Dr.Jass
Pastor of Muppets
I damned-near lost the Imperial to fire last night. :doh:
Now, I realize the Challenger is the more accepted hot rod and the one everyone thinks is the most valuable to me, but make no mistake: This Imperial is every bit the dream car to me that the Challenger is. I've had a fast Challenger in the past. I've never had an Imperial I could even drive daily, since my old '81 was never registered when I had it in the '90s. I've always wanted one of these cars, done my way, and this is the one I'm finally going to have my way. So they're actually equals in my mind, if not yours.
I hadn't started it in awhile, and in that while a lot of vegetation and dead leaves had found there way under the car. Once the battery was fully charged she fired right up, but the converter got hot enough to set the underside of the car on fire. Like, the whole underside... literally from the oil pan to the rear bumper, everything was on fire from rocker to rocker.
The fire burned for far too long. It literally took over 10 minutes to extinguish what flames I could see, and I was extremely lucky for a couple of reasons. First, there was a mop bucket half full of water right by the back bumper that is rinse water for my parts tumbler. I tossed that under the fuel tank immediately, which got the flames directly under it out (those flames would've been over a foot tall had the tank not been in the way). The second big savior was the fact that my pressure washer was right there and started halfway through the first yank. The garden hose spigot is only about 5 yards from the car but the hose didn't have a sprayer on it and wouldn't have been much more effective if it had. The pressure washer was absolutely the only reason that car (and probably my garage--the car is parked parallel to the garage wall, only a couple of feet away from it) are still there. After I had all the visible flames out, I still had embers and there was still smoke pouring from the passenger's rear wheelwell. That took another three minutes to get to stop smoking, and I kept after it for another three. Then I put out the rest of the embers and doused the entire area around the car. Start to finish, this episode went half an hour if you count spraying down the yard to prevent any further fire. I don't recommend it. The rear bumper was warm to the touch for half an hour... I finally sprayed that down just because I wanted to be sure it wasn't being kept warm by hidden flames.
At one point, it occurred to me to remove the fuel cap to release pressure. That thought lasted approximately 1 nanosecond. If there was enough heat in there to cause pressure, providing it oxygen seemed a very bad idea. I still haven't taken the fuel cap off, and it's been about 16 hours now. :dgt:
The heat was pretty intense and warped one of the stainless rocker mouldings. It also burned under the fuel tank for much longer than I'd have guessed a fuel tank could withstand. In fact, the fuel sender wiring, which is atop the tank and goes into the trunk, is burnt and shorted, showing a full tank when I know there's less than 5 gallons in the car. The reverse/neutral safety wiring is also toast, leaving the backup lamps lit constantly when the key is on. The car was running when the fire started but stalled during the blaze. I don't expect it will start again (neutral safety wiring) but I'm not particularly keen to try anyhow.
What never occurred to me during the event, but scared the hell out of me afterward, was the fact that all the reproduction interior parts for the Challenger were stowed in the trunk of the Imperial: injection-molded door, rear, and kick panels, Rallye dash parts, etc. All plastic. All susceptible to heat. And I probably don't have to mention it, but all quite costly. With the fuel gauge wiring shorted to ground, I did not have high hopes upon opening the trunk this morning. Thank God, once I worked up the courage I found that the heat in the trunk was not even enough to wrinkle the protective plastic wrap on the door panels. :dance:
Now, I knew this could happen. I've heard of it happening in the past. I should've known better but I've started that car numerous times right where it sits without issue. I'm very damned lucky to still have the car, my garage, and not be in the hospital or morgue--because if you don't know I would've fought to the death to save both, you don't know me very well. I can't stress enough how critical that pressure washer's presence was. The fact that the wash nozzle was in place and there was soap in the tank was just a huge bonus.
I reconnected the battery this morning just long enough to get the door windows closed. I could've sworn I heard a sizzle near the fuel tank when I twisted the key, but I think it was just my nerves. There was no smoke, but don't think for a second the hose wasn't already running and a fire extinguisher in my free hand before I even reconnected the battery.
Remember this the next time you go to start something that's been parked in one spot for long.
Now, I realize the Challenger is the more accepted hot rod and the one everyone thinks is the most valuable to me, but make no mistake: This Imperial is every bit the dream car to me that the Challenger is. I've had a fast Challenger in the past. I've never had an Imperial I could even drive daily, since my old '81 was never registered when I had it in the '90s. I've always wanted one of these cars, done my way, and this is the one I'm finally going to have my way. So they're actually equals in my mind, if not yours.
I hadn't started it in awhile, and in that while a lot of vegetation and dead leaves had found there way under the car. Once the battery was fully charged she fired right up, but the converter got hot enough to set the underside of the car on fire. Like, the whole underside... literally from the oil pan to the rear bumper, everything was on fire from rocker to rocker.
The fire burned for far too long. It literally took over 10 minutes to extinguish what flames I could see, and I was extremely lucky for a couple of reasons. First, there was a mop bucket half full of water right by the back bumper that is rinse water for my parts tumbler. I tossed that under the fuel tank immediately, which got the flames directly under it out (those flames would've been over a foot tall had the tank not been in the way). The second big savior was the fact that my pressure washer was right there and started halfway through the first yank. The garden hose spigot is only about 5 yards from the car but the hose didn't have a sprayer on it and wouldn't have been much more effective if it had. The pressure washer was absolutely the only reason that car (and probably my garage--the car is parked parallel to the garage wall, only a couple of feet away from it) are still there. After I had all the visible flames out, I still had embers and there was still smoke pouring from the passenger's rear wheelwell. That took another three minutes to get to stop smoking, and I kept after it for another three. Then I put out the rest of the embers and doused the entire area around the car. Start to finish, this episode went half an hour if you count spraying down the yard to prevent any further fire. I don't recommend it. The rear bumper was warm to the touch for half an hour... I finally sprayed that down just because I wanted to be sure it wasn't being kept warm by hidden flames.
At one point, it occurred to me to remove the fuel cap to release pressure. That thought lasted approximately 1 nanosecond. If there was enough heat in there to cause pressure, providing it oxygen seemed a very bad idea. I still haven't taken the fuel cap off, and it's been about 16 hours now. :dgt:
The heat was pretty intense and warped one of the stainless rocker mouldings. It also burned under the fuel tank for much longer than I'd have guessed a fuel tank could withstand. In fact, the fuel sender wiring, which is atop the tank and goes into the trunk, is burnt and shorted, showing a full tank when I know there's less than 5 gallons in the car. The reverse/neutral safety wiring is also toast, leaving the backup lamps lit constantly when the key is on. The car was running when the fire started but stalled during the blaze. I don't expect it will start again (neutral safety wiring) but I'm not particularly keen to try anyhow.
What never occurred to me during the event, but scared the hell out of me afterward, was the fact that all the reproduction interior parts for the Challenger were stowed in the trunk of the Imperial: injection-molded door, rear, and kick panels, Rallye dash parts, etc. All plastic. All susceptible to heat. And I probably don't have to mention it, but all quite costly. With the fuel gauge wiring shorted to ground, I did not have high hopes upon opening the trunk this morning. Thank God, once I worked up the courage I found that the heat in the trunk was not even enough to wrinkle the protective plastic wrap on the door panels. :dance:
Now, I knew this could happen. I've heard of it happening in the past. I should've known better but I've started that car numerous times right where it sits without issue. I'm very damned lucky to still have the car, my garage, and not be in the hospital or morgue--because if you don't know I would've fought to the death to save both, you don't know me very well. I can't stress enough how critical that pressure washer's presence was. The fact that the wash nozzle was in place and there was soap in the tank was just a huge bonus.
I reconnected the battery this morning just long enough to get the door windows closed. I could've sworn I heard a sizzle near the fuel tank when I twisted the key, but I think it was just my nerves. There was no smoke, but don't think for a second the hose wasn't already running and a fire extinguisher in my free hand before I even reconnected the battery.
Remember this the next time you go to start something that's been parked in one spot for long.
