>First of all, the 'plastic' lid are NOT plastic. Mine sure looks/feels like polyethene. plastics reinforced by glass/carbon fibers are still plastics, whether they be polyester, epoxy or other eg ABS. >Secondly, they don't >have a tendency 'to instantly melt and collapse into the engine bay'. Polyester wouldn't melt but it certainly would burn! >Prevent fires to prevent loss of your van. Also carry a good sized >gasoline fire rated extinguisher. That means bigger than a beercan! Most automotive extinguishers would only be good for small electrical fires, NOT fuel. >Most of the burned up from engine fire VW vans I have seen had metal >lids. I would theorize that is because older vans often have older fuel >lines, etc. Best replace the fuel lines every couple of years. But even NEW lines can fail! A steel lid won't STOP a runaway fire but it will slow it down considerably. A vehicle with burned engine-compartment is certainly repairable (been there, done that). A totally-burned-out vehicle is still perfectly repairable (the heat nicely relieves stresses in the structure!) but... -- Andrew Grebneff Dunedin, New Zealand 64 (3) 473-8863 <andrew.grebneff@stonebow.otago.ac.nz> Fossil preparator Seashell, Macintosh & VW/Toyota van nut -------------------------------------- A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation. Q: Why is top posting frowned upon? |
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