Um i feel stupid but i was pouring gasoline into my carb cause my car wouldnt start, i thought it might be the fuel pump so i was standing over it and pouring a can of gas into it while my friend tried to start it...
well it started, and about a second later it backfired, all over me and my car.
Burning gasoline is not a pretty sight, especially when its on you. i ran around for a second then dropped to the ground and rolled around a few times in the dry gras, which luckelly didnt catch fire.
The gas can however was not so lucky, it cought fire and rolled under my car. luckelly my friend kicked it out of there before it could go boom....
Word(s) of advice: Never manually pour gas into ure carb :-)
Im new here and dont know much, but i know this now, just thought i would share this with you all.

I usually use a small glass, easier and less gas to spill

The old style round ketchup/mustard squirt bottles work great for things like that. Red for gas, yellow for oil...

Glad to hear you and the car are ok!

-Rich

Glad to know at least you weren't UNDER the car like what happened to me 6 years ago with my pickup truck--changing the fuel filter, damn gasoline dripped onto the worklight & blew it up along with the tank...let's just say after the fire was out, the truck was a crispy critter, and the house needed $55K in repairs. How I got outta there is still beyond me!!

------------------
DR Stevens
Car #1: my ride
1984 TransAm
305HO(L69) 95K & counting
750 cfm Q-Jet reman. by Holley
K&N filter
700R4/Superior shift-kit
3.42 rear/3.73 blew up!!
underdrive pulleys
Accel HEI Super-Coil
180 stat/hi flow water
pump/Jet fan switch
dual snorkel /w/ hood louver
3" exhaust of some sort
partial emissions delete
Stock-appearing radio /w/
10-disc changer
Car #2: My wife's ride
1991 Firebird/Formula
305TBI(LO3) 99K & smoking
K&N air filter
Hypertech Thermomaster Chip
more engine mods later
400W amp /w/ 12" sub

------------------
--Steve S--
1984 Trans Am 305 LG4, 5 speed
Daily Driver, Flowmaster 80 Series
Holley 600 cfm & vacuum advance

wow. u mustv'e been shocked AND ticked. i guess fuel has its good sides and its bad sides... eh?

oh yeah and red for gas? yellow for oil? hmmm thats a good idea. although now im thinking of going to somthing a little safer like TPI...... Nah!

I had a fuel filter (plastic) crack once and start leaking fuel which caught on fire. I smelled it and pulled over. I popped the hood and found the mess burning. the fire was isolated to the Gas that had accumulated on the intake manifold and the fuel filter. I didn't have an extinguisher so I was going to let it burn itself out. A moron stopped to help and ran over and threw a blanket over it (like this would put it out). What this did was cause the fire to spread to the air filter, the wiring, the plug wire, all of the hoses on top of the motor, you get the picture, all before I could get the blanket off. No explosions or other major calamaties other than my desire to kill the dude that caused the mess. Consequently since then I've never ever used a plastic fuel filter again. I recommend that you don't either.

No, I was more scared of my dad beating my *** at the time (I was 17), and it was my first vehicle. Made me pretty sad, I did so much work on it to put it back on the road. I was pissed when I walked into auto shop the next week and everyone started singing
"Burnin' Down the House."

DR

yeah "the roof, the roof, the roof is on fire!"
Thats one of those songs that it takes alot of mental power to come up with the words.
Im glad i didnt blow a hole in my house, or my head for that matter.

Yep, gasoline is a dangerous liquid. Don't ever take a chance with gas spilling on a hot engine. Your car will turn into a bomb in a second.

------------------
Big 454 72 Chevy Nova
383 86 Camaro Z28

You be careful, now! Ya' hear?!?!

Ill just put some ketchup on my... hey this tastes funny

AHAHAHAHAAA, sorry, but that is a funny story since it worked out OK (no real harm)!

I almost blew up my car when I took a torch to weld a nut onto a broken bolt that held on the fuel pump. I saw a small little fire where the pump arm rod rides the cam, and when I tried to blow it out, it shot into the block! I ran like hell, but it must have snuffed itself out (lack of oxygen). I towed it to a shop and I have no intention of trying out my wleding skills anytime soon!!!!!

------------------
1984 z28 w/ a 357 cu in. monster engine which is looking like the posterchild for Edelbrock with the exception of the Holley 750vac... all the suspension stuff... 9-bolt posi disk is in...

