tried to burn down my truck today

[mtdave2]

man what a day. sunday the longhorn started to cut out on the high way, I figured it was the same sticking needle carb prob I have been having. Usually it just takes a few taps on the carb and its up and running again. I have been getting really tired of this by the way.

I taped away, nothing. Finally I gave up and just filled the float bowl with a gas can, drove a bit, repeat till I get home.

The carb thing has been pissing me off, so instead of rebuilding this thing again, I just got a new edlebroch performer carb. while IM at it I figured ill replace the fuel pump. Its the original pump I think from 72, so its about due!

So I do all that, and still get no gas. doh! I pull the gas inlet from the carb and crank again watching to see if I get any gas. nota, so I trace things back to the dual gas tanks selector. Its not clicking when I hit the switch. I look, find a blow fuze. still nota.

Back to the store, 80 bucks for a new one, put it on and it clicks. This was prob the problem from the start! $400 or so later lol, but I wasnt pissed at this, I had been wanting to do this anyway.

so i hit the key, i get a quick short blurp of the engine, then i see FIRE! coming up from under the hood! i had forgot to put the dam fuel line back on the carb! lucky i have that fire extinguisher mounted to the kick panel so, in a big cloud of white powder I cuss out loud at my dum ass. Btw, the fire extinguisher put the fire out fast! I was reallllly glad I had it.

damage, 3 small section of wire, easy fix. 1 melted spark pulg wire holder, $1.20
Throttle cable..on order. A few spark plug wires that are a bit black on the bottom side. so all in all I got lucky. Having the extinguisher so handy was the reason IM sure...

So dont do this at home. All is well now, truck runs fine.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Glad to hear you're OK. I had an engine fire on the 454 in my '67 Suburban. I had an electric fuel pump. It stayed on while I got the dog out and tied him safely off in a ditch. A couple of guys from my motel ran out with fire extinguishers and knocked it out. That was in '98. I'm still waiting to get around to getting that truck back on the road. It was easier to drop a new engine in the Jimmy and save the Sub as a long term project.

[jorgensensc]

Sorry to hear about that, but at least you are safe. That's why I got a chrome extinguisher mounted on the kick panel too. just in case.

[dtlilly]

I'm so glad you got it put out quick enough, that could have been much worse. Don't forget to get the extingisher recharged or replaced

[69 Short Fleet]

Good to hear you and your truck are alright!!! Fire extinguisers are great things

[jlive68]

Glade you were not hurt. One thing the Navy has taught me is always recheck all your work befor proceding to the next step. I work on helocopters s I alsways double check then look again.

[buckola]

I changed a fuel pump without diconnecting the battery ground. a wrench fell across the terminals and....WOOOOOFFFF!!!
I won't do that again.

[68C15]

hey every one. lesson to be learned here, get an extinguisher! I think I will get one today. there is room next to seat. kind of suck that it takes things like this to teach the rest of us a lesson though. glad to hear you & yours are ok.

[chevytruckfan]

I dont drive my truck much. The bike is my daily driver, but the two most important things I keep in mine is a fire extingusher and my .45 pistol.

[mtdave2]

hum, maybe i should put one on my harley!

when i first got the truck it had fire extingusher in it already. it looked very old. i didnt think much about it untill i was at homedepot one day and they were having a sale on them. so i got a few for the house and replaced the old fire extingusherin the truck, glad i did!

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Bummer on turning all you new shinny part's black ,but at least you were thinking with the fire extingusher in the truck... Most people don';t carry a extingushier and when thier truck burn's to the ground the then remember that a 10$ extinguisher could have prevented it all...

[jcueckert13]

in my 76 dart i had a engine fire about 3 months ago. driving home in rush hour traffic i had the fan belt come off the pulley causeing the car to over heat after pulling over and putting the fan belt back on i get about another block before the belt comes back off. i did this 3 more times before i got to my grand mothers house and let the car cool off so i could try to fix the car. when i decided to let it cool off i forgot to lift the pressure release lever on the radiator cap and the pressure blew a hole in the hose that goes between the head and the water pump. by the time it had cooled off emough for me to do anything all the auto parts stores where closed so i got stuck at my grandmothers house. the next morning i got a ride to the auto parts store, got the parts, and got the car put back together and started to drive home. i stopped after about a mile to check to make sure the fan belt was still on the pulleys and found my mechanical fuel pump on fire. i got it put out with a jacket and a gallon of water. i was able to make the 25 mile drive home with no problem after i tightened the hose clamp on the fuel line. ended up spending the next 4 days rewireing the engine and sealing up all the leaks caused by the pressure.