Tony K

Matt - no, it's so expensive that I bought a Lancia as a second mid-engine car that would be more affordable to maintain (no joke). Everything mechanical on the Lotus routinely breaks, and mechanical parts carry Porsche-esque price tags.

But the construction of the car is relatively cheap - the entire rear compartment can be recarpeted for $40 and a sewing machine, underneath is fiberglass and plywood decking, all of which I could cobble together in the garage, like Lotus did at the factory! As you see in the picture, there's really not much to lose to whatever the fire extinguisher can spew:



The big fire risk is that the Dellortos sit right over the distributor, and a leaking o-ring or loose banjo bolt equal instant engine fire.

Okay, sorry, BACK ON TOPIC..

Again, can anyone explain the chemistry in fire extinguishers?

SamGrant951

Im still driving it everyday, its over 226k- It began "ticking" like crazy so I ran some Lucas through it to no avail. The Disco is the replacement (Ive always wanted one, -fingers crossed-) but Im keeping the Pathfinder around just in case- we have been together too long

RajDatta

I would be interested in a group buy as well.
Raj

pete944

I don't know if I have the time available to set up a group buy but I'll help if I can.
What we need to do is find a good setup that will work in 99% of our cars and try to set up a group buy on that. I'm sure that the 911/928/914 guys would also be interested.
If we can get a good group by together it can be stickied on all the forums.
The first order of business is to find the product that works best.
A bracket that will work with stock or aftermarket seats will be needed too.

pete944

Here is a link to a remote system. Would this work?



http://www.apexperformance.net/cartg...p?pid=57&cid=7

Maciek

Pete, I sent an email to BK to see if they have a bracket for 944s with aftermarket seats. It looks like the Apex system will work, but I honestly am no expert. Winslow (horsepowerfarm) has some sort of remote system in his car and we could see what he used and how to install it. Maybe you could use those magic moderator powers to "compell" him to post here? I'll post when I hear back from BK.

Darth Coupe

I have a Kidde from Lowes and got the bracket for the fire extinguisher from Home Depot. With some properly sized muffler clamps, one can easily mount it to a roll/harness bar like I have done with little fuss. I do not have any pics at the moment, but I know there are others out there with this type of attachment. If you do not have a horizontal bar in the car, then the next best thing is either to get a seat bolt in bracket to mount to the fire extinguisher bracket or make one. As far as what type to get, Halon is expensive, we are using it on the aircraft engine I am working now. We always are working on getting away from it though. I have a ABC one, though if I were to do it again, I would have bought the same exact fire extinguisher next to it that was a BC as I understand those are not as corrosive. Though I do agree with the previously mentioned statement, if its on fire, its toast and I am spraying with my 2.5 squirt can to save the rest of the car, thats if I am not running for my life.

Perry 951

I really don't know why some of you still don't have a good non-checmical fire extiguisher in your cars. When you spend $10,000 on new ****, and $300 of it does not go towards protection, you set yourself up for a depressing situation. Every time we see a thread like the one Dan posted, we put up more posts about group buys and making sure you have an extinguisher, but many of you don't follow through.

Don't put too much faith in little Kiddie Dry Chem extinguishers... they are better than nothing, however, you have less than 5 seconds of spray time. The one I unloaded on my car did not put out the flames, just calmed them down. The real bad side is the pitting that the chemical did to all my engine and electrical parts.

This list has warned 944 owners about the fire potentials of our cars. I just did a quick search and found 11 posts about 944's going up in flames... this year alone. I can think of 5 or 6 show cars, built by some of the lists best people, that have sat on the side of the road and burned.

Buy yourself a Thanksgiving present (don't wait till Christmas). Stable Energines or Brey Krauss, they are both excellent components.

faithless

Perry nice post,

Having a Kiddie extinguisher in your car is poor insurance. Sure its better than nothing, but you aren't really gonna like how it performs when its critical to put out the fire or watch it engulf your car. My Dad is a strong advocate of keeping an extinguisher in every car. He too buys those Kiddies, and he is constantly taking them down to the fire department to have them refilled. IMO it is better to buy yourself a QUALITY extinguisher that isn't going to leak pressure in a few months.

I didn't even know the chemicals in the extinguishers were corrosive! It sounds like only the best non-corrosive extinguisher should be used. It must carrry a lot of power and life and it must not leak off pressure like a Kiddie does. I would be highly interested in taking part in the group buy, but as of now I still can't find a 951 to buy, so I really don't need one at the moment. When I get my car though, buying a professional fire extinguisher will be #1 on my agenda.

faithless

This is the only bracket I would consider getting. As long as it can be mounted on the rear underside of the passenger seat, it looks like its a nice mount and it will keep the extinguisher hidden. No way I would use one of those mounts that places the extinguisher up in the front, maybe if it was for a track car where you don't care about looks.

Dark Lightning

Just because I feel the front-of-the-passenger-seat mount is too much of an eye-sore, can the Stable Energies bracket be used on the rear of the passenger seat?

faithless

Holy sh|t! Check this one out! http://www.h3r.com/products/a352t_hv.htm Costs $32.00 more (for chrome), but heh, looks a lot better! It seems Halon is best because it is designed for fuel fires, which is what were talking about here, class B. There really isnt much of a class A potential in the engine bay. It's mostly oil residue that starts a slow burning fire and then the fuel source that will eventually turn it into a bonfire. class C doesn't seem necessary because there is no source of power in the car that creates high enough voltages and high enough power to actually injure you from conduction through the agent. class C rating doesnt hurt, but I think the extinguisher should have a really strong class B rating. AKA Halon.

Perry 951

I don't think it will work behind the seat.

hoffman912

this is what the 912 registry used for a group buy. we worked out a group buy deal paying 100 (instead of 115) for 2.5 lbs of halon. yes.. you can still buy halon..

http://safecraft.com/product_page.as...CatID=7&menu=H

the one i have the the PC2.. worked so well when my bmw when up in flames that imediately bought another.

JerryW

Note that there are different BK mounts depending on electric or manual seats. The manual mount moves with the seat . The electric mount is static and can interfere with seat movement.