-=ICON Motorsports=-

hmm at least you didnt a put a hole in your house or head ;-)

Racing fuel and alcohol are even more serious!!!!!

yeah i quit drinking all that stuff a year ago!

------------------
LONG LIVE THE MUSCLE CAR!!!!! MAY ITS REIGN NEVER END

1983Z28 350w/ edelbrock performer RPM power package with 64cc aluminum heads, dynomax shorty headers, 700R-4 with shift kit, 750cfm carb, edelbrock 3" exhaust system, ASCD SS hood, 16" IROC rims.

future mods:
completely done over suspension, black paint with flames, Hurst shifter, dakota digital gauge package, procharger supercharger.

You know, as a sidenote, I felt cheated when I had my incident; the mechanic who worked on my truck that I blew up had a LIT cigarette hangin' out of his mouth ALL the time, even when he did my fuel pump. THEN I go and do a simple filter replacement, and the fuel just had to land on the F@#$IN worklight, couldn't have landed anywhere else.

DR

[This message has been edited by eightTfourTA (edited March 26, 2001).]

Yea well that's the way things work.

Wow, this is funny stuff. I never work on my car alone with stuff that could be dangerous. I won't even go under my car alone. Didn't let my friend change fuel filter by himself and I held the FLASHLIGHT . I love TBI, same as carb except it tunes itself (except fuel pressure) .
So has everybody learned the lesson?

------------------
, Jon (350 TBI!)
91 Red RS w/grey int, sq stereo (Alpine v12, kicker solo, MB quart premium etc)

• Holley 670 TB unit w/ 1/2" spacer/adapter
• Edelbrock RPM vortec intake
• 350ho 330hp vortec crate motor
• 8" harm. balancer
• Stewart stage 2 water pump w/160 thermo
• SLP tri-y headers to full 3"
• Rebuilt trans w/ SLP shift kit
• Centerline 16x8's all around
• 36/24 mm sway bars
• Full poly bushings, even motor mounts
• SLP LCA and panhard
• Alston SFCs
• Edelbrock 3 point STB
• Global west steering brace aka wonderbar
• Eibach pro kit springs
• Bilstien high perf. struts and shocks
• All this and I still have AC

My websiteAny questions?

Wow. Haven't actually caught anything on fire yet, but between the fire extiguisher in the race car, and the one in my truck, plus the old one out of the race car, I think I'm pretty well set for small fires...

On another note, I was trying to get the freakin Holley tuned up right on my truck the other afternoon, and revved it a little bit leaning right over the carb, looking straight down in. Next thing I know... BAM!!! I see a mixture of fire and black smoke and then stagger back and realize what just happened... No harm done, just scared the crap out of me...

Then in the same night, I slipped and racked my nuts on the fender, forgot to put the little washer back on the drain plug after I changed oil, and busted a gasket for the float level adjuster. Man, me and the old S10 just weren't getting along...

-Joel Likness

------------------
- 84 Z28 In Progress
Road Racer
- 85 S10 350/350
Drag Racer
- 85 Nissan 200SX (yes, it's Japanese)
Circle Track Car
- 91 Lumina 3.1 Euro
Daily Driver

[This message has been edited by RoadRacin85Z (edited March 30, 2001).]

well, like the saying goes, when you gota go, you gota go. the car, that is.

hey im gettin 10mpg.

OK, guys, what have we all learned from this?

We learned why they call it an INTERNAL combustion engine. Once combustion becomes EXTERNAL bad things happen.

Important safety tip.



I'm very lucky that I've never (knock on wood) started a fire while working on my cars. I have, however, started a fire or two while driving - like the time my "temporary" rubber fuel line hit the fan belt at speed, ripped the nile off and started spraying fuel all over the exhaust causing a funny car style hood explosion.

and now i carry a fire extinguisher in my back seat. it makes me feel safer, and makes my car look cooler. people say "whats that for?" im like " uh this is a drag racing car, you gota have one of them for safety" and they give me this wide eyed stare and i just clutch it upshift into 3rd and pop the clutch at about 7K rpms and let the rubber flow.

