Hot Rod Gods Strike Again

[PbFut]

It seems I can't catch a break this past month. Health issues with my wife Erin has made things challenging enough. With about 5 hours of total run time, it took some tuning and sync'ing, and maybe 100 miles actual driving, things went really bad with the 8 stack. Funny, I am not going out of my mind with frustration. I think Erin's situation grounded my idea of bad things.
Pics say it all. Looks to me like a fuel rail o-ring let go. I recently upped my Hagery limit as I was completing the truck. I'm sure they'll give me the stink eye. I sure would. Flames penetrated the firewall grommet holes and got behind the dash as well. You can barely sit in the cab it stinks so bad. This will be an interesting next few weeks.

[54blackhornet]

Sorry for your fire ! Fire extinguisher ? I will say a prayer for your wife tonight asking for a complete recovery. Truck can be repaired. Wives are more important.

[weq92f]

.

Good work getting that fire out and saving the truck. Hagerty will treat you like a customer with a loss. They will most likely finance whatever you choose to do and even help you find parts like that hood if necessary.

My tiny fire extinguisher in the cab probably would not have worked against a full on fuel fire that had time to develop. Thinking now I should carry a larger one in the bed!

-Kevin

[Wikid61]

Leave the hood off until that combo can be dialed in. Any dyno pro's near by?

['68OrangeSunshine]

Two options I can think of:
1] Taller stacks and cut the hood open to accomodate.
2] Go more conservative, getting Dual Carbs instead, and repaint the hood.

I hope your wife feels better soon.

[Getter-Done]

Prayers for your wife.

And Well wishes sent.

I have had similar issues going on for awhile.

Hope things get better soon for you and your wife.

Best advice I can give you is.

Just keep your Head up and Move Forward.

Keep Truckin.

[PbFut]

Thank all. Yes I had dialed in the tune and each port sync'd. The issue was not a simple backfire. The fuel rail blew out a connection. Not sure if it was the crossover or injector o-ring. It is clear the fuel spray was rearward and to the passenger side. Very likely lit by the distributor. My opinion is that it's a product fail. There are no fittings I attached that are in that area other than the fuel rail onto the injectors. The rail is tight and no indication it pushed the mounts out and connectors off the injectors. I suspect a o-ring. They were all lubed on install. There are 4 in the crossover and rather loose in hindsight. Suspect in my view. What is odd is there has to be close to 10 hours of run time already. You would think a ring would have failed before this.

[72SB]

OP, I am sure you will pinpoint the how and why this happened. Obviously sucks for what looks to be a significant do over

Did you have an extinguisher or did the fire just burn itself out after fuel/engine was shut off?

I have been fortunate enough to never need an extinguisher on "my" truck or car but have used it to assist someone else on fire

where I put my extinguisher

[MikeB]

Sorry to hear that. It hurts just to look at the photos. I wonder what ignited the fuel? Exhaust heat or spark? And is there a better solution than an o-ring in that location?

The only engine compartment fuel leak I've ever had was a crack in the factory rubber hose attaching the filter just before a Rochester 2-bbl carb. But even though the intake manifold was covered with fuel, there was no fire. And that would have been less than 5 psi.

Makes me want to go 100% hard line from mechanical pump to filter to carb on my 69.

[57taskforce]

Man you had worked so hard to get it to that point. It really sucks to see it toasted up now. I have followed along on some of your progress. I’m sorry about your wife and will keep her in my prayers as well. She is obviously far more important than any old truck ever will be. All that said I am currently working with Hagerty on my 2010 Camaro that was hit by another driver who was involved with a second driver in a road rage incident. It was just a wrong place wrong time, deal for me. They have been very good to work with so far. I’ve chosen to fix my car myself and they will fund me once I get a quote from a local shop. As said above they will help find parts if needed and have been very very good to deal with thru this whole thing. They will treat you right. Again I hope you can get your wife squared away and let the other less important things sort themselves out… they always do one way or the other. God bless you and your family!

[PbFut]

The fire started on a cold start. I was going to the grocery store and thought the run might add to the ecu learning. Started and stalled which was odd. Likely the point when fuel connection failed and injectors lost pressure. Cycled ecu. That would have called for a fuel pump prime. If the connection was failed, it would mean 3 seconds of 60lb pressure fuel spray. Start attempted. No start. I may have cycled again. Not clear in memory. No start and suddenly smoke and then flame. Jumped out, thought better than to open hood as it could flash and burn me. Realized fire was bad. Back to cab and pulled out of park. Ran to back of truck and pulled out of garage. Stood and watched for a moment. Realized the heat was increasing but no flames it seamed. Hood was getting worse. Saw flames under truck. Braved popping hood. Ran for hose. Never heared water crackle like it did. That was startling. The firewall did its job. Man it was hot. There is damage in the cab. Small areas where grommets were. Thankfully flames did not get going enough to fully ignite material behind dash. After flames out I flooded cowl area and firewall to cool. Notice primary battery was melted. Thought wire installation was shorting and battery would explode. Braved disconnecting neg lead as positive was very hot and battery corner melted. I check voltage a few days later and it has 12.2 volts so I am guessing it is fire heat damage and fuses worked I tried not to squirt water in the stacks but sure some got in and later realized the filters were all gone. They melted and burned dropping into the ports. There is a screen but it will let small stuff in.
I've left it sit while digesting all this. It's clear everything in the bay will require replacement. The heat was just too hot.

[1970cstblazer]

Sorry to see this. Bright side is that it can be built back better than before, and that you and others were not physically harmed.