other classic car). Is an E9 more prone to engine fires vs other classic cars?
 
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Stevehose

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Old cars must have a higher than average chance of fire. I have one under front of passenger seat

Whilst a fire extinguisher is a mandatory legal requirement if you want to track your car (at least legally required by CAMS the motorsport confederation in Australia - dont know about other countries).

But would there be much chance of needing an extinguisher in the average road going E9 (or any other classic car). The chance of a fire must be 1 in a million? So I am always curious to see people who have these in their cars?
 

bluecoupe30!

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Whilst a fire extinguisher is a mandatory legal requirement if you want to track your car (at least legally required by CAMS the motorsport confederation in Australia - dont know about other countries).

But would there be much chance of needing an extinguisher in the average road going E9 (or any other classic car). Is an E9 more prone to engine fires vs other classic cars?
Hmmm, well just what have you got to lose...cost of extinguisher if you never use it, or perhaps great damage if you do need it and do not have one? Needless to say, I carry one.
 

deQuincey

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Jesus (et al),

I do not give a 'blank' whether it is period correct or not. It is critically important - in my opinion - for anyone driving an older or high performance car to have one on board. It was mandatory to have one accessible to the driver in my High Performance Driving Program with Porsche. I've known 4 people whose engine caught fire in 'normal driving/activities' and ended up with 10-20K US$ in damages to their car as a result. I will always have one in three of my cars - e9, e31, and the SL55 AMG. I use 2.5 lb Halon extinguishers (put out the fire, and there is no mess) and mount them on the vertical panel on the front bottom of the back seat. Readily accessible to the driver in that location.

Just a suggestion to all on this forum - seriously consider what you'll do if you do have a gasoline fire in the engine compartment (or the power steering hose ruptures, and that fluid catches fire).

Happy AND SAFE motoring.

Gary-

gary. it is a sound advice, but with some constraints
i have been head of a research team in fire safety eng. dealing with buildings and tunnels, and a automotive mech eng. by degree, i know how easy is a fire to start in a car and how fast it progresses, and how difficult to put out, and how risky to do when a certain spread has occurred (particularly to open the hood when there is a fire inside)
eye candy is one thing, but those old fire extinguishers are dead for sure
additionally the rate of failure of conventional f.e. is higher than 40%
halon is great, but it is forbidden here in europe, you know environmental things, climate change, ...do not mention it to the POTUS or he will send a couple tomahawk your way ;-)
i rely on the other gas torch pictured in this thread, and i have a pair of nomex gloves together with it
drive conciously, smell and pay attention to smoke, you will only have seconds to react before is too late
20k might be a high price for fire damages, but your life is more precious
my advice, whatever method you have to put out a fire, try it first in controlled conditions, just to see how it should work, and this is useful for all the family too, firebrigades make regular demos and exercises to citizens
regards
 

Gary Knox

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Jesus,
Fully agree on the safety aspects. I am not a trained fireman, nor safety engineer. I 'was' a PhD chemist, turned technical/business manager. The company where I worked for 31 years was the MOST safety concerned company in the US, having started as an explosives company in 1803. We had monthly safety meetings, and frequently focused on fires. Everyone personally used a fire extinguisher to address an actual fire twice a year. IF one has to choose between losing a car and becoming a human torch, I HIGHLY recommend losing the car.
Cheers,
Gary
 
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