I might as well add my fire story. This IS some pretty funny stuff I must say. I was working on an old Dodge Dart and had a heater sitting on the motor to keep me warm. Well it would fire up, so I pulled the fuel line and turned it over to see if I was getting gas. It shot all over the heater and I pretty much toasted all the wiring and the heater. That car never ran again. Sat in the yard for about a year and all my friends painted crazy **** all over it. (Skulls and stuff) Mom wasn't pleased. At least she didn't know I almost burned down her garage. She always said I was going to burn it down one of these days.

well did you move out? why didnt you?

I have never started a fire yet while working on my car.... YET, but it is always my biggest fear. When I was fixing all of the holes in my floor, I accidentally drilled into the gas line. Gas started spraying up into the inside of the car (it had pressure from all of the gas in the tank) Ever since then I am very careful to make sure I know where all of the fuel lines are. If the drillbit was a little hotter, or if it sparked I would have been toast.

Last summer my exhaust manifold separated from the Y-pipe on the passenger side.... I was driving on the 401 (big Canadian freeway), and my carpet caught on fire... actually the fire retardant stuff under the carpet caught on fire. Near as I can figure there must have been flames shooting out of the manifold straight onto the firewall.... after a while it finally got hot enough to start the fire. All of the wires going into my heater core are completely charred...

wow. doesnt it snow up there? did you throw snow on it? why not? where were the fire people? did anyone call for help? wasnt there snow? why did flames come from your manifold? that sounds cool!

Yes, I just put the finishing touches on my new igloo, so I can work on my thirdgen without fear of polar bears. I am going to swap to a 4 cyl because my car is actually pulled by a team of sled dogs.

You Americans crack me up. I grew up on the St. Claire river which is the border between Ontario, Canada and Michigan USA. The City I live in is actually further south in latitude than New York and Northern California. It was always funny to watch the Americans come across in like August with skis strapped to the roofs of their RVs saying "Ha do uh get tu the rocky mountins?" We would usually just point west and say "Drive that way for about 4 days". They fully expected to cross the border and all of the sudden be north of the tree line. Americans from northern michigan have to be some of the most ignorant people on the planet. I know that not all Americans are like this.. I have been through about 36 states... I really like some of the southern states and the people there. But these damn yankee-Americans **** me off.


Do you SEE any snow?

If you will excuse me, I have to go and drink beer and play hockey.

[This message has been edited by johnyIROC (edited April 09, 2001).]

Sorry about that rant... I was just venting.

[This message has been edited by johnyIROC (edited April 09, 2001).]

woo hoo!! white as drifty glaciers i might add! hey im from florida what the frik do i know? as far as im concerned, anything above georgia has snow in it. and you are above georgia, therefore, you have snow. i dont care what you say or what anything has to do with anything. you have snow. there. now, if you will excuse me, i will have to go drink beer and ha! bet you thought i was going to say hockey didnt you?! ha! fooled you! ha!

Thank-you for proving my point!

ROFL... This thread is really starting to get funny. Kingtal0n, I think you better lay off the caffiene for a while...

------------------
- 84 Z28 In Progress (Road Racer)
- 85 S10 350/350 (Drag Racer)
- 85 Nissan 200SX Yes, it's Japanese (Circle Track Car)
- 91 Lumina 3.1 Euro (Daily Driver)
Carolina F-Body Club
NC Third Gen Association

Here's a little tip. When you need to pour gas down a carb to get it started, leave the air cleaner on the carb. Pour a little gas in the indentation around the wing nut. Loosen the wing nut until a small amount of gas drips down the carb. Then try to start the engine. This acts as a throttle, and is generally the safest way to do it. Not that you should ever do it.

just enough to moisten the choke plate does the trick,and hold the throttle wide open while you start it,the forward end of my ship cought fire early this morning (USS Saipan LHA 2),fire sux!!

keep a fire extinguisher in your car,it's only $20

yes i put a fire extinguisher in my car. no i havnt had to use it yet. OH YEAH it almost caught fire AGAIN!!!!!!! ok heres the story:

