Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: Lou Drozdowski on Wednesday,April 16, 2014, 04:35:53 AM
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I'm sure we all have heard of some poor lad who watched his beloved ride go up in smoke. Driving a Europa has the added distinction of turning into a ashtray very quickly...Yes, the first action you should take is replacing the infamous plastic "T" if running the Zenith carbs. Many, go the standard hand held bottle somewhere in the cockpit...a minimum for anyone. I have decided to go the extra mile and install a remote system by Safecraft in addition to a manual device. For my 6 year project it was a matter of confidence.
Since my battery is located in the rear storage tray (p/o had a/c and the compressor was occupying the space) I decided to remove it to save weight. Turned out to be a perfect spot...ld
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Bella mossa Lucio!
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In Belgium handheld fire extinguishers in cars are mandatory, however someone from the fire brigade recently told me that those small extinguishers don't have the power to stop anything other than a really small flame. Once there is an actual fire those things don't really work. So I would definitely recommend people following your example, it's a really small price to pay to have some insurance if anything should go wrong.
Serge
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In Australia you no longer have to carry a fire extinguisher anymore for national level circuit racing.
The idea is that circuits have significant crew and fire fighting capability, plus as you say not much you can do with a 0.9kg handheld.
International level and national level rally still require FIA plumbed in systems.
Speed/Hillclimb require handheld or plumbed system.
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I just don't know what you need a fire system for:
http://www.salvage-cars-for-sale.info/salvage/for-sale-lotus-europa-1974-MjE2MDcxNDA
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I would never advise against a fire system or extinguisher in your Europa, but I'd expect that except in very rare exceptions, the fires were the result of the plastic T fitting between the Strombergs or other plastic fuel system component. You are literally playing with fire if your car still has any of those.
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WOW! 4009R= :BBQ: :blowup: :'(
...I'd expect that except in very rare exceptions, the fires were the result of the plastic T fitting between the Strombergs or other plastic fuel system component.
I wonder about the fire hazard resulting from the various other ways the carbs can leak, e.g., the bottom plugs. And what about the material on the 'firewall'. After 40 years mine is fairly saturated with oil. It started to smolder when I was dealing with ignition coil ballast resistor issues.
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Well, you raise some good points. I hadn't heard that the plugs on the bottom of the Strombergs were an issue. Smoldering firewall material... I wonder how that could get hot enough to burn and I would expect that oil would not encourage a fire, but then maybe I underestimate the potential.
I don't have Strombergs or the original firewall insulation any more so I don't have to worry about either of them anyway! ;D
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When I bought my car last August both plugs on the carbs were seeping. Replaced with new plugs, still seeped. Replaced with solid bowls.
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Discharge cable mounted above the left knee.
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For the really chic Europa owner who doesn't want to sully their cockpit or motor bay with unsightly fire suppression equipment, I present The Wine Bottle FIER Extinguisher.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2022092889/the-wine-bottle-fier-extinguisher (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2022092889/the-wine-bottle-fier-extinguisher)
:confused: :WTF: :BEER3: :blowup:
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Pretty interesting! In our over regulated world, I'm surprised that the gov't doesn't require all fire extinguishers to be painted red!
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Mine's in:
http://s250.photobucket.com/user/jbcollier/media/IMG_1175.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0