I don't know where this would fall on the fake-o-meter, but I think it's interesting. I don't roll anywhere without a fire extinquisher, maybe because I'm a firefighter. Anyway, to me the typical parts store extinguishers are boring, and the chrome / anodized ones look nice but a little 'ricey' to me, especially in an old Hot Rod. Mine is about 12" tall and mounted between the seats, so it's in plain view all the time. I had a beat up br*** and copper extinguisher I bought for $6 on Ebay a long time ago laying around, which I had intended to use as a catch can. I was cleaning out my '29 pickup and by coincidence sat my new extinguisher on the work bench right next to the old one. Well, the gears got to turning and this is what I came up with. I painted the 'new' extinguisher with copper hammertone paint, then painted the handle gold. As an unexpected touch, the gold raised up when I sprayed clear over it and now it's textured like real br***. I carefully pried the label off the br*** extinguisher and glued it on the new one. At the bottom is a picture of a real antique so you can kinda see what I was thinking. The only negative I can think of is that someone unfamiliar with it might not know there's a good extinguisher handy. What do you guys think?
I think it looks GREAT too. One question for you though if you know, what is the approx "shelf life" of the average extinquisher in a car and is there any way to check it to see if it's still good??
Its your extinguisher why should someone else be in your car??? Looks good, I'm not sure about how legal it is to change the label on a fire extinguisher but you're the fire eater so you should have a handle on that better than me. Anyway I like it real well. But speaking of fake, I got a Stude Hawk dash and its made out of fibergl***, does that count as fake? sorry i just wanted to hijack your post.
If the extinguisher is mounted properly and not subject to adverse conditions it should be good for at least 6 years. The fire code here says a pressurized ABC extinguisher should have a six year maintenance inspection and a 12 year hydrostatic test.The maintenance inspection involves having the powder checked ,the gauge checked and the o rings replaced and repressurized. The hydro test actually pressure tests the shell to make sure it won't explode on you.These test have to be done by an extinguisher service depot. Any dry chem extinguisher should be visually inspected once a month. You can do this yourself.The gauge should be in the green zone, the pin in place with the plastic tag intact and no obstructions of the nozzle. It's also a good idea to turn the extinguisher over and tap it with a rubber mallet to loosen the powder in case it is caking and settling from vibrations. Gator...I love your idea! the extinguisher looks like it's from the fiftys
You should never worry about being fake when it comes to safety. That being said the extingusher also looks really good.
You are the MAN, Gator!! Cool idea,a new extinguisher"faked' into looking old. REAL fires arn't fake, and that thing better work.. I like my 'trad' red one,even if it dosn't look cool like yours..
That kind of fakery is what I would expect from a John Denver impersonator. .....hahaha... Actually, It looks o.k.....but I like the big red Wal Mart one I carry in the Fairlane. ...its over 6 years old though... Guess I better figure on buying a new one. Thats o.k. though, it will be fun spraying the dog with the old one.
Hey Mate, A friend of mine had an engine fire and one of those extinguishers is only good for a couple second burst from what he was saying. Maybe good enough to fight your way out of a car or put the hurt on an internal electrical fire or something but I doubt it has the capacity to put out any sersious fire once it takes hold. Oh and for future reference, if you do use a dry chem entinguisher, make sure you vacuum and wash of the powder as quickly as possible as it corrodes metal. Any of the fire crew chip in with some info? Danny
I've carried a fire extinguisher for many years. Back in the day I saved my Olds powered Shoebox coupe when an underhood fire started at highway speed in the late evening hours. My pal was driving, I saw the flickering light on the pavement and told him to turn the turn signals off. He says, "You don't have turn signals." The light dawneth.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One thing I see with folks using fire extinguishers is they shoot at the flame and not at the base of the fire. Like anything, there's a right way and a wrong way to fight a fire. Perhaps Gator could expand on this a bit. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And along these lines, do you guys running electric fuel pumps have safety shut off switches? The ones that kill the fuel pump when the engine dies. If you don't you oughta....
Ha Ha, first time I've ever been accused of that. Jethro really nailed it. A lot of the lower priced extinguishers are not servicable, and are more of a disposable type deal. We train on extinguishers but don't use them a lot, we do more of the 'crawl in the door with a big hose type' firefighting. As far as how good they work, I'd have to say it depends. Most of these small extinguishers you'll see in cars are dry chemical type and rated at 10 b/c. The B denotes liquid fires like oil, and the C is electrical. (A is the other most common fire cl***ification, for paper, wood, etc. ) The 10 indicates the approximate amount of fire in square feet of a liquid fuel fire an expert can put out with this extinquisher. If you have a small fire and hit it quick, you should be in good shape. Always call or have someone call 911 right away. Car fires are usually bad, there is so much fuel and heat in such a small area, it just really gets going fast. You can pick up an extinguisher for as little as $10, there's no reason not to have one with you. You also need to be aware that the chemicals (usually sodium bicarbonate or pot***ium bicarbonate) in these types of extinguishers are corrosive, so if you have to use one be sure and clean up any residue pronto. Glad you guys like it.
