Insurance/Fire Warning

[SprintMWU773V]

We had a car for sale on commission at work late last year, a beautiful 1964 Austin Healey 3000. It was absolutely perfect in finish and had many performance upgrades, all done by our talented people here. We didn't actually sell it in the end and the car was transported to someone else and they sold it.

Anyway we had some pictures of the car sent to us today by the new owner. The first was a picture that he took the day he picked the car up, followed by several others taken the day afterwards. The latter pictures showed this stunning (and £80k+) car completely burnt out. Seems the Weber carbs had blown back, set the air filter under the bonnet alight and the fire spread and engulfed the whole car, it's a total write off.

Seems the people who sold him the car didn't explain the pitfalls of fiery triple Webers on a fast road car, nor did he have a fire extinguisher. I've no idea whether the owner had agreed value insurance but this should serve as a reminder to 1) Make sure you have agreed value insurance and 2) Seriously consider carrying a reasonably sized fire extinguisher in your classic.

The fire even made our local news http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/flames-s ... story.html

[Mahesh]

Good point, and something easily overlooked (guilty).

[Carledo]

I've always carried a fire extinguisher, ever since my 8.8ltr V8 Minivan spat back when cold and burnt to the shell. That was 1973! It certainly wasn't worth £80k, or even the 73 equivalent, but it taught me an expensive lesson as it wasn't insured at the time, being off the road for the winter.

Moreover, i'm scrupulous about replacing them every 5 years, a lot of folk carry one around for decades and only find out they have a limited lifespan when they NEED the extinguisher and it doesn't work!

Steve

[NickMorgan]

Yes, I am sure my fire extinguisher must be about 15 years old!!

[sprint95m]

Seems the people who sold him the car didn't explain the pitfalls of fiery triple Webers on a fast road car

An interesting choice of words.





Ian.

[soe8m]

Seems the people who sold him the car didn't explain the pitfalls of fiery triple Webers on a fast road car

An interesting choice of words.





Ian.

Yes. Sorry that we fitted these foam airfilters. You should have taken them off before driving because everyone knows that these do burn was a better excuse.

Jeroen

[SprintMWU773V]

Seems the people who sold him the car didn't explain the pitfalls of fiery triple Webers on a fast road car

An interesting choice of words.

Ian.

If they spit back they can set fire to the air filter and sets it alight. Webers really just pour fuel into the engine so when you drive such a tuned car you do need to give it the beans and not pussy foot around. If you leave them idling they pop and bang away quite merrily and there's a lot of fuel mist around, it's this that can catch and cause a fire. As a nice touring car I don't particularly like the setup, it goes (or did) well and has plenty of power but it's not to my taste. If you drive them correctly, keeping the revs up and not allow them to idle too much then you won't get any fires.

[gmsclassics]

The proximity of fuel and ignition coil in the Dolomite can also cause issues. This also shows the capability of the small 1kg powder type.

[richard4040]

[TrustNo1]

Yes, I am sure my fire extinguisher must be about 15 years old!!

The one in the bus is dated 1964. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't work now.

[uphill racer]

A sobering thought.

THIS is what you need...