That blows, Dave.

Hope you get it sorted out with a minimum of fuss. When it comes to insurance companies, be firm. Don't compromise much at all. Was there any external (fire) damage to the car? I don't want to sound like a ghoul, but if possible, could you post a picture for us? I'm sure tt should shock more of us into getting fire extinguishers.

Re extingishers- at least one kilo, preferably two, or 2x1kg units. Or else, and probably still, you may as well p1ss on a fuel/engine fire. The only hope is to get it early- hence the befit in an on board extingusher. Most people mount them in the passenger footwell against the firewall- another good place is jin the floor sills under the forward part of the doors. Its out of the way, and you can drill self tappers staright thru the carpet, there nothing in the sills there.

I know of a guy that lost a 993- went off the road in event, wedged the car and couldnt move it, the exhaust set fire to dry grass underneath- stood there and watched it burn.....


stuart 87 carrera

Dave,

Sorry to hear about the car, good thing you were so close to home!
Get those extinguishers in your cars!!!
Hope all works out on the insurance claim, keep us posted.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads/FireExt.jpg

Another good point:

HAVE YOUR FORE EXTINGUISHERS CHECKED YEARLY!!!!

Nothing worse than grabing one in an emergency - and finding it dead like Dave did. Talk about panic. I have a guy who does my business fire extinguishers and he checks my home and auto extinguishers on a yearly basis. One in each car. One in the garage. One under the stove. One near the beadrooms.

This is not something to foo around with.

What we need (at least me anyway) is some bonefied leads on who/where/how to properly make replacement fuel lines so we're not stuck with the astronomical absurdity that the dealer or even some net suppliers want for those replacement hoses (like up around the fuel rails on my Carrera). I'm really leery of replacing my factory ones even at 20 years old, and hodge-podgeing together some fuel lines and fittings. And I can't afford the $500+ it would take from a p-car dealer.

Sounds like a perfect product opportunity for Chuck Moreland? ;)

Or maybe a good tech article...

I've done my searches and they all involved different suppliers, different opinions...I'd replace my lines if I new how to cut to the chase...

-BG

Got a fire in my Ferrari with 4 webers. Shot it out with a fire extinguisher carried on board. The lousy Napa Fuel pressure regulator was the culprit. Minimum damage, lots of clean up, no long term harm done, thank God.

Always carry a fire extinguisher in your car, any car. If you don't need it, someone else will.

Are there any Halon-like extinguishers that can be used in cars? Powder makes a mess and eats metal quickly.

Dave....there is a guy that posts on the 914 list and at www.914club.com , his name is Bowlsby. He makes and repairs Type IV wiring harnesses. I have not used his work, but by all accounts they are a work of art.

HTH

Thanks guys.

I'm going to post this seperately, but what are the effects of that fire extinguisher dust in my engine bay? Do I need to really disassemble everything and take the motor out to clean it all out properly? What will this substance do to my engine when it inevitably gets in there? How does it eat metal?

Dave, I am sorry that happened but glad that it was not worse (car was not completely melted and you were not hurt).

I had a harness bar sitting around my garage that I bought a while ago. I struggled with the idea of installing it in my car even though I don't have harnesses right now. But the bar does have an extiguisher mount and which made more sense than having the extiguisher roll around the floor. Your story and the fact that you had to go find one when you needed it answered all my doubts.

Steam clean it, get it all out. Belive it or not, we were required to use water on large electrical fires back during my time in the navy. This was specifically for load centers that had to be useable. No powders were allowed. Of course we didn't shoot an energized load center either. The point is the powders, while they smother the fire, usually do some short or long term damage to metal parts, especially aluminum, magnesium and other non ferrous alloys. You need to pull the engine anyway to properly assess the extent of the damage, so make sure you go the extra mile to prevent future related headaches.

Good luck!

One of my first purchases after getting the car was an extinguisher, which sits behind the driver's seat. I also bought ones for the 4-runner, garage, and kitchen at the same time, so the 911 actually increased the safety of the entire household.

I remember an incident with my '63 bug. I was driving along and it quit. I cranked and cranked, pumping the accelerator pedal. I finally popped the engine compartment to see if I could figure out what was wrong, and wouldn't you know the hose had popped off the fuel pump, and gas was streaming out. How the engine didn't catch fire I'll never know...

Okay guys, I'm off to Watkins Glen (sans Porsche) for the historics. The insurance company is supposed to take a look either tomorrow or Monday. We'll see what happens.

Thanks,

David

Believe it or not, when i used to own my 951, i had a fuel leak. Originally i thought it was a drip leak that i knew was in the back by the fuel pump. So i waited a week or so before doing anything about it, then fixed it. But one day before leaving work (i used to work for a porsche shop), one of the guys i worked with walked by my car and noticed that it smelled a bit like gas. So i went out there with him to find it (and was kind of annoyed since i had fixed the one in the rear already), and found out that one of the lines above the exhaust was leaking right on the header!!!!!!! And yet with all the hard driving i did, it never caught fire, go figure. Sorry to hear of the fire man.

So Dave...

Want is the conclusion of your fire saga? Are they going to do what you want without you needing to kick and scream?

Hi Harry (and others):

Well, the insurance company has required the local garage to tear the car apart so that they can see where the damage started and ended. They aren't going to come up with a settlement number/estimate until then. Hopefully early next week I'll know more. Right now, I have no idea what to expect.

The engine bay harness is the most heavily damaged and it is NLA. I've checked with PCNA and it's not even available in Germany. Some of the obscure 912E-only harness components are still available (there are like one or two of each sitting on some dusty shelf in Germany) but evidently not the big one for the engine bay.

So, we'll see. I'll keep you posted and thanks for asking. It's been no fun having the P-car down for June-a favorite summer month of mine. Pittsburgh isn't the best for warm sunny days and it's unfortunate that my car is missing them.

David

David - Sorry for the loss; I had a Grand Wagoneer go up and take out two cars next to it.

If it's not too late: Don't guess with the insurance agent what caused the fire - you don't know,. and some insurance companies don't cover all kinds of fires. Some may not cover a fire started by a dropped cigarette, some may not cover a fire started by a bolt of lightening, some may not cover a fire started by faulty wiring, whatever; you're not the investigater and you don't want to cheat yourself.
The only reason you should mention the upgrades you've made is if you want to be compensated for them - if not or if you don't have the receipts, forget it.

I never found out why my Jeep burnt down- the investigator never told me, I never asked, the insurance company sent a check, and I cashed it.

Dave,

Thanks for the update.

I have my 911 in the shop awaiting a top end. The shop is good but small and one of the guys has been out for the last 1+ weeks so my car waits. Here in Ory-gun, sunny, rain free days are to be savored. At this time mine are used waiting for the return of my car. Like you, I'll be patient since I know the car will return and all will be well with the world.

Interestingly, several years ago, I decided I "needed" a sports car in my life. Since I had owned british cars before, I figured I would get a MGB or TR6. As I was shopping, my neighbor put his 912E up for sale and, shocking to me, it was in my price range (until then I thought all Porsches cost the same as a modest home!) Once I saw that, I did some research and found out that early porsches were in my price range. So long Lucas, hello Bosch. My neighbors car was not for me (salvage title, rust, yada,yada, yada) but, as they say, the rest is history!.

Guys,

Thanks for the encouragement. Fogcity, I'm pretty sure the cause of the fire was a grommet deteriorated. It basically kept the harness from rubbing on the cooling tin where it passes through it. The grommet broke down with age, the harness rubbed through to wire on the tin and instant fire. The harness was actually welded to the tin after the fire was put out.

By the way, I used to own a Jeep Grand Wagoneer. It was gorgeous... blue with tan leather and woodgrain panels. I miss that truck. I'd buy another one if I found it to be as clean as mine but they are not easy to find.

Harry, is this going to be a stock top-end rebuild or are we doing some fun headwork too?

Later,

David

For those that need one:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/safety/H3R.htm

-Wayne