We (my friend and I) just put a new new carb on my engine. 600 Double pumper with mechanical secondaries. woo hoo were we in for a surprise. as you step into it, the linkage pulls the primaries open, then as you step further, it pulls open the secondaries and pushes that little spring down to squirt gas into the carb. hehehe little did we know HOLLY in their infanite wisdom, forgot to drill that little hole leading from the middle of the carb to the bowl (with the little float ball in it and my extended jets) so when the pump tried to put gas from the bowl to the squirters, it coulnt go thru since there was no hole, so the bowl simply filled to the top with gas. this proved to nearly be the end of this carb. i jammed the gas down at an idle and the primaries flopped open as did the secondaries. the spring got jammed down and a tom of gas went flying into the carb, and the intake but the electric fuel pump kept pushing gas into it and the engine died, filling the intake with gas. at least we thought the engine died, since there was no vaccume it stopped sucking alot of gas and it was in one of those strange moments when the engine kept spinning but nothing was happening, oh and guess what happened then.
Ka---BOOOOM!!!!!!! a HUUUUGE spout of flame SHOT out of the holly (i got a holly hair cut) and slammed into my open hood and shot around it (leaving my hood a crispy black... and my face since i was leaning over the carb pulling the linkage, see the car was dying i figured I would jump out of the car after slamming the gas and check on my carb to see what happened. i bent over and saw the primaries squirting fuel and....) see i later found out hollys are notorious for does this kind of thing, lucky for me the secondaries as i mentioned earlier had no hole in the float bowl (which i later drilled one for it) so no gas would ever come out of the squirters, but the butterflys would open sucking in more air thru the intake.
WOW what a ride! time for a new hood. beleive it or not, it didnt do THAT much damage, i just need new hair to grow back and a new paint job. that flame spire was HUGE!!!! i wish i had a camera. and no i dont drink caffine. its bad for you.
Lesson learned: dont lean over the carb when its squirting wide open fuel into a car thats about to backfire.
why do i have the feeling this isnt the first time this has happened to me?? oh yeah, look at who started this thread.
youd think i woulda learned by now!!!
stupid floridians!!

haha, hey jordan when are you gonna bring that fire breathing beast over here already

there dan now that you have seen it and know about its fire spitting problem, i think i should tone down the squirters. it runs so rich.

HAHA, dude after you left the first time my neighbors all came out and were lookin at the burnouts at the street

more people than u think looked out their doors, even the cop down the street was watching me with an impressed grin on his face as i flew by. this thing is loud, and it cams hard with that 292 Cam. just so freakin rich. my plugs are wet, my tailpipes shoot black smoke and splashes of wet gas. i kinda fixed that dying problem tho, lowered the mixture on the carb and raised the idle. it helped, but im still losing out high end. bah. new squirters asap. tuesday in fact, tommarow to be exact.

ah shiz, my tranny blew up. yep, my 4-speed super T-10 gave way for no reason at all today. started grinding real bad for no reason, made lots of noise no matter what gear or in neutral or whatever, and i think i stripped all the teeth away from everything LOL the grinding was so bad. damit. time for a sound rebuild or a new tranny. suggestions? how much should it cost to have this 4-speed rebuilt with all new stuff??

I recommend getting a jerico like they use in nascar. They probably cost a lot but the power they can hold is usually unreachable.

yes but i dont have unlimited funds.

hey if i get water in my valve covers, and it gunks up alot but doesn't appear to have gotten into my oil pan or pastt he oil return holes for that matter (just all over the valve covers and breathers) and ido an oil change and there doesnt seem to be any water in it, should i STILL pull off my oil pan and check if its all right?

The same thing happened to me you can't see it but trust me its in there!try sticking your finger in the drain plug hole and see if you can feel any white slop.

Oh yeah and dude it sounds like you might need a good mechanic! just so you don't burn your car to the ground! J/K

Hey do you live anywhere near Keystone Heights? I only ask because my brother lives in Keystone just wondering. later man


------------------
I WOULD RATHER PUSH A CAMARO THAN DRIVE AN IMPORT

1983Z28 350w/ edelbrock performer RPM power package with 64cc aluminum heads, dynomax shorty headers, 700R-4 with shift kit, 750cfm carb, edelbrock 3" exhaust system, ASCD SS hood, 16" IROC rims.

future mods:
completely done over suspension, black paint with flames, Hurst shifter, dakota digital gauge package, procharger supercharger.

nay, i liev in Coral springs. Off like riverside and copans. and my Trannys going to cost me about... $1200.00 after labor.
Heres the tranny I decided to put in:
Muncie 4-speed M-22 26-spline(NOT a rock crusher, but still a muncie) New Syncros, Bearings, rings, etc... almost everything replaced except the Cluster, Since it looked O.K. and had that Real low first gear.
SOund good?