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Tell your worst TR horror story!
- Thread starter kodanja
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Moseso
Jedi Knight
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Well, it wasn't electrics that started my second TR3 on fire. I had noticed that it was getting louder, but being a near-penniless hippie, I wasn't looking to fix anything that didn't immobilize the car. One day while sailing down a highway on the Oakland/Berkeley border area, the weather was fine, the top was down and I smelled smoke. I thought I must have driven through some. Just as I hit the off ramp, a really long, wide one, with a big gravel lane to the right, I heard "Foom" right behind me. I turned my head to see flames as tall as the cockpit, RIGHT BEHIND ME! I pulled into the gravel, set the hand brake and was out of the car before it had come to a complete stop. Well aware that the fuel tank is right behind the panel that the flames were right in front of, I ran like a scared rabit up the embankment. I watched it burn for about thirty seconds and then remembered the two gallon jugs of water that were also behind the seat. You recall that these things have cooling issues. This one usually didn't, but I was in the habit of carrying extra water from my first TR3. I ran back to the car, heart in my throat, certain that the tank was going to go any second, grabbed a water jug and doused the flames.gbtr6 said:
The cause: The burgeoning hole in my muffler was on the top of the muffler, blowing hot gasses up under the floor of the car, just inches away. One of those little plastic plugs in the floor was right over the hole, allowing the hot gasses to finally ignite the carpet -- which, after it had smoldered for a while, was fanned into merry flames by the open cockpit, 65 mph driving. Total damage: charred carpet and flame scars on the face of the back panel -- never repaired. I DID go get a new muffler!
For sheer terror, my story is the fuel line that slipped free of the front carb on my old tr3.This let the electric fuel pump run wild and hose down the exhaust manifold with fuel. This was vaporized into a white cloud that enveloped the entire car!! I killed the ignition,coasted to the curb, and cleaned out my shorts.
But still shudder to think what might have been.....
md(mad dog)
But still shudder to think what might have been.....
md(mad dog)
Moseso
Jedi Knight
Offline
Off topic: not a TR story.
I once was following a VW bug -- long ago, a real air-cooled one. There were flames coming out of the engine lid in the back. The lady driving was oblivious until her float bowl ran dry and the car stopped. I was driving my VW bus so, of course, I had a fire extinguisher. When she stopped, I leaped out of my bus, popped her engine lid and sprayed dry chemical all over the place. Whew! Same heart in throat feeling as when I put out my TR3. Good ol' adrenaline.
Even with a mechanical fuel pump, a carbureted car can run for several minutes, pumping gas all over the place, when the push-on fuel line pops off.
Hose clamps: Cheap! Worth every penny of it. Even if the manufacturer didn't see fit to put them on as original equipment.
I once was following a VW bug -- long ago, a real air-cooled one. There were flames coming out of the engine lid in the back. The lady driving was oblivious until her float bowl ran dry and the car stopped. I was driving my VW bus so, of course, I had a fire extinguisher. When she stopped, I leaped out of my bus, popped her engine lid and sprayed dry chemical all over the place. Whew! Same heart in throat feeling as when I put out my TR3. Good ol' adrenaline.
Even with a mechanical fuel pump, a carbureted car can run for several minutes, pumping gas all over the place, when the push-on fuel line pops off.
Hose clamps: Cheap! Worth every penny of it. Even if the manufacturer didn't see fit to put them on as original equipment.
No TR horror stories yet....I've just joined the club two years ago; however, when I was in high school I had a '77 MGB that liked to sputter and shut off with absolutely no warning. Someone said maybe it was a vapor-lock thing...anyway, whenever this happened, I had to pop the bonnet, and fold the fuel line in half and have someone try to start the car. On one occasion, the fuel line popped off at the filter and I got a facefull of high-pressure unleaded on a hot summer day. Sweet!
