TheHankerchief
New member
So I've been working on this T-Bird that a friend gave to me. It has a big 429 V-8, and is in very good condition. All I had to do was replace the fuel pump and put the new carburetor back on (Four-Barrel Edelbrock carb, for those interested). Love the car.
Anyway, I didn't have room for the car at my place, so I've been working on it in a car tent at my grandmother's ranch, where we normally keep the boat trailer (we winterized it and moved it into the barn). The tent sits in a patch of gravel next to the barn, in an area surrounded by trees. And shortly before we moved it in there, a storm ripped a couple of holes in the roof of the tent and filled the floor with leaves. In hindsight, I probably should have raked those out first.
So tonight I was working with my Uncle Jeff in the car tent, and we had just finished hooking up the carburetor. I start it and run it for about five minutes to test it out. But it was running really rich, hot enough to make the exhaust glow a little. So we shut it off. And I'm noticing smoke coming out from under the hood. My uncle notices this too, and turns out, the heat from the exhaust caught all of those leaves on fire. And we had a pretty decent glow underneath the car.
The fire only lasted for about three minutes; as soon as we noticed it we grabbed the nearest hose and drenched everything under the car. We didn't have to call the fire department, thank goodness. However, I'm concerned if there might have been damage to the car. The fire mostly was underneath the passenger side near the floorboards, no flames made it out from under the car, What should I check for, and more importantly anything I should be aware of (besides remembering to clear out debris from under the car)?
Really? Running too lean? Wow. You'll have to forgive me, I know almost nothing about adjusting carbs, though my uncle Jeff vaguely knew a little. He claimed it was running rich.
I'm just gonna have my uncle Bob come over and help me, he used to work on hot rods, he knows what to do.
And this time, we'll move it out of the tent first. haha
Anyway, I didn't have room for the car at my place, so I've been working on it in a car tent at my grandmother's ranch, where we normally keep the boat trailer (we winterized it and moved it into the barn). The tent sits in a patch of gravel next to the barn, in an area surrounded by trees. And shortly before we moved it in there, a storm ripped a couple of holes in the roof of the tent and filled the floor with leaves. In hindsight, I probably should have raked those out first.
So tonight I was working with my Uncle Jeff in the car tent, and we had just finished hooking up the carburetor. I start it and run it for about five minutes to test it out. But it was running really rich, hot enough to make the exhaust glow a little. So we shut it off. And I'm noticing smoke coming out from under the hood. My uncle notices this too, and turns out, the heat from the exhaust caught all of those leaves on fire. And we had a pretty decent glow underneath the car.
The fire only lasted for about three minutes; as soon as we noticed it we grabbed the nearest hose and drenched everything under the car. We didn't have to call the fire department, thank goodness. However, I'm concerned if there might have been damage to the car. The fire mostly was underneath the passenger side near the floorboards, no flames made it out from under the car, What should I check for, and more importantly anything I should be aware of (besides remembering to clear out debris from under the car)?
Really? Running too lean? Wow. You'll have to forgive me, I know almost nothing about adjusting carbs, though my uncle Jeff vaguely knew a little. He claimed it was running rich.
I'm just gonna have my uncle Bob come over and help me, he used to work on hot rods, he knows what to do.
And this time, we'll move it out of the tent first. haha