Fuel shutoff

I was reading a June post on a poor fellow that lost his bug to a fire, and it got me to thinking(oops, is a blonde supposed to do that?) I fly small planes and they all have a fuel shut off valve for obvious safety reasons. It seems like one of these, say close to the shifter, would do the trick to keep this kind of fire from growing out of control by gravity fed fuel from a ruptured line. Has anyone ever seen or done this in their ride?

Ofcourse prevention is worth a pound of cure, and I have listened to my local gurus and replace my rubber fuel lines yearly, plus I use hose clamps at all connection points. Cheap piece of mind...

Deb, 71SB

Reply to
Debra Chervenka
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Fuel shut-offs _standard_ on later Bugs. Look at your carb. At the bottom left side is the shutoff. When the ignition is off, the fuel valve is closed. It's not the same as shutting of the electric fuel pump; if that's what you want, you might look into a kill-switch. I have one in a quickly accessible point to the left of the steering wheel. It kills the ignition and fuel pump at the same time. (I also have a switch to turn the fuel pump on separately to build pressure before ignition.)

Reply to
jjs

Hmmmm Gotta take exception here. That's only an idle circuit cutoff; has no control over fuel flowing from pump (or tank).

Speedy Jim

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Reply to
Speedy Jim

Reply to
ilambert

I read references to the "idle cutoff" in the Bentley that JJS referred to. My '71SB should have this part, but it does not (I know the engine was replaced, as best I can tell from the engine code it's a '70 1600). Also there is no electric fuel pump, factory fuel injection didn't start until '75 I believe. Anyway, as far as the idle cutoff, I have to agree with Speedy Jim, this probably would not protect in all situations because unrestricted gas from the tank is still available in the engine compartment up to the idle cutoff valve. But I can see how putting a manual valve, along with the flow of gas, in the passenger compartment is somewhat risky. Maybe someone makes a valve with a long handle, so the valve could be located in the trunk by the tank, but the handle could be in the cabin.

Reply to
Debra Chervenka

This is an interesting article on the subject:

compartment

Reply to
Debra Chervenka

Debra by the time you figuer your engines on fire, there will be enough fuel spilled to get the block going. My best advice is to keep your engine clean. all the biuldt up dirt oil gunk will burn.

Check the carb, fuel lines, pump and even electrical over well. If something looks like it could be a problem fix nd or replace it. the other is to keep a fire extinguisher in your VW where you can get your hands on it in seconds, like in front of the passenger seat base.

I have had an engine fire personaly and have seen alot of beetles that have had an engine fire, so I can tell you it happens alot. knowledge and prevention

Mario

Reply to
Kafertoys

:) Early Bugs had exactly that setup, but largely because they had no gas gauge. The lever served to turn the tank off, use reserve (or not.)

Reply to
jjs

Reply to
bugman1955

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