Plus 2 Engine Fire

[rgh0]

Making some progress on the Plus 2. The insurance company has come to the party and I have my long time spray painter coming to give me a quote for the repainting next week.

I now need to assemble a list of parts price quotes for the insurance company.

At this stage it just looks like everything rubber and plastic and electrical under the bonnet will need replacing. The main metal components ( engine, radiator, carbs, exhaust, chassis itself ) appear undamaged with not even paint scorching due to the short duration of the fire meaning they did not get hot enough.

eg
front wiring loom
hoses ( fuel, water, vacuum, clutch)
cables (accelerator, bonnet release,, choke
rebuilt kits for master cylinders and brake booster and clutch lsave cylinder
coil and plug cables
oil pressure sender and brake switch
brake and clutch master reservoir caps
weber rebuild kits
air box to air filter flexible duct


may also need to replace alternator and starter and engine mounts but need a closer look and some testing once I pull the engine

Sue Miller is best for lots of these obscure detail and trim bits but hard to work with from Australia by email. Any other suppliers in US or UK that people would recommend for getting a price around this sort of complete list of minor detail engine bay components.

cheers
Rohan.

[Grant K]

Hi Rohan,

I've bought a lot of parts from SJ Sportscars, mainly because their great website makes it easy to put a basket together, save it & come back to it to add more. Service & communication are excellent & parts usually very good quality. they use DHL for freight, which is not always the cheapest way, but parts arrive quickly & well packed.
Paul Matty & Sue Miller are also good to deal with & use good old (cheap) Royal Mail for small packages.
Ray From R. Dent is a gentleman to deal with too.
But I won't mention the obvious......
You can buy the airbox ducting from Clark Rubber - might be cheaper than using a courier from the UK.
Webber kits and parts are easy to find on ebay.

Hope it all comes back together soon.
Grant

[robertverhey]

Yes recent good experience with SJ, some parts remarkably cheap, but as mentioned above it's DHL or nothing and that can add to the cost of getting them downunder. But once despatched they were in my hands within a couple of days.

Since yours is an insurance job, the cost of shipping is probably not a big issue.

[mbell]

Have you (or anyone else) considered using fire sleeve on the fuel lines?

As part of my recommissioning of my +2 I am going to change engine bay fuel lines as they are old. The pre-made steel braided hoses appear to be a bit on the expensive side in my opinion. So I am going to make some up myself. I've got some Goodyear 30r9 (2*1.5ft *), a 90 elbow and a T connector on order.

After seeing this thread a while back I've also bought some Vuncan fire sleeve**. My plan is basically to place the fuel lines in the sleeve, so that the none of the rubber fuel hose is exposed in the engine bay. My hope is that the fire sleeve will give a decent level of protection and time to stop a small fire melting the fuel lines and turning into a bigger fire.

The total cost (hose, connectors, sleeve) is going to be around $90. Which is a bit cheaper than the pre-made weber kits I've seen.

The down side is to this step is that it may be harder to spot any leaks in the hoses.

* I have a elec fuel pump and filter by the pedal box on my car so 1.5ft lengths are a good length and available from amazon
** I bought the 5/8 fire sleeve but it seems like this will be too larger diameter so I am consider replacing it with 1/2.

[rgh0]

Yes I am going to also put fire sleeve on the fuel lines in the engine bays of all my Lotus. I have never liked the premade rubber with braided steel covering fuel lines that Lotus used originally. The crimped end fittings leak overtime and you cannot inspect for any deterioration in the rubber lines. I have always made up my own from fuel hose and fittings and screw clamps

cheers
Rohan

[Watership Down]

I moved to Canada in 1982 and 6 months later I had my Elan +2 shipped over. I was driving down the highway when I heard a misfire and smoke started comming out from under the bonnet. I pulled over and lifted the bonnet but it was too late the fire had gotten a hold. As I stepped back the starter engaged and because I had left it in gear the car started to move forward. I had to watch as the car moved forward about 10ft before it stopped. When the fire brigade arrived and put it out there was just the chassis, engine block,seat frames wheel rims left, everything else had burnt up or melted. Plate was BHK 3G I bought it from Hendon Way Motors

[bengalcharlie]

hi Rohan

What is the update on your car?? has everything been sorted?? did you install a solid fuel line and a fuel cut-off valve. I am interested in your comments there I would like to replace my nylon fuel line in my car as well.
cheers robin

[rgh0]

Actually just started yesterday on stripping the engine bay ! Its a really dirty job pulling apart stuff covered in black greasy soot.

