Re: Carb rebuild II

Posted by Jim Kavanagh On 2009/7/22 17:20:47

Owen -

Great. Thanks for the tip.

I rebuilt a double pumper Holley one time on an old souped-up Corvette when I was still young and Corvettes weren't worth anything. I screwed up something and it leaked like a sieve as soon as I fired it up. It flooded the exterior of the manifold and caught fire from the dizzy spark. I was already out of the car to "adjust" the needle and seat. The car was running, pumping more gas to the fire, which was going pretty good. I was trying to beat the fire out with my jacket, which is also going pretty good, and I was screaming for someone to come out of the house and help. My mother ran out, saw what was happening, ran back in and back out with a giant pot of water, which she poured directly down the carburetor throat (the only place on top of the engine not actively involved in fire). It did kill the engine. She then grabbed the way-to-short garden hose and started squirting water over the length of the car from the driveway (car was in the garage), soaking me, but otherwise having little effect. I finally got the fire out. Pushed the Corvette out of the garage and hosed down the engine compartment and then just proceeded to be totally pissed-off for the next couple hours.

Now, I have a fire extinguisher close at hand in the garage, but I am still a little hesitant to fire up a car with the carb partially dis-assembled.