After reading this email, I made a quick trip out to the "burn van" in the lot to check the engine lid. It is the fiberglass style and other than a few burn marks around the edge (where the rubber seal melted), the engine lid kept out the fire. This was a pretty bad fire too, the tail lights melted away, as did the side vents. I'm not saying that the metal lids aren't better, just that the fuberglass lids may do a better job than people think. Cheers, Jeff www.vanagonparts.com
-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf Of Budd Premack Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2005 4:02 PM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Re: Another Vanagon Burns Up
As long as you are replacing the fuel lines, or even if you don't, replace the fiberglass engine cover with a metal one. AFAIK, all of the air cooled Vanagons had metal engine covers, so if you can find a 1980-3 Vanagon (which is not owned by a fellow Listee), you can get a metal cover. If a fire does start, it should stay in the engine compartment, or at least spread slowly enough that you get a chance to use your fire extinguisher. (You all do have one of those on board, don't you?) Keep your original fiberglass cover to reuse when (if) you ever shift into another van. We had a 73 Bug with an engine fire, which burned for 5-10 minutes before the Big Red Truck arrived to extinguish it. The metal firewall behind the rear seat kept the conflagration away from the passenger compartment. After the engine wiring and all engine compartment plastic and rubber items were replaced, it was almost as good as new. Even the smoke smell disipated after a few months. It could have used a bit of soot cleaning on the rear paint, though. Budd Premack 88 Wolfsburg, etc. Land of Sky-Blue Waters (and yellow flames) |
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