Through my general askance about the dangers of mixing acid and water,
several people this side of the pond reminded me of a 'chemical incident'
which I highlighted in my serialized article on the use of alcohol racing
fuels and their components in Triumph Over Triumph magazine. As it was
found to be amusing, I though the FOT group might appreciate it.
One of my father's greatest friends was a wonderfully eccentric and
marvelous man called Rupert Instone M.B.E. who was dearly loved by everyone
who knew him. 'Roop,' as we called him, owned a well respected engineering
business in Coventry and lived about three hundred yards down our road. He
built and raced three very fast single seater 'hillclimb' specials, the
last of which was the 'Djinn.' This car had a 1000cc supercharged JAP
engine, and no differential as Roop thought this was cheating. It also ran
on alcohol racing fuel - ever known as 'bang water.'
One of many hilarious stories I have about dear old Roop concerns an old
rusty tin of racing fuel he found in his garage one morning. When he took
the lid off, the contents appeared to change colour in a threatening
manner. He replaced the lid and walked round to our house where my father
Ken was wrestling with a hard boiled egg breakfast and a hangover. Roop
said, "We've got a problem mate" and explained his experience with the tin.
Ken replied, "I haven't got a problem mate because the tin's not in my
garage."
Eventually, Roop persuaded Ken to take a look at the tin and I tagged along
as well. Ken carefully opened it and detected ether, which is highly
volatile. As the other fuel components had long been forgotten, Ken became
equally nervous of the tin (Roop was well known for experimenting with some
highly dangerous fuels-including nitro methane, which in pure form can
become 'shock sensitive'). Eventually, Ken persuaded Roop to carefully tip
the contents of the tin into a tin bath full of water to denature it.
Agreeing to do the necessary later, Roop took us to his patio where he
served a few stiff pink gins which were amiably consumed in the summer
sunshine.
- The explosion happened early the next morning.
Roop, in his wisdom, had decided to tip the contents of the tin directly
down the storm drain outside his house. Ignition was caused by the
unsuspecting postman who flicked a cigarette end down the drain cover.
After levering back the broken drain cover, Roop served the severely
shocked postman with some hot sweet tea. He then advised the postman to
take the matter up with the Coventry City Council as the explosion had
doubtless been caused by methane gas due to rotting vegetation in the
pipeline!!
Paul
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