So I blew the cobwebs out of the '53 215 I6 this weekend. I took it around the block to make sure all was well before loading up the wife and kid to go fill up the gas tank. Put $20 in (+ a can of SeaFoam) then opted for the $5 car wash. Took a bath in the car wash and kept it running since I wasn't sure the tired 6V would restart. On the way home wife kept saying the car was stinking and I said ... Nah ... that is someone burning leaves. That smell followed us all the way home. Went into the garage and came back and noticed smoke filling the cab. Flipped the driver's seat forward and saw a 4" melted hole in the carpet with smoldering jute beneath!!! Long story short, fire extinguisher would not extinguish, was not pouring water, so ripped out carpet and jute. Put jute in burn barrel and within 10 minutes combusted into full-on flame fire! GLAD I SAW THAT SMOKE!!!! Worst part is that after removing the rear carpet I found quite a bit of rust scaling on the floor so now I need to gut the interior and get some primer down on the floor ASAP. A new exhaust system without a hole under the rear floor might be a good idea too! So ... I am looking at a pipe kit from Kanter minus the muffler and looking to install a Smithy. Anyone with pics, tips, tricks, soundclips?
So the hot exhaust system set the jute up in smoke? Yikes!!! Sounds like you really dodged one heck of a bullet when you caught it before it really caught fire. Count yer blessings!
Glad you didn't get your ride "fried" and everyone is OK! You can probably have the pipes made at a local exhaust shop for about half of what Kanter will charge you,let alone what shipping will cost in addition.You can order the Smittys from www.speedwaymotors.com good prices and they ship fast.Also check out this site www.lobucrod.com He is a HAMB member and has just what you need to replace that jute,checkout the burn test video on the website too!.
You may want to put down something like Rust Bullet or other like product instead of putting just primer down. Also consider a heat shield over the exhaust? Good Luck.
I sure agree on the heat shield. By the way, check out a product called air bake cookie pans. They are available in grocery and home stores. They have two sheets of aluminum separated by an air gap and they make great heat insulators, plus they are easy to install on the underside of the floor board. They are available in various sizes and they are inexpensive.
I was thinking that with a Smithy that the exhaust would not get as hot being a straight-thru design vs. a conventional muffler. As for primer, I am thinking POR-15 to be safe ...
Getting back to basics for a moment, let's think what the real cause of the problem could be. Is it that the exhaust pipe is too close to the floor? With acceptable clearance of 2 or more inches, it shouldn't be a problem. If you have good clearance between the pipe and floor, perhaps you're running lean or your spark is retarded, both will cause higher than normal exhaust gas temp. If I understand you correctly, a hole in he exhaust pipe was directing exhaust straight to the underfloor. You shouldn't get a "blowtorch" effect like that unless perhaps you've got some restriction like a kink, sharp bend or too small of ID exhaust pipe further downstream, and/or the pipe is again too close to the floor. Just my opinion. As the saying goes: " only nothing does nothing. Everything else does something".
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