replacement heat wrap - WARNING!

[*89x2*]

SInce we have a lot of heat wrap and shields on our B2K's, I thought this might be relevant - the moral of the story certainly is :eek



While this did NOT happen on a Callaway Corvette, it very well could - or on any vehicle that one attempts to shield high underhood temps w/ shielding :eek

I have a good friend who just installed a 383 into his Grand Sport and during the process he discovered his headers were too close to some wiring...

He bought various lengths and types of heat wrap but installed the kind that is "split" and secures back to a "tube" with velcro...

The car seemed fine - Fine until last week when he pulled into a gas station and saw light smoke :eek

Lifting the hood, flames burst upward, burning some of the components under the hood...

Quick on his feet, my friend grabbed his fire extinguisher and put the flames out with hardly any commotion :cool

Limping the car home, he got the car up on his lift the following day, only to find that many of the sensors were damaged along with the wires...

The root cause - the velcro that secured the wrap had caught fire! :eek

The wrap itself was fine - good stuff - but the nylon velcro fastner assembly was burnt to a crisp.

Moral of this story - Carry a fire extingusher!
There was a few 1987 B2K's that have caught fire - remember the one where the fireman put the axe through the hood

It is cheap insurance, as my friend said his car would have been a total loss otherwise...

His GS is all fine now, after repairing it over the weekend - close call!

Hope this helps!

Here is a pic of the part that he said was to blame:

 

[TurboLuigi]

Ouch!...

Good Warning. Velcro is not a good idea with anything hot. I wonder what product liability (or warning) they have in that case.

BTW, I am not familiar with any of the '87 car stories you mentioned. Must have been before my time :crazy

For a good example of how to properly deal with heat shielding, learn from Callaway's Engineering. Take a look at the how the heat shields are fastened to the turbos. Callaway uses a heavy gauge wire to fasten the shields on. I believe that the orange heat wrap on the spark plug wires is also fastened that way.

I carry a small fire extiguisher in all my cars. Not only do the Callaways generate a great amount of heat (and torque ), you never know when it might come in handy on the road. It might help save someone elses life (and/or car).

People with antique cars should be familiar with the need to carry a fire extinguisher. Many of the old fuel pressure gauges worked by teeing a small diameter fuel line right after the fuel pump, in effect plumbing gasoline right into the cab, to the back of the fuel pressure guage. Talk about a dangerous situation.

-Luigi
:cool

 

[*89x2*]

Luigi - here is one that burnt...

http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32015

I talked with an owner at a show who had an 87 that the harness caught fire and took the rest along with it - it was run right on the exhaust - or the reminants were :eek

 

[Ken]

Those heat shields that do use hook-and-loop type of method to fasten the shielding, usually make an attempt to inform you (via the instruction sheets) to install the hook-and-loop material away from direct heat exposure. That is, install it with the heat shield material facing the direct heat source, not the closure side facing the heat.

The wire tie method is best though.

 

[*89x2*]

Those heat shields that do use hook-and-loop type of method to fasten the shielding, usually make an attempt to inform you (via the instruction sheets) to install the hook-and-loop material away from direct heat exposure. That is, install it with the heat shield material facing the direct heat source, not the closure side facing the heat.

The wire tie method is best though.

Ken, I wonder if just the sheer heat in that (tight) area near all the header pipes spelled out doom for that early on :eek

Most of the damage was close to the block apparently with the harness to the sensors and sending units

I was glad to hear him say he had his extinguisher handy - could you imagine, and at a gas station too :eek

 

[Ken]

I keep an extinguisher strapped to my roll bar and ready at all times; I just hope I remain calm enough to think straight if such a thing should occur. :eek

I don't use any of that heat wrap anyway by the way, at least not anywhere near the major heat sources. I do wrap my fuel lines in the engine compartment, but they're not anywhere near the headers. Even then, the stuff I use is a sleeve-type material.

 

[Aurora40]

Just a quick comment in a thread about cars on fire, the NJ owner of the 1990 B2K I looked at had previously had a 1987 B2K. He got the 1990 after his 1987 burst into flames in his driveway (thankfully not in his garage).

 

[8388]

The right one for that application, is just like the orange siliconized with fiberglass on the inside hose that Callaway uses.


Here's a picture of what I'm talking about but in red.

 

[Ken]

Earl's markets that stuff as "Flameguard". Good stuff, but ugly as hell. :L

 

[*89x2*]

The right one for that application, is just like the orange siliconized with fiberglass on the inside hose that Callaway uses.


Here's a picture of what I'm talking about but in red.

8388 - Yep - looks close :cool

Don't forget about the silver stuff under the hood too -

Also, New EGR shields for the pipe (from Corvette aftermarket) comes w/ the velcro covers for replacements now...

 

[c24]

fire

In regards to the fire extinguisher which do you recommend dry chemical or halon? I was thinking about getting one and after searching on the net came across company who sells halon units.

http://www.h3r.com/products/home_vehicle.htm

 

[JonM]

It is cheap insurance, as my friend said his car would have been a total loss otherwise...

What would have been his cost if the gas station ignited. :ugh