Luck was with me today! Had a carburetor fire today under the hood of the 70 GS 455 convertible in my garage after I had swapped carbs. Went to start it and all hell broke loose. Jumped out of the car and tried to smother it with a blanket(make do fender cover), no luck. Tried the fire extingusher I carry in the car, it won't work. Pushed the car halfway out the garage and grabbed a bucket and poured water on it. Of course by then the blanket is on fire, so throw blanket on ground and more water. I finally was able to put out the fire. I didn't panic but I was pretty scared as the GSX was in the garage also. I could envision me losing both cars and the house possibly. I haven't moved that fast in a long time! What caused it? Well, yesterday I changed out the original carb for a John Osborne built carb to drive it to a body shop to get an estimate on body work and paint. Wanted to see how it worked. It performed good except for a slight bog off idle( This was probably due to old plug wires, etc.)Today I put the original carb back on it but neglected to final check the fitting from the pump to the carb. It was only finger tight. I did make a visual inspection but forgot that it was only finger tight. When I hit the starter, gas ran down the fuel line by the distributor and was ignited by a spark at that point. Boy did I relearn a valuable lesson! Be careful and check your work ou: I got off easy on this. I.m going to have to replace the plug wires, repair the wiring harness, and of course claen up the mess. Moral of story: Double check your work! Attached is a picture of the damage. Larry
Halon extiguishers can still be bought through an aircraft parts supplier. e.g., www.aircraftspruce.com( search under the word Halon) They do the great job without the residue. Yes pricy but when you need one the price will seem small. So glad it woked out. That is scary.
Larry - I'm glad you and everyone (and everything) are OK! The fire extinguisher I use is 'Fire Freeze', and comes in a can I keep in the glove box. I think it was around $15 a can. Just another option - www.firefreeze.com
Larry, You gave me the shivers on this one. I DID THE EXACT SAME THING on my 70 many years ago. In the garage with cars behind in, just put in a 455, loose carb fitting and tried to start it with no air cleaner. Cranked it and one pop through the carb and poof, it went up. Rubber hoses and spark plug wires went up in flash. Had a blanket around too and did the same thing. But I couldn't push the car out as there were cars behind it. Luckily a neighbor heard me screaming "FIRE" and grabbed the garden hose. No real damage except the hoses and wires. The lesson I learned is check your work on fuel systems and ALWAYS have the air cleaner in place when things are changed in either the fuel or ignitions systems. Glad things turned out ok for you, Mark
Jim, & Marco, Thanks for the info. I'm defineitly going to buy another fire extinguisher. Mark, I had the air cleaner in place but the fire started at the distributor. The thing is, I saw a small puff of smoke right before the flames started but thought nothing of it unfortunately. I was lucky. Larry
I did the same thing when I swapped carbs on my new BB this summer. Luckily no fire, but boy, there was enough gas on the intake for quite a blaze. Scared the crap out of me after the fact. I think I'll be doing that kinda stuff outside the gaage from now on.:spank:
Hi Larry, glad to hear that everything is OK. Is the vert a new project? When you get it all together maybee I will take this one off your hands too. :grin: Tell your wife that Todd and I said hi and we look forward to seeing you again this summer.
Hi Chris, Not a new project. I've owned it since 1996. Extremely original unmolested GS 455 convt. It needs work, left quarter, top, carpet, most of the usual stuff. I've had the trunk replaced already. I have paperwork with it. Protect-o-plate, body broadcast sheet, and it's 72K mile car with, PS,PB, Tilt, PT, A/C, AM-FM, Bucket seats with automatic on the column. See attached pic. I'll tell Carol that you and Todd said Hi. She'll be pleased. Look forward to seeing this summer, also. Take care. Larry
:eek2: Glad to hear you and the car are 'OK'.. I don't understand the deal with the extinguisher not working though. It wouldn't operate at all, or it wouldn't put the fire out?? Was it Class B (gasoline) rated? I TOTALLY agree with flynbuick with his recommendation of getting a Halon fire extinguisher! Halon is MUCH cleaner leaving NO residue! It also is ALOT more dependable and reliable than typical ABC dry chemical. http://www.h3r.com/products/a1600.htm Don't forget eBay! http://search.ebay.com/search/searc...&newu=1&krd=1?keyword=halon+fire+extinguisher
I'm glad nothing worse happened! My first 455 "hiccuped" and spewed firey gas on my friends neck when we were in high school. We were being VERY DUMB. He was pouring gas in the carb while I was cranking it. He ended up with some scars, but only a few. I tackled him with a blanket and put him out almost immediately. Another friend lost his Camaro about 2 years ago. He was in a hurry installing a new carb to go racing that morning.....Same thing... loose fitting, and his entire engine bay was flaming before he could do anything. He emptied 2 extinguishers on it and it was still on fire. The fire department showed up in less than 6 minutes, yet he still pretty much lost his whole front clip. He was/is so depressed by what happened, he still hasn't fixed the car.
The fire extinghisher(Class B) didn't work because I didn't operate it properly. It has a two piece handle that has to be squeezed to activate it. I tried it again after I calmed down and cleaned up the mess and it works but I am still going to look into the Halon extinguisher. When my wife came home, she asked why I didn't call the fire department and I told her I felt that by the time they would get here it would be too late. I rounded up all of the parts to fix it today. Plug wires, distributop cap, vacuum hoses, etc. I'll be working on it tomorrow after I refill my propane tank for the garage heater. Thanks for the support, Larry
