...or is this a good idea?

Thinking about fire, or fire suppression, I found myself rigging up this arrangement (see photos).

The "brace" that holds the extinguisher is a piece of 1/4" thick aluminum stock. Two long screws secure it to the body, and two other nut/bolt arrangements hole the bracket to the brace.

I've had this installed about a month, and it has proved to be completely non-annoying.

The photo shows the seat all the way back, and I can comfortably get in and out without even knowing the extinguisher is there. It doesn't rattle, bang against the door when I close the door (hard to see in the pics but the bracket is titled in a bit) or cause any other annoyance or interference.

Of course if you actually want to put a passenger in the back seat it will get in the way, but since that sort of torture has long-since been banned I don't have to deal with it :-)

Anyway, if you want a quick way to get to your FE this may do it.

Thanks,

John
1987 XJ-S V12

 

 

I should probably just pull out the rear seats, mount a big tank of Halon there, and hose the engine bay and the boot :-)

Actually, I've been contemplating some sort of "port" arrangement, where I could stick the nozzle into the port, squeeze the handle, and dump the contents into the engine bay w/o having to raise the bonnet.

My wife has some Valiem, I probably just need to take some of those...

John
1987 XJ-S V12

 

As a fellow XJS enthusiast and on my third one ( 91 Convertible Classic Collection) I watched my 89 coupe catch fire this past October. I smelled gas,popped the hood and saw a split injection hose....Poof! It ignited and caused 8000 in damage. I now carry an extinguisher in the trunk.

 

I have one behind passenger seat leaning towards me.

 

I guess you're dead if someone t-bones you from that side of the car anyways, but in case you had any doubts, that fire extinguisher will certainly help.

I don't like where you have that. If you're not putting anyone in the back seat anyways, why not just mount it horizontally behind your seat somehow? This looks like Takata's solution for an airbag.

 

I don't think there is anything paranoid about carrying one, but I don't see why it needs to impact aesthetics so much. I like them mounted in front of the seat or a big one in the trunk that offsets the extra time to get it.

 

Can't hurt to carry one; better safe than sorry.

But.......

The much ballyhooed fires are virtually all due to leaky fuel hoses and/or Marelli ignition system in poor health. Ensure those are in good shape and there's little chance of a fire.

I've often thought about carrying an extinguisher. Maybe someday I'll get around to it.

Cheers
DD

 

Do you mind if we ask how old those injection hoses were? I'm sure a lot of people would either be reassured that they were from the Second Dynasty of Egypt and thus (as Doug notes) replacement would reduce the risk considerably, or paranoid because you had replaced them just the day before, and then poof.

(My spark plugs were all changed in late 2016 or early 2017, my wires were changed last year, my Marelli cap and rotor were changed this year, the fuel hoses were changed this year, and I still carry a fire extinguisher and get a little nervous at time....)

 

The photo shows the seat in the full back position. When it's in the driving position, the entire fire extinguisher assembly is completely behind the seat (as seen from the side). And I think that if I get hit that hard from the left rear quarter...what with no air bags or anything...I'm probably done anyway.

Here in the land of the round-abouts (we have more than 100...more than any other city in the US), the most likely scenario is that a car entering the round about will either hit me on the right side, or I will hit them with my right front. So I don't worry that much about a impact from the left. Not to say it wouldn't happen...but I'm a pretty defensive driver and don't go blundering into an intersection, even on a green light, without seeing what is coming from the left.

I've had the car 5 years now, and this summer I'll replace all the fuel hoses (this was the first thing I did when I bought it).

I don't worry about the ascetics too much. I don't carry that many passengers, and it's virtually unnoticeable from the passenger front seat.

Thanks,

John

 

Oh, just another point, the extinguisher is mounted to a flat aluminum bar, which is easily bendable down and in...in fact I can bend it with my hand with not a lot of pressure, so I think it's more likely to be pushed down than going into the seat.

John

 

I agree that anyone that feels paranoid about fires should just replace fuel hoses, it's essentially the only danger there is. I still like carrying a fire extinguisher in an older car. Not that older cars are necessarily more prone to fire, its just that I actually care about whether the car is replaceable.

Really more worried about something with a carbie, just fix those injector hoses!!

 

Nothing wrong with having a fire extinguisher around. I have one sitting in my other car. I like the way you have this set up. I am going to take this into account when mounting it in. I didn't want to mount it on the floor.