Carrera GT

The cool shirt is available in an SFI fire proof material.

FWS-SS
FireWear Cool Water Shirt - Short Sleeve
$259.95

http://www.coolshirt.net/acc-cool-shirt-options.html

In any case, the plastic tubing of the shirt means it has to be worn over/outside any fireproof layer so that only a fireproof material is against the skin.

As ever, trusting a post to an Internet forum is debatable ... even when it's my post! : ) ... ps. don't forget taxes are due tomorrow and be sure to claim the premium you pay for buying fuel at the track as a deductible expense.

You could contact the manufacturer directly and ask them to include this answer in their FAQ page.

Shafer Enterprises, LLC
170 Andrew Drive
Stockbridge, GA 30281

Toll Free: 800-345-3176
Tech Line: 678-289-4284
Fax: 678-289-4325

E-mail: sales@coolshirt.net

93 FireHawk 968

Never cut corners with any personal safety equipment....... With that said I need to step up and wear the fire proof undergarments. Suit, socks and balaclava are not enough.

Carrera GT

Right. And look at the number of 911's built with oil lines routed inside the cabin. Never been impressed by that. Fuel and oil have to stay outside and a 911 has to have front and rear firewalls -- this has to be an airtight seal of the cabin. This car was left so that a fire in the front of the car could draft through to the cabin uninterrupted. This would also defeat the short term suppression impact of the fire system.

Also note the reference to the NHRA "orientation" test -- I've see many race cars where there's no cabin access to the battery cut-off and the fire system switch is mounted on the switch panel (at the very limit of the reach of the driver and surrounded by distracting surfaces (which might already be on fire or engulfed in smoke or flames.) Better the have the fire system activation as a switch somewhere unique and easily reached while blinded by smoke. Same for the battery cutoff. And just make sure it's still not a switch that's easily set off by accident.

claykos

To my knowledge, the front firewall held. The big issue was that there was no REAR window glass in the car. This sucked the fire which was coming from under the car into the cabin from the back. Just like if you drive in a station wagon or SUV with the rear (tailgate) window open it sucks exhaust in the back seat...

FrankyV

This very timely for me as I am currently installing an ESS AFFF (foam) system in my 911 and while I will have nozzles in front of me at knee height, this makes me want to install another on the cage up and behind me. I have never seen it done that way, anyone know why?

As a sidenote, I put seperate halon bottle system in the boot to cover the fuel tank and was able to avoid running a pull cable by repurposing one of the heater controls and its cable.

Torontoworker

Does NASA reg's allow window removal? Wow. Ours (CASC) are hardcore on rear windows in plus retainers or straps. Plus the driver should not be the one fighting the fire.

Glad we had a happy ending.

jrgordonsenior

Are you covering the fuel rails by the motor? I think that's the most important area outside of the driver .....

rlm328

Was he using foam, halon or a combination of the 2. It is my impression that you have an upper speed limit for halon to be effective, and if you are in excess of that speed it will blow the fire out briefly which is what this sounded like.

My best for the driver and hopes for a speedy recovery.

kcpaz

Tage had a liquid (foam) based system installed with two nozzles in the engine bay, and two nozzles on his person. He did activate the system, and as far as we can tell, it went off. The problem is the circumstance that caused his burns were so unique that there was no way a traditional fire system would have done anything to prevent his injury. Even if he had planned for the most obscure situation and pointed a nozzle coming from the back, it is likely that it would have been useless in the conditions that were seen. Bottom line is, if he had had the rear window installed, he would have walked away. Had he worn his head sock, he could have been uninjured. What saved his life is the fact that he knew how to make a fast exit from his car. The lessons that should be learned are... wear ALL of your safety gear (even if your club doesn't require it) and practice making a fast exit from your car even with your eyes closed.

analogmike

Sounds like balaclavas should be required for ALL drivers. Why leave bare skin open to flame?

FrankyV

Well the SC does not have fuel rails but fuel lines that branch off a distributor and go to the base of each intake runner. I am planning to run a line with two nozzles above the engine.

gomez1

I need a better fire system STAT

Veloce Raptor

JR, thanks for posting this. Very timely & important thread...

jrgordonsenior

Yea I sorta remember that..... You got the point, fuel is distributed thru fittings which are sitting either over or directly adjacent to the hottest parts of the motor. These are major failure points that have to be protected along with the driver. The gas tank is forward and removed from direct contact with hot motors except for the 924 variants....

Chaos

Thank you