Horible end for beutiful plymouth

[RiffRaff]

Found this on the Hamb, First thing tomorrow i am buying a fire extinguisher for my car:(

[Big_John]

From reading the post over there, I don't know as a fire extinguisher would have helped. He lost a rear wheel and the gas tank hit the pavement and ruptured. He just got out of the car as it went up.

That said, I almost lost a car to fire and thanks to having an extinguisher, my car was fine except for the mess. It's a must in my opinion.

[Don Coatney]

I carry a fire extingushier in the trunk of my car. In this case I dont think I could have opened the trunk in time to save the car.

[Plymouthy Adams]

losing a wheel assembly is not fun much less the disaster you see here plus I am surprised that you do not see more of this what with the slamming of cars to the ground..of course some are so chopped flopped and tomahawked that only a fuel cell can be fit in the trunk so I guess that is how most get around this fire hazard..sad end to what looked to be a very nice ride...

[PatS....]

A good friend of mine runs the Rhino lining store here. One of the things that Rhino and Line-X had/have contracts in Iraq and Afganistan where they spray the outside of the fuel tankers with the boxliner to reduce the chance of explosion or fire if the truck is hit with small arms fire or it is in an accident.

Over there the boxliner is slightly modified to be softer and seal the tank behind a bullet, but here, a coating of boxliner would prevent the rupture of a gas tank in a majority of cases like this. You would have to do the filler neck as far up as possible to limit the leak to the filler hole, which in turn would give a "fighting" chance of extinguishing the fire before total loss of the car.

Might be worth a look if you are in the build stage of your car.

[38Plyroadking]

Hey Guys, that was my car. I was in the car when it was on fire and struggled to get my seat belt off (while watching the flames in the mirror get bigger. I did get out without a scratch. I did have a fire exstinguisher behind the seat but barely had time to get out and save myself. I just got her running great and was enjoying an hour long ride when this happened right at my exit.

Paul

[Tom Skinner]

38plyroadking,

I'm sorry that happened man.

Beautiful Car. I glad you were not hurt. I hope you can remain a car guy and go for it again. Maybe start over with another and keep going with our Hobby.

Good Luck and all our best wishes for you from this Forum.

Tom Skinner

Huntersville, NC

[oldodge41]

Hey Guys, that was my car. I was in the car when it was on fire and struggled to get my seat belt off (while watching the flames in the mirror get bigger. I did get out without a scratch. I did have a fire exstinguisher behind the seat but barely had time to get out and save myself. I just got her running great and was enjoying an hour long ride when this happened right at my exit.

Paul

Wow. glad you were not hurt. I have my fire extinguisher mounted on the center hump of the front floor. I don't think it is big enough to have much effect on a fire that size though..............Tim

[1950 Special Deluxe]

SORRY about your loss.

Thankfully, you were not hurt.

[BobT-47P15]

Sorry to hear what happened to your car. Glad you're OK.

I usually keep my extinguisher in the trunk.....but think I'll at

least put it in the rear floor behind the driver's seat when driving.

Any idea why the rear wheel came off??

Edited May 1, 2011 by BobT-47P15

[38Plyroadking]

My recommendation is to put the fire exstinguisher on teh seat next to you. I might not have had time to pull the seat forward and then grab it plus my adrenaline was pumping so I couldn't think of anything but save my self. The first thing I had to do was get the car to the side of the road on 3 wheels and on fire...it was scary and happened in seconds.

As for why the wheel came off, i dont know. It just stripped the nuts off of the lugs, all of them. It should not have happened since it was a rear from a 93 Ford ranger and I tightened the nuts last night!

Paul

[greg g]

Is any thing salvagable??? Good job on getting out. Gotta be a scary deal.

[Greenbomb]

Well, that stinks DeLuxe! Sorry to hear it. But it could have been so much worse!! You gotta replace the car, but at least you're here to do so.

[thrashingcows]

I remember your post over on the HAMB when you got that car...I remember drooling over it!! So sad to see it go like that, but as others have said glad you did not suffer any injury through the whole ordeal...other then some mental anguish.

Hope the insurance comes through for you and you can find another car to take it's place.

[Flatie46]

Glad your ok, hate you lost such a nice ride. It really sucks but could have been worse. It can be replaced though. I went to school with a guy that his dad had given him a '70 GTO for his first car. It was a father and son project. I think it was a rear wheel bearing went out somehow and caused the car to catch fire and burn.

[Drdialtone]

Hey Guys, that was my car. I was in the car when it was on fire and struggled to get my seat belt off (while watching the flames in the mirror get bigger. I did get out without a scratch. I did have a fire exstinguisher behind the seat but barely had time to get out and save myself. I just got her running great and was enjoying an hour long ride when this happened right at my exit.

Paul

Paul,

Glad you got out. Terrible tragedy for your car, but would have been much worse if it took you with it. It's a heart breaker to be sure. Thoughts are with you.

[1940plymouth]

Very pleased that you are ok, although too bad about the car, they can be replaced where you couldn't have been.

[Mark D]

'38 plym... Sorry to hear about this. Hope you find a replacement soon. When its all done, I'd like to hear about your experiences with the insurance company. May make me want to reconsider how I'm covered, that's for sure. And, I'll be taking your fire extinguisher recommendation and traveling with it in the front seat and not in the trunk from now on. Best of luck. - mark

[Robert Horne]

Hi 38-Paul, Real sorry this happened to your very nice ride. I would be devastated if I lost my 38, I have worked on since 86. Many years ago I had a rear wheel come off my van on the way to work. I managed to get it slowed down, but I ran into a guard rail sideways, where the rail came up under my seat. My Van was totaled, and near ended me. Some of the guard rails stick out like battering rams in Ohio.

Glad you are ok..

[michael.warshaw]

sorry good luck on the rebuild, hope their is a fat insurance check for you.

[John Reddie]

I am really sorry about your '38 Plymouth tragedy. Things in life can change in seconds for sure. I had a bad fire in my '67 Fury convertible which ruined the interior. I know how you must be feeling. I was fortunate in the fact that the fire did not reach the tank or the engine compartment. I was able to put the car back in shape but I gained a lot more respect for fire and safety since then. The attached photos show the car at the time of the fire and then how it looks now.

Best of luck to you in the future.

John R

[P-12 Tommy]

Wow!! Sorry for your loss!!

Tom

[deathbound]

I saw this on the HAMB also & knew I'd seen the car before on here. I hope for my 38 to look 1/2 as nice as yours did. Hope all turns out well.

[Jim Saraceno]

What a horrible thing to happen:( Glad you are safe and sound.

Is it an entire loss or is there anything salvageable?

[53_Suburban]

Sorry to hear about your car. Glad to hear you're OK. I saw the post over at the H.A.M.B. this morning too and wondered if you were at this forum as well. I've been carrying fire extinguishers in my cars for years. So far never had to use one except on someone elses car. Hopefully you have a good insurance company that will help you out

Joseph