They're coming thick & fast recently. Thankfully no one was hurt & I have fully comp ins (NRMA)...

My wife & I were travelling to work in our sweeet Yellow 62 & a half (called Sandy - OLD62A) & it stuttered & stopped on Mona Vale Road, then I looked around & the flames were licking the back window....

To cut a long story short the firecrew put it out but now its dead... the engine and the rear panels/windows are a mess. It was towed away & will end up at Smithfield scrapyard unless I can persuade the assessor that I can buy back the shell:cry

Cant believe it happened even though I know they're notorious for it - its pretty scary when it happens whilst your in it!

A tip to all dont buy the mini fire extingishers - a complete waste of time, 1 spurt & its gone....learn from our story buy a big one (or a really long hose!)

Gonna miss her - only had it 6 months. Still got the vert so thats something I s'pose

Ho hum

S

[ Edited on 10-3-2006 by sugarlips ]

You didn't hear it from me but ...........

the yellow extinguishers are still the best.

A 1kg Dry Powder extinguisher will only last 8-11 seconds until empty. If you are more serious about wanting to keep those flames at bay, No.1 is to regularly (every service) have all fuel lines and clamps checked and or replaced as needed. Fuel pumps are another concern.
A 2.5kg extinguisher will give you more of a chance, but prevention is the best result.

I understand that is too late in this instance, however it is these unfortunate circumstances that will help us to learn.

I give you my comiserations. I believe the insurance company should give you first option to buy the vehicle back.

Sorry to hear about your baby! Hope ya can get it back! I agree that the BCF (Yellow) extinguishers are the best, pitty they're also illegal!
-Staggers.

bummer, Would have me in tears if my bus burnt down!
here are a few helpful links for all you dubbers planning on keeping your bus for a while.... these are must read articles!!!

http://type2.com/library/fuel/fireprev.htm 

http://type2.com/rvanness/safetwis.htm 

sorry to hear the news. i now wont sign car insurance now unless ir includes salvage rights i think it costs $14 a year through shanons

Feel ya pain

Been there - its a sad feeling

salvage was a free option for me with GIO

Thanks for the words of support.

Im only gonna get 'market value' for it (ie not much I guess) so i've got to try & work out if its work it $$ wise to salvage, get new engine & wiring & panels & spraying, windows & rubbers & god knows what else that perished...and I live in a unit so its tricky to work on it if i do.

Plus I have the added challenge of a freaked out wife who is petrified of our other bug now - certain that it will happen to that one too (even though weve had it 3 years!).

Her (understandable) solution is to get deeper in debt & buy a Clio or a 206...

I dont think my long-harbored plan of upgrading to a splitty will wash at the mo...!

[ Edited on 10-3-2006 by sugarlips ]

nah.... leave THAT idea for a while (the splitty that is)

I was in the same position. Went out and bought a Mk4 Golf to settle her down. $ for $ it was a bad decision
Convienience it was a good decision. Pour $$ in and drive. Luckily i am on car allowance so it isnt too bad.

Maybe an early Mk 4 of a good nick Mk 3??

How about a Mk 2 or 3 cab??

or a polo

Also guys... on the fire prevention note... make sure when you replace the fuel hoses... make sure it is the right stuff. Don't buy any cheap ass shit fuel hose from Stupicheap... get the good quality expensive cotton-braided stuff.

Another think I should poit out is...use the correct diameter tube and leave some slack.Seems obvious, but it seems it can be overlooked... When my bus came home, first thing i did was check the lines... and found out the one leading to the right hand carb was half off the bvrass ferule, and it was due to the fact the hose was pulled very taught across the engine... and also... it was of an innapropriATe diameter... very very narrow, so much so that it was stretched at the ends and had sbegan to split at the t section end, even tho the rubber was very supple still. oh, andhalf the fuel fittings didnt have clamps... DAMMIT.. USE CLAMPS PEOPLE! :o and clamps arent enough... lockwire or epoxy the clamps to the carby/fuel pump body rigidly, so they are are unable to come right off if the work loose.

You should also make sure that the fuel line pass through in the tinware has a SERVICABLE rubber or plastic grommet in it or similar, or the fuel line can be cut by the tin's sharp edge.

One last thing I believe I should mention, specific to bus people with twin carbs... I noticed when pputting my engine back in today, that there is a small metal tab attached above the tinware which is a fuel line guide... good idea except that it has sharp edges... so it's probably a good idea to loosely wrap some (non-flammable) tape loosley around the area that sits in the guide, to stop chaffing of the rubber over time.

Attend to all those things, and your dub should be fireproofish... but keep at least one extinguisher... I keep two in the bus.... handy at all times, just in case.

hard luck about the bug, but with luck you'll get it back so a rebuild can begin! :bounce: :bounce:

You may point out to our wife that there is just as much chance of any other car catching fire...they all mix fuel air and heat after all... and look how many Maggots and VL Commodores catch fire LOL.

Oh... whatever you do, be sceptical of the book values supplied for cars on aussie car sale sites... they disgust me very often.... last year I read up on the values of bay kombi's, i think on carsales... a '79 injected bus in good nick was supposedly worth something rediculously low like 3 grand... I often see them fetch upwards of 4000... at one stage a year or 2 ago... people were even bidding 3000 on shitboxes!... make sure you show them the prices people are asking for there bugs... it will probably be to your advantage!

Good luck... and dont forget, invest highly in your fuel plumbing... it's the only thing stopping your fuel tank emptying onto a 100+ degree furnace.

I insured My Beetle thru NRMA -
I think it was called classic insurance-
very similar to shannons....
I get the car back if its a write off....
and its insured for an agreed value.....
NOT market value....
I also have an electric fuel pump under the fuel tank which I can switch off from under the dash...
NO FUEL--- NO FIRE..... the fire has to be fed with fuel!!
this will stop any fire before the fire brigade gets there....
I also carry two fire extinguishers.....

Lee Noonan

My blue 59 caught fire in the drive once. Luckily I had an extinguisher in the car. Otherwise it would be (expensive) toast.

Tha moral of the story is always check and recheck your fuel lines.

Hi

Well it took a bit of work but i got a chq in the mail for a total loss claim today for $1565.

Thats it. $1500 bucks...

I sent the assessor a couple of faxes to let them know my thoughts...! And I have all the fingers & toes crossed that they'll send me another one for a bit more...!

Apparently i cant buy the shell back but they will provide a date/time of the auction at smithfield if i want it bad enough. Trouble is i know i'll never be able to get there on a weekday or (as things stand) have enough cash to a) buy it back as there is bound to be other bidders and b) fix it.... oh and c) the wife has decided for me: i've been instructed we are to buy a Hyundai Getz...sob!

S

If there is no one at the auction it will probably go to the crushers....
Mst people steer clear of burnt out vehicles...

See if someone on here could go to the auction.... for You.....
It could go very cheap.....

Sorry to hear of Your loss....

Lee

sorry to hear about your loss...
i always carry a 2.5kg in any VW air cooled i have ever owned..
its cheaper and gives you more of a chance than at the wreckers..
sorry again..

i reckon it will go cheap... there was a bay kombi on there perfect aside from a bit ofrepairable front end damage that didnt even attract a bid first time round...auctions seem to be overlooked by veedub paople, and nobody wants to lay out $$$ on a burnt bug.... so you could prob buy it back cheap.