Bad Day

[CatDaddy]

Hey Folks,

As some of you had been reading my other threads I had finally got my car running pretty good. Sunday morning I took it out and couldn't ask for a better response out of a car. She was all there. No oil leaks no gas leaks and idling smooth, great acceleration with no backfires.... I was very very happy. In the evening around 1 hour before dusk my daughter asked to go for a ride. She is a nineteen year old that loves to cruise in old cars like her daddy. So we took off down 1431 towards Lago Vista and turned on to Lohmans road to the lake...About 3-4 miles down the road I smelled it first....burning oil then smoke... I turned on the dirt road by the water shed. Got out and opened the engine hood. Smoke.... I knew the oil hose had blown again.... then a guy cruisin by pulled up and said to look under the car.... as I did I saw little drops of liquid fire, coming from the side between the oilcooler and manifold.... at first just one or two then withing seconds 4-5.....6-8... 9-10... a blaze..... I told my daughter to get back, closed the lid and yelled to tell another guy that had stopped to call the fire department. This all happened within 3 minutes at the most. The another guy ran to his nearby house for fire exstinguishers, to no avail. I had a blaze a going and was watching my car burn up. The exstinquishers didn't help but the fire dept. was there in about 7 minutes, (pretty damn fast, I gotta write them a thank-you letter) but the back half of my car was burnt crispy. Both tires popped, as I watched the back half of my car being destroyed by fire and firemen. They exstinquished the fire in a matter of minutes but my car looked very very bad as it sat there smoking.....I sat there looking at it in shock.....then the scene from Doc Hollywood came to my mind as the little town mechanic was looking at his speedster after the semi hit it....he said "I think I can fix it". That Karmann Ghia was a beautiful car.....now it is a burnt crispy critter....but I am having the tow guys bring it to my garage around 7am today and I will start on the process to completely redo the car.....time and money....time and money.....but it will be more a part of me after I start working on it...... I am still in shock and the depression has not really set in yet.... I am trying to look at things in a positive manner....I hope your weekend went better.

[sandman]

"Upon us all a little rain must fall" LZ the rain song


My condolences.
If I had any Ghia parts that would help you out you could have them, but no Ghia stuff here. If you want some help on how to proceed I will be glad to come over and throw in my $.02

~Walter

[billb]

I'm sorry to hear about your car. At least you weren't hurt.

[mk-Zero]

Sorr to hear that man! :(
And I thought I had a bad weekend working on my car, I guess I sould be thankful...

[conradk]

I always carry a fire extinguisher. I have one that sits near the car when I am working on it - always. I learned my lesson the hard way - I set a Fiat Spyder on fire once (oops) when working on the wiring and burned/embedded plastic in my hand trying to put out the fire. After working on fuel lines, I lug my 20 lb. out to the driveway and park it behind the car and start up the car. I then toss it in the car and drive around the block.

That reminds me - I need to get a new one for my EuroVan. Oh, and don't get a little silly palm-sized bottle. Get at least a 5 lb.er for the car and a 20 lb.er for the shop. Dry chemical does the job, but expect a mess. Halon does less damage, but doesn't always work as well on fuel and is more expensive.

[welshj]

I had to push mine out of the garage in a ball of flames after a fuel line leak...

There's few things that compare to the sensation you feel as you watch all your blood sweat and tears die before your eyes...........

Very sorry to hear about it, but I agree, all's good when you're ok and able to bring her back to life.

joel

[Art]

I want to express how sorry I am to hear about the fire. I hope you can get it back to perfection without too much hassle.

I've used By Pass filters on all of my cars since the early '80s and never had a hose leak. I put 330,000 miles on a Mitsubishi pickup of that 270,000 miles with oil lines running to the filter. There are special hoses to use there that are real bullet proof. But most auto parts stores either don't have them or the employess don't know what they're for when they do. Another important thing; airplanes can have external filters, but the FAA requires the high pressure oil lines PLUS the stainless steel braiding. I've never used the stainless steel braiding, but must be extra secure if that's what is required on airplanes.

I've got external By Pass filters on 6 vehicles I drive, two air cooled VWs. But I don't have a single fire extinguisher. Today I plan to buy some fire extinguishers just in case. Your unfortunate fire has me nervous! When you think about it, there are a lot of ways to have a fire. Gas leaks, oil leaks or even a tire rubbing somewhere. Standing there and pissing on the engine might be too little too late!:eek:

Here's some pictures of the hoses I used on my '69 Beetle. This is but one example of lots of different hoses and fittings. But these are some of the safest to use. If you float your mouse over the thumbs you get a larger view of the thumb in the window. However, if you click the thumb you get a yet larger more detailed picture. Check it out:
http://www.upmpg.com/filters/by-pass_filters/installations/1969_vw_beetle.htm

[CatDaddy]

Here are some pics of the damage. I now have a project to work on. I want to thank all those who wrote for your support.

[beetleluvr]

Damn....hate to see those pictures! You have the right attitude though...bring her back to life!

Look forward to seeing updated pictures as she is resurrected!

