Oh my god, my Beetle caught fire tonight.

I'd guess the "recent" overhaul was the culprit, something wasn't tied down quite as tightly as it needed to be. Fuel filter inside the engine compartment? Hose clamp snug instead of tight?

Being a reputable mechanic doesn't mean much, even the best will make mistakes sometimes.

Wow! I'd love to have a business like that. He made over $2000 for his labor of maybe four hours.

(Note to self: don't store the grenades with the fire extinguisher)

As in applause?

Seriously - very glad you were not hurt.

Interesting idea and worth researching. I'm on it.

I had a very similar thing happen to me several years ago in my bug. It was a very scary experience but really wasnt as bad as it could have been. CHECK YOUR FUEL LINES! Mine popped out of the carb body itself and sprayed fuel all over the place. Glad your ok!

Jeremie

One experience I'd like to share happened with my 66 Baja about 20 yrs ago. I was driving down the road and suddenly I heard a loud arc'ing kinda sound and the whole cab started filling with smoke FAST. It was amazing how fast it smoked!

What had happened was that the positive battery cable that goes thru the hole out to the starter had finally rubbed thru and was grounding to the body right at that hole (that was slowly wearing away the insulation of the cable). The arc (welding) also made the hole a bit bigger and more lopsided! :-)

Somehow it stopped arc'ing and I taped it up real good and drove home.

Nowadays, I know to have a bushing installed at that spot!

Whew!

-Rob J

VdubBeetle1972 wrote:

Thanks for that reminder. I need to replace that bushing on my 77

I forgot to mention that its in Aussie dollars - the exchange rate is about A$66 for one US dollar.

So the new 1641cc engine - which came with 110 Engel camshaft, heavy duty springs, balanced engine, etc.. came to $3,800 Australian. or US .... around $2,000?? I don't have my calculator handy.

About #3,300US - you did get a good deal.

Bad news dude. Best of luck in getting him/her back on the road. Mine nearly did similar recently. The fuel fitting in the pump itself fell out ( all the pipes have jubilee clips etc). I never in a million years expected the pump to fall apart. I hammered the pipe back in and went on my way, but it was scarey. The petrol was sizzling as it poured onto the exhaust pipe (which was hot after having driven flat out for over an hour)

Neil

Very effective for fighting fires. Leaves no corrosive residue to clean up afterward. Halon 1211 is the preferred agent for US Navy aircraft fires because of these properties. I'm all for carrying a bottle in the car.

Hmmm? Australian $3800 at a 66 cent exchange rate = US$2,508. Its not the other way around. The US$1 gets more go here.

One US dollar will get you $1.51 Australian dollars. At one stage it was over double.

.... reminds me of my VW bug fire story .. Raycar of Orlando's NO LIABILITY INSURANCE .. and IDIOT MECHANIC who forgot to put the clamp on the hose to the carburator story ... It's been a few years since I bashed RAYCAR OF ORLANDO .. who carries NO LIABILITY INSURANCE .. and who employs an IDIOT for a mechanic .. I wonder why no parts stores will do business with them .. or why no other VW mechanic in town has a nice thing to say about them ...

Diane

Time for a timely reminder to everone with an aircooled. Whenever you get another Car, or fuel pump or carb, do the following:

Get a pair of pliers and pull on the brass fitting on the carb. If you can get it out, roughen up the end, apply some locktight and hammer it back in firmly. Repeat this process with the fittings on the fuel pump. While you're at it, check if the hoses are brittle and replace them in necessary. Make sure everything's clamped up.

The whole process only takes a few minutes, and costs next to nothing. If you haven't already done it, do it now!

Kim Howe

You need to put that in the subject heading too Diane to get more attention on Google. :)

You mean like this ??? And in case he ever wants to debate it I still have the name and number of the insurance company .. He owes me a car .. and when he gives me one I will shut up. Mean while, hopefully the next time there is a meet at Downey Park in Orlando, my 67 bus will look pretty enough to go .. and I will have the truth plastered all over the windows. I never took him to court .. I should have .. I was hoping he would do the honorable thing .. AND HE DIDN'T .. but if anyone knows him please tell him I am still waiting and holding this grudge until the end of time or until he pays me my loss .. diane

Good ole Raycar. Yes, they definitly (or used to) have) sorry mechanics.

Someone had previously lowered it and I wanted it raised back up. Not only did the raise it, they over raised it to the point that the back of the car didn't come off of the suspension stop until it hit a speed bump. At which point it felt like the entire back of the car was jumping off of the ground. I never let any work on my VW except for me after that. I should have known something was fishy when they made me pay with cash.

I did get some awesome deals on parts from them, though.

Gary

Aw, what the heck? The mechanic took a good look at the engine with me and all the fuel lines are intact. The main one leading to the carbie is even untouched.

The one on the left side is scorched badly.

But there is no petrol dripping anywhere. The fuel tank is still 60% full.

Later in the afternoon, he'll look under it and examine it from there.

Because you said that fuel was burning on the road, it means that you had a massive fuel leak. Since you said that the fuel tank is still 60% full, it means that fuel is dripping only when the engine is running. The main suspect is the line from the fuel pump to the carb, where fuel is under pressure. Allthough you said that it may seems intact, the brass fitting on the carb may have come loose and fuel leaks from there. Try to pull the fuel line from the carb to see if it comes out with the brass fitting. The fitting to the end of the pump is a suspect too. It is very common for these fittings to come loose -- especially if you have a filter between the pump and carb -- due to vibration of the hose (bad place to place a filter, place it next to the tranny).

Other common thing that causes fires on bugs (but not what happened in your case) is the wire going to the heating element of the carb. This wire usually falls behind the carb and rubs against the fan housing and the seam of the carb's body casting. Eventually it will wear and cause a sort-circuit, just next to the carb. To prevent this, you have to smooth the casting seam in the front side of the carb, and protect the wire by rolling it with electric tape.

Bill, '67 bug.

Never have had any work done by them, but Ray Jr. always was very friendly and nice with me and sold me plenty of decent parts, new and used at reasonable prices. Spent some time talking with me despite his insanely busy schedule (lloks like it's always like that). His dad I think is who started the business, and is still involved somehow I guess.. but running the store rests on Ray Jr's shoulders? I got the impression that Ray Sr. hangs out at the warehouse mostly (located elsewhere) Anyway.. I wonder if they are just too damn busy with work to be able to do good QUALITY. When volumes grow, quality gets worse because there's less time for details.

Sad. I'm not trying to defend them opr anything, just wondering out loud what is causing it. I don't have anything negative to say about the people themselves. Just that they are a liiiittle bit too busy.

Jan

Gary H wrote: