Great idea-
But still my big question is:
What about vandels grabbing a FE from an open car and making mischief?
Maybe I'm just paranoid since my car being vandalised last June-but...
My other concern being the affect of heat (and the cockpit sure does get hot
in a so. Cal summer!) on the FE? Last August, on a ride through the
Valley-the outside temp was well over 100o, I had the heater on to keep the
engine at 3/4 -so, go figure how hot it was for me in the drivers seat-How
hot was it? It was so hot, my fingers went NUMB! What would a couple of
hours in that sort of heat do to a FE mounted just under the glove shelf-and
so close to the source of much of that heat. Or even next to the brace on
the floor of the passenger side seat. (That's where I keep my take out-to
keep it warm on the way home, btw.)
Laura G.
Vita brevis est: rapide agite, vigore strigate!
----- Original Message -----
From: Dave Terrick <dterrick@home.com>
To: <spitfires@autox.team.net>
Sent: Friday, March 17, 2000 1:50 PM
Subject: favorite fires and extingusher location - long and huorous
>
> All:
>
> Happy St. Patrick's Day! Our sports car club meeting was it the local
Irish
> Association last night, and I must say I've never seen a room so full of
> fresh kegs o' Guinness! Seriously. We have met there for many years and
I
> have never been witness to EACH line being flushed, rinsed, and tapped wit
> the fresh stuff (never worked in the bar, though! :) )
>
> Now, the two subjects, from personal experience.
>
> The fire extinguisher issue is easy. Ahead of the passenger seat, behind
> the crossbrace. A standard 2a 5bc handheld will fit nicely and will not
> roll around much in a car with later heats. Early cars may need the
> bracket. This was my preferred location when racing, as I could reach the
> bottle when strapped into the racing seat and harness.
>
> Now, the fires. I've had two, one in the GT6 and one in the TR4a.
>
> 1987. Kid has just turned 19 and is proudly driving his rust-primer-red
> (several different shades) TR4a in the local solo II race - the big one
that
> gets video taped, of course. The car has been, shall we say, neglected
> (only had 55k mi, had been sitting, rotting in a damp garage since 1977!),
> but my times in stock class were good. I was into this (just the
beginning
> of my racing career) and flailing around quite hard in the stock
> non-retractable 3 point seatbelts and stock steering wheel, flimsy.
>
> The light switch gets flicked on in a hard corner. Several turns later, a
> baaaad and very unfamiliar smell..... the rheostat has decided to turn the
> entire string of gauge light wiring into a kind-of-electric BBQ lighter -
> all smoke and glow but no flames.
>
> Yikes!!!! I'm on the far side of the course, and nobody had really SEEN
the
> smoke (who would watch a rusty TR4a?). By the time the fire "had not
> started", the hood had been semi-pried open, the battery cable cut, and
the
> better part of a 10abc bottle spewed under dash.
>
> 5 miles home, in tow behind Dad's car. Looked like I'd been dipped in
> pollen!
>
> (note: the car suffered worse later, but this was the escapade that
caused
> me to buy the 2a5bc bottle)
>
> Lucas1, Terrick naught.
>
> Round 2.
>
> Gimli, MB. One month to the day after the Big Crash at same location.
Sept
> 1998.
>
> ...and all that remains of the original GT6 racer is the tub. Most of a
> parts car was sandblasted and epoxy painted as spares. Maybe 80 hours of
my
> time has gotten the car back together after "Last Rites" was given in turn
1
> (The Healey has still not see a spanner thrown at it!). The car should be
> happy, right?
>
> It's about 40 deg F, rainy and windy. Perfect LBC weather, if you own a
> GT6. The car should be happy, right? I've just finished my final CFP
exam
> and am on the way to a Large Beer at the race track. Boy, Is Everyone
Going
> To Be Surprised to se MY Car here under it's own power !!! Am I right to
> have thought that thought?
>
> Without a word of a lie the following happened exactly as told.
>
> Turning off the main highway, there is 2 miles of blacktop, then a turn
into
> the old WW2 Airport racetrack - a 1/2 mile gravel road. You can see the
> track as soon as you pass the hangars - about 1/2 way up the blacktop.
>
> Aaaaah, home.... turn onto the
blacktop....2nd....3rd......4th.......what's
> that smell?!?!?!?! Yes, you guessed it, an electrical fire. But this car
> has a kill switch, so I did. Quickly. All that was lost was the stereo
and
> the fuel pump wire.
>
> Yes, fuel pump wire. This is a Racing Car, remember. It came with a
Facet
> Blue top and Aeroquip stainless lines. And it needs electricity to run
but
> the power wire is melted into little pools on the carpet (unfused (read
your
> comp.prep book), a dead short turned it into a mini-welder). The fuel in
> the bowls got me off the highway and about half way down the gravel.
>
> So I find myself arriving at the gate, soaked to the bone and freezing
cold,
> requesting a tow into the pits (now flooded). And I was greeted with
> surprise, but certainly not for the anticipated reason!
>
>
> The Moral of the stories? Street cars are not Race Cars. Nor vice versa.
> Even a Lucas fuse can be seen in a good light sometimes. Interior mounted
> kill switches can save the use of an extinguisher. And yes, extinguishers
> are messy but they work.
>
> Dave T
> Winterpeg (again, sorry to report)
>
>
>
>
>
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