Ben

[jeffmessina]

I am sorry to hear about this :(
I have a ghia as well, and would be really upset if that happened to her.

What caused the fire?
I just recently moved my in-line gas filter from out of the engine compartment to under the car by the transmission...for fear of the same thing.
I was never comfortable with my filter sitting so close to my generator or distributor.
Any idea/suggetions on how to prevent fires would be appreciated.

(and yes..I keep a fire extinguisher in my car :P )

Again, sorry for your loss.

[conradk]

I did want to say that I am sorry this happened to you. It looks like you got it out before it warped any metal which is good news. I've seen VWs where the entire back half of the car has gone up and usually the metal was too brittle to work with.

Here's a good link to fire extinguisher ratings: http://www.illinoisfire.com/commercial.shtml

[CatDaddy]

I am sorry to hear about this :(
I have a ghia as well, and would be really upset if that happened to her.

What caused the fire?
I just recently moved my in-line gas filter from out of the engine compartment to under the car by the transmission...for fear of the same thing.
I was never comfortable with my filter sitting so close to my generator or distributor.
Any idea/suggetions on how to prevent fires would be appreciated.

(and yes..I keep a fire extinguisher in my car :P )

Again, sorry for your loss.


I am very sure that the oil hose going to the oil filter popped. I smelled the oil burning before I seen the smoke. There is a distinct oil smell when that line breaks and all that oil hits your manifold. . Usually the oil cooler is on the back side of the fan housing atop the motor. This engine pumps out about 125 horses. It is a 1776 with the works and they figured it needed a larger oil cooler. The individual who designed the plan for putting the oil cooler in made a valve plate for where the old oil cooler fit to attach high pressure hoses leading to the new oil cooler. This was a home made plate. I figure one of two things happened. Either the oil pump was defective and the pressure release valve was getting stuck...I have seen this happen on deisel VW's and it blow the filter right off. Or the plate that he made was incorrect and the fittings caused the build up in oil pressure. The hoses were on tight....I was there observing thier placement and you could not of put them on any better than they were put on. But they blew....that means there was a great amount of pressure going through those hoses. When I rebuild I plan to make sure all that is kosher probably reverting back to the original plan for the oil cooler. I plan to also check out that valve plate for my own curiosity. Any way one major thing I learned was to carry a fire extinquisher. I I had been carrying a fire extinquisher I could have put the fire out at the get go. By the time a guy ran to his house and back it was too late. Anyway good luck and thanks for the support.

[CatDaddy]

I am sorry to hear about this :(
I have a ghia as well, and would be really upset if that happened to her.

What caused the fire?
I just recently moved my in-line gas filter from out of the engine compartment to under the car by the transmission...for fear of the same thing.
I was never comfortable with my filter sitting so close to my generator or distributor.
Any idea/suggetions on how to prevent fires would be appreciated.

(and yes..I keep a fire extinguisher in my car :P )

Again, sorry for your loss.


I am very sure that the oil hose going to the oil filter popped. I smelled the oil burning before I seen the smoke. There is a distinct oil smell when that line breaks and all that oil hits your manifold. . Usually the oil cooler is on the back side of the fan housing atop the motor. This engine pumps out about 125 horses. It is a 1776 with the works and they figured it needed a larger oil cooler. The individual who designed the plan for putting the oil cooler in made a valve plate for where the old oil cooler fit to attach high pressure hoses leading to the new oil cooler. This was a home made plate. I figure one of two things happened. Either the oil pump was defective and the pressure release valve was getting stuck...I have seen this happen on deisel VW's and it blow the filter right off. Or the plate that he made was incorrect and the fittings caused the build up in oil pressure. The hoses were on tight....I was there observing thier placement and you could not of put them on any better than they were put on. But they blew....that means there was a great amount of pressure going through those hoses. When I rebuild I plan to make sure all that is kosher probably reverting back to the original plan for the oil cooler. I plan to also check out that valve plate for my own curiosity. Any way one major thing I learned was to carry a fire extinquisher. I I had been carrying a fire extinquisher I could have put the fire out at the get go. By the time a guy ran to his house and back it was too late. Anyway good luck and thanks for the support.

[CatDaddy]

Here are some pics of the actual fire. This fire got this big in about 3 minutes.

[sandman]

Although not the preferred one, that's one way to smoke the tires:p

[Danlboi72sbug]

Here are some pics of the actual fire. This fire got this big in about 3 minutes.
Man. :(

Even the beauty of the bluebonnets can't do those pictures any justice.

Sorry it happened and good luck with the restoration.

[beetleluvr]

Here are some pics of the actual fire. This fire got this big in about 3 minutes.

Not sure how you had the composure to take those pics :eek: . Those memories will last forever...not that you want them to. I am going to put a fire extinguisher in my 66 after seeing this thread.

Ben

[conradk]

I'd definitely buy those firefighters some pizza. My wife and I did that in Taylor after a "fill the boot" weekend. We called them up in the afternoon, told them what we wanted to do and where they usually got their pizza from, what time, etc. They were very appreciative.