Holy ****-thought I had thought of everything but on a test fire tonight at 10:00 my temporary fuel line found a lakes pipe and WHOOSH!!! Was feeding it from a gas can so I reached through the flames-grabbed it-and ran for the hills!!! Ran back in the garage-5 foot flames now-and tried to snuff it out with blankets! THEY burn too! Gas spraying out of carb now WAAAA ****!! Run out get hose-cieling getting toasted-put out with garden hose and kitty litter!!!!!!! What a ****'n IDIOT!!!!!!! Lungs hurt like ****-BUYING AN EXTINGUISHER TOMORROW!!!!!!!!
we have two in our garage... last weekend we didn't screw down the hose clamp tight enough and squirted fuel all over the fender and garage wall... it's scary either way. Buy two!
Grabbed a beer and damn near went to the corner gas station and bought a pack of smokes!!! ****tiest 30 seconds or so in I can't remember how long!
Gotta have an Extinguisher! One time many years a go I had a very small fire that meant nothing. Put it out in a couple of seconds, nothing hurt, but it made me decide I needed to be a little safer. 2 days ago while starting a car I hear a loud pop, then tons of smoke!!!!!!!! Flames everywere under the hood of a car inside my shop!! Grabbed my extinguisher, and had it out in a couple of seconds. Nothing hurt but a couple of inches of under hood insulation. But if not for the extinguisher I'd been in deep ****!!! It's a gut wrenching feeling at first while it's going on!!!! I hope someone will read this who does not have one will go out buy one tomorrow, as it could be the best investment you will ever make.
The part that screws me up in hindsight is if I would lose the garage! And the fricken bill to pay fireman! BUNK...........
^^^X2^^^ what Insane said. Whew! Be careful! Glad you didn't get yerself or your car/shop burned up. Ya alright?
At least TWO extinguishers, they are cheaper than ANY deductible. I had a bike fuel line let go on one of the carbs on a triumph I had running on a rack, problem was my only extinguisher was on the other side of the bike under the bench.... I got to the extinguisher but not before the tank paint side cover and seat were toast I think both of mine were under $30... one for the trunk, one for under the bench.... cheap
Yah-relaxing with a popsicle and the HAMB-felling lucky and stupid. BUT.......ya know........it DID start and run a few seconds!!!!!!! Very loud!!! Open Lakes/little garage!!
Got a few less arm hairs dont ya? (1) learning experience (2) learning experience (3) make note to buy fire extinguisher. Glad you're ok...
Buy several: One on each wall, one on the welding cart, one under the welding table, one by each door, one outside in case you have to fight your way back in... Seven is a good number. & I always fill a couple of buckets if I'm going to be welding or using the plasma cutter....At one point last week I had 5 seperate fires going while I cut off half of what was left of the bed on my '43 Ford G8T truck. None were serious, but my kid was getting a bit verbal about em...especially the one directly over the fuel tank.... LOL!!
glad you werent hurt...and that the car runs. i have never had a fire i couldnt put out with a rag so i have never invested in an extinguisher but i know i need to before its too late
Like most things that have to do with safety - safety gl***es, face shield, gloves, ear protection - the more that I have lying around, the more likely I'll have one when I need it, and the less likely I'll try to get away with not using it 'just this one time' . same thing with a fire extinguisher, and the bigger the better. A pal of mine tried to put out an underhood fire with a ricer's tiny one and it was useless. Am I the only one that hangs out for a firewatch for 30 mins to an hour after welding or cutting or doing whatever that creates a ton of sparks? Some union guys at warner bros managed to catch a stage on fire even after staying there an hour(so they say). I just don't want to be the jackhole that burns the garage down.
Glad you are good to go. Burned my eyebrows off a few years ago with an awesome to look at from a distance gas explosion. Have had 3 extinguishers in my 2 car garage eveer since.
I never use the cutting torch in my garage for that reason. The thing is at least 20 and maybe 30 years older than I am and bone dry wood. I can't fit a car in it so that isn't an issue right now. Had a friend loose his garage, house, race car and then his first wife in a divorce when the gas water heater in the back corner of the garage ignited gas fumes from the race car. And I need to add another fire extinguisher to the list of garage needs.
I always thoroughly check for smoke/fire. About 18 years ago I was welding a patch in the trunk floor of my '55 Chevy. When I stopped to eat dinner everything looked fine, but when I went back into the garage I smelled smoke . The jute padding in the rear seat was smoldering. I dont take any chances anymore.
ive learned that hard way before. now i carry a mini extinguisher in each car and have a big one in the house. never can be too careful around this kinda stuff. how quickly we forget how deadly our hobby can be, you know? years back the maiden voyage of my OT '72 skylark, had just dropped a nice 455 in it. had it running on the driveway. checked and rechecked everything. topped off all fluids, thing ran ***s in the driveway for about 30 mins before i was brave enough to take it around the block. got 100 yards down the road and smoke rises from under the hood, then car dies. get out, pop hood. FIRE!!! look for extinguisher, left it on the steps, look for water, next to extinguisher on the steps run to nearest house, no hose. back yard, no hose. DASH home and grab extinguisher and dash back. fire was out by then. heat shield was rubbing my positive battery cable. melted battery, fried alternator, lots of wires too. saw my dreams nearly go up in smoke with that one
I sell extinguishers for a living and can tell u that the water pressure extinguishers are not all that great. There very limited in use. Get urself a ten pound abc extinguisher (two to be safe.) and this will put it out with no worries and ull have a little left just in case. (the reason u should probably get 2 is who knows if #1 worked or not. Usually they do, but I change a gauge or two a week because its stuck in the full position and the extinguisher is out of pressure! So this is really just a extra precaution. Now if u dont want powder anywhere, u might want to decide on a halotron extinguisher. They can be twice as expensive but they shoot gas not powder so no cleanup job after the fire. (probably ur best choice no matter what it costs.)
Oh, and most businesses have them checked every year but the check i do u could do at home urself for free. just check the gauge and see if its in the green. Usually its a great idea to have it serviced every six years or less or 3 if its in the back of ur mind. Always check the gauge though especially after a day or two of someone servicing it. Hop ethis helps, Glad ur ok!
[/URL][/IMG] Almost lost this A tourer and 3 others inc. a 40 ford coupe and 56 fairlane that we were trying to start with a temporary fuel line from plastic bottle on floor ,using a screwdriver on the starter throwing sparks ,i now never start projects without solid fuel lines and starting wire loom , almost lost lives and cars that day,still vivid bad memories 35 years on ,,
My Dad used that logic too until one day the carb backfired and he used his gas soaked rag to put out the flame and in his panic he threw the rag that was on fire at me and set me a blaze too. My Dad's face was worse than any horror film I ever saw and he had been traumatized by setting his only son on fire. Was an ugly day for sure.
The Jalopy Journal