I like it, its just different enough to be cool. Always aim for the BASE of the fire, not where all the flames are. A small extiguisher can put out a suprising amout of fire if used properly. Small short bursts in a sweeping motion. If you get all excited and blow it all off at once then your done and probably will still have active fire. As far as legality of changing the label, well who really cares. It wouldn't fly in a bussiness that is legally mandated to have them, but in a personally owned vehicle it's no problem. Another good practice, if using a vehicle mounted extinguisher, right after you pull it off its mount, bang the bottom of it on the ground. This can help loosen any packed powder. Crusty
HALON 1211 is a liquified gas, pressurized with nitrogen, which discharges as a vapor causing no cold or static shock and no impairment of the operator's vision. This "CLEAN" agent quickly penetrates difficult to see and hard to reach areas and leaves no residue. It is recommended for protection of delicate, sensitive and expensive computers, electrical equipment, tapes and film, automotive and aircraft engines, laboratory chemicals and equipment. Quality industrial grade hardware, "CLEAN" agent, light weight, good discharge range and excellent fire extinguishing ability make these the preferred extinguishers for the computer, electronic, telephone, banking and aircraft industries. Well worth it if you've ever cleaned up or tried to clean up a chemical extinguished engine/dash fire. No muss-no fuss.....not cheap but cheaper than new paint!
Looks really cool.. I should probably have 1 in my car. I started my carb on fire once, it's a good thing that Joe (BadFella) was there with a beer to put it out. - Joe
One and 1/2 of those little extinguishers pictured (the one he repainted) saved my entire house and garage. It was last winter, I plugged the small space heater in and went back inside to let it warm up, next thing I knew, the wife is freaking out. The cardboard box my steering rack came in fell over onto it, lit on fire, caught the pine dresser I made when I was 14 and the wall behind it on fire. Had to replace almost a full sheet of drywall. It worked! Oh yeah, I also used one to put out a Mustang II I used a torch on to make short work of canabalizing the suspension on. I just lopped off the frame rails, and once again, it worked! Oh yeah, when I was 17, my carrier bearing went south on my 76 F100 and caught the rubber on it on fire. I used a Dr. Pepper shaken, not stired, with my thumb on the top to get it to spray out. Get an extinguisher. !!!
Halon also works by displacing oxygen, so if you set one off in one of those fancy bussiness computer rooms that usually have them, get the **** out or you will suffocate and die. I'm sure you would want to get out anyway, but if your windows were rolled up in your car and you set it off the same thing could happen. FWIW
Didn't the EPA or some other gov't alphabet agency outlaw Halon? Nothing better for a portable extinguisher far as I'm concerned. May I suggest you carry two extinguishers? A 2 1/2# model in the ****pit and a 5# model in the trunk . . . reachable even though the trunk is crammed with luggage etc. Here's where I carry the ****pit extinguisher in the 32. Very handy.
Don't think so C9. Our police headquarters had an accidental Halon release last week that evacuated half the building. They were testing the system and something went screwy.
cool idea...and even if it was or just looked nostalgic...if my baby was on fire...I'd give it a shot... A friend of mine some years back had borrowed my 69 SS Camaro to give a girl a ride home....I'm guessing she must have smoked because he came back to the bar...we continued our night...Fast forward an hour...there was an accident infront of the club...someone had ran off the road hit a guide wire and flipped thier car on top of the row of motorcyles out front...(unhappy bikers) while watching the ensuing pandamonium..someone who knew me asked "Is that your Camaro smoking?"...I replied, "Ahh yea it is..." no fire exinguisher to be had...the one the door man had, had been used on the other accident minutes before...The under side of my p***enger seat was fully in flames...so what do I do?...I sent my buddy for pitchers of water, and did what any gearhead would do...I got my tool box outta the trunk and started unbolting the seat from underneath...water did not work to put this out you couldn't get to the bulk of the flame it was under the seat and getting larger...Finially..SIRENS!!!! approaching in the distance..... they pull into the bar parking lot with one car upside down on 3 m/c's and a car on fire 3 parking spots away...the first FF to come up to said ..."Get away from that car!", I said "sorry bud, she's all I have", (I was on the last bolt anyway....I pulled the burning seat ouutta the car and he put it out....I saw him shaking his head going over to see if he could help with the other scene.....The moral of this story is: ALWAYS HAVE ONE! I'm glad yo found a way to make one look cool...I'm gonna try it...
A wise man once said "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" bottom line......a fire extinguisher is cheap insurance for all the time and work I put into my Coupe. I carry a 2.5# one behind both front seats. if I can't grab one from my side, I should be able to from the other. Vance
My wife used one that style last week when the bottom element in the stove caught fire. Far as I remember, it'd been in the closet for 15 years without losing charge. There's another in the coupe that's just as old. Guess I'll buy two new ones.
Yeah, the clean air act outlawed production of Halon and new Halon fire suppresion systems after 1998, but did not outlaw existing systems or inventories. It is supposedly yet another 'Ozone depleting' chemical. Too bad, cause it's kick *** stuff. Aint the gubment wunderful?
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