Been busy for the last few months moving house, building a garage extension and setting up a new garage and doing some body off chassis repairs on my Elan so slow progress. But I am aiming to have the engine out and the engine bay stripped and off to the painter in the next few weeks now.

The intention will be to make the fuel line in the engine bay area more fire resistant with either a metal pipe or at least some heat shielding wrap on a flexible line. I will definitely fit a fuel cut off valve in the boot on the tank outlet. I have not sourced one yet but lots of cars have them these days so cannot be to hard to find a suitable one.

cheers
Rohan

[bengalcharlie]

thanks Rohan for the quick update. I know the story, too many projects so it takes time to get everything sorted
I just drove my plus two the other day for the first time in many months due to my alfa recently being finished and enjoying that. but driving the plus two again was great, still love it. My brother bought an elise not so long ago and although it is a blast to drive I am still in love with the old girl!
cheers robin

[rgh0]

Hard to go past a 5 speed plus 2 as a true classic GT car that's practical to use. It handles so sweetly with no vices, is comfortable and quiet at speed and plenty of room. Not a track day car -- but that's what the Elan is for

cheers
Rohan

[oldchieft]

Real depressing job working on fire damage.

Keep your eye on the prize and make improvements as you go along to make what should have been unnecssersy work worthwhile.

Jon the Chief

[elanfan1]

Actually just started yesterday on stripping the engine bay ! Its a really dirty job pulling apart stuff covered in black greasy soot.

Stripping Plus 2 engine bay.JPG

Been busy for the last few months moving house, building a garage extension and setting up a new garage and doing some body off chassis repairs on my Elan so slow progress. But I am aiming to have the engine out and the engine bay stripped and off to the painter in the next few weeks now.

The intention will be to make the fuel line in the engine bay area more fire resistant with either a metal pipe or at least some heat shielding wrap on a flexible line. I will definitely fit a fuel cut off valve in the boot on the tank outlet. I have not sourced one yet but lots of cars have them these days so cannot be to hard to find a suitable one.

cheers
Rohan

Rohan grandma and eggs time (if not for you then hopefully others will be made aware)

Please be very careful of the fire residue as it is likely to be full of carcinogens - gloves and mask might be a good idea and double bag the waste.


Oh and if any smoke got in behind your bulkhead it is likely there will be residue on your wiring, in and around switches and instruments. The smoke and residue is corrosive so over time will not do any of this any good - a point you ought to raise with your insurers (assuming it was insured on track?). I guess you can judge how much got in there and whether it might be of concern.
Cheers

Steve

[rgh0]

Hi Steve

I high pressure cleaned the whole engine bay to remove the fire extinguisher powder and all the loose combustion residue and then sprayed it with anticorrosion oil immediately after the fire. So its black and greasy but no free dust and no corrosion. Gloves to keep it off the skin as I strip it is sure needed.

Almost no smoke came into the cabin at all and no damage behind the dash that I can see but I will need to remove the dash to replace the front loom and other cables that feed in from the engine bay and I will thoroughly check it all then. The fire was put out very quickly by the fire crew at the track so as you can see from the photo the paint on the chassis and engine itself was not even burnt, Damage really only to plastic and rubber components in the engine bay.

My insurance company has been great so far and refunded the $ for components I have indentified so far and my labour to strip and reassemble. Once stripped they will covered the quoted repainting cost and any additional items I find after its stripped.

cheers
Rohan

[Bud English]

.... My insurance company has been great so far ....
Rohan

That's not something you hear very often here in the US. Australia truly is the land of OZ. I'm glad they are doing right by you Rohan.

[robertverhey]

I'm guessing Shannon's, right?