Fire! A Very Close Call.(long)

Hi Gang, Finally got the "Brand New" '76 Purple Bug up and running and made the

600 + mile round trip from Pensacola to visit my daughter in Jacksonville this past weekend. After a 400 mile engine break in I felt confident enough to make this trip . No problems until the return trip. About 90 miles from Home I started smelling rubber burning and immediately pulled off I-10 . When I stopped white and black smoke was pouring from the engine bay and the exhaust noise was very loud. I shut down , turned off the battery kill switch grabbed my fire extinguisher and let my 22 years of US Navy fire fighting training kick in! Small class A fire , the engine rubber seal was ablaze. Used water from drink cooler to put out flames. (Spared the fire bottle this time. Hate cleaning up all that chemical crap) Fire was caused when #2 exhaust header pipe on the merged 4 into 1 exhaust broke at a weld and sprayed red hot exhaust directly onto the rubber engine seal. I called the wife and 2 hours later she showed up with a tow bar and rescued me. Bug Pack merged 4 into 1 system 1 5/8'' pipe less than 1000 miles on the engine. Getting ready to order a new system any recommendations? 1776 cc. Engle 110 , Kads. Daily Driver. This VW has been under construction for the last 5 years and because of a cheap weld job I almost lost her! You just never know. Oh I never really noticed an increase in exhaust noise as this little devil screams like a race car at 4300 rpms. It was Fathers Day that I will not forget.

"Wild" Bill and "Blondie" Tucker

President and First Lady Rare Air VW Club Pensacola, FLorida

'78 VW Bus ( "Old Rusty" )

'76 Bug "The Grape"

'69 Squareback , Arizona car, Automatic, "Blondies' Car"

'67 Squareback

Rare Air VW Club Website:

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Wild Bill
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OH NO !!!! Thank God you and your bug are alright !!!

For those of you who may not know, Wild Bill here is the "Grand Pooba" of our local VW club and is a big part of what makes owning a VW in Pensacola fun !! And you all MUST see this bug of his......just too beautiful, inside and out.

Glad, Grape Ape is ok.....let me know if there's anything I can do....(can't imagine what but at least I'm willing ;- )

Susan

74 Std Betty
Reply to
Susan S.

Thanks Susan, Like I said a close call. While I'm waiting for the exhaust system to come in I'll tidy up a few lose ends. Maybe track down a as BH sez a Bitching Sound system :).

"Wild" Bill and "Blondie" Tucker

President and First Lady Rare Air VW Club Pensacola, FLorida

'78 VW Bus ( "Old Rusty" )

'76 Bug "The Grape"

'69 Squareback , Arizona car, Automatic, "Blondies' Car"

'67 Squareback

Rare Air VW Club Website:

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or

formatting link

Reply to
Wild Bill

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