Small fire after installing engine!

[Bill Jennings]

I removed my motor to deal with the triangle of death and the oil cooler o-rings plus gave it a good degrease and cleanup.

The top of the motor was disgusting.


Just took it out for a ten minute drive to check for leaks ( none yet that I can see) and saw a very small flame just above the right hand SSI near the front. The fire went out by itself by the time I had fetched the fire extinguisher from the front seat.

Could this be a mixture of degreaser and some of the old oil?

Is there anything I can do to prevent this reoccurring while I am burning off the remains of the old oil?

By the way I have not yet connected most of the heater duct work yet ( heat exchangers to flapper boxes, heat exchangers to ducts through engine tin to blower etc) I have read on here that this allows heat to build up, could this be a cause of the fire?

This is my first engine drop, I left the transmission in as the CV bolt heads were stuffed, managed not to break too much stuff apart from one fuel line and most of the ducting fell apart. Biggest challenge was getting the clutch fork into the TO bearing then realising I had the Omega spring on the wrong side of the clutch arm.

Any advice on how to burn off the remaining oil without setting fire to the car would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Bill

[john walker's workshop]

if there was air blowing through the exchangers, the area would not be as hot and the air should blow out any small flames.

[Bill Jennings]

John,

Many thanks
No more driving till I hook up the rest of the ductwork then!

Cheers
Bill