Techtip1

SAVVA – Technical Tip No.1

Who needs a Fire Extinguisher?

Most of us rarely carry a fire extinguisher – although there’s no excuse for not doing so as most
of us have a shelf full of them – we were however reminded of the wisdom of carrying one very recently.

At a recent club meeting we watched the arrival of a magnificent Ford Thunderbird convertible.
The owner obviously had a problem, as once in the grounds he pulled off the road onto the grass verge.
Evidently, the problem was binding brakes and he had battled to get to his destination. What he didn’t
realize was that the automatic transmission had overheated to the extent that when he stopped, the fluid
shot out the dipstick/filler pipe all over the engine and onto the long dry grass below.

He got out of the car and as he opened the bonnet to see what was going on the whole lot went up in flames.
By standers desperately tried to push the car off the burning grass but by now the brakes were jammed tight
and it wouldn’t move.

The owner started the car and tried to reverse it but the transmission was also a “no go”. By then the
flames from the grass were engulfing the engine compartment.
Fortunately, there was a Sunbeam Alpine parked close by who’s owner had just returned from a National
Rally in the Drakensberg and still had the obligatory fire extinguisher in the boot. He didn’t know
if it worked or not (naughty) – but grabbed it and while running read the instructions, pulled out pin,
and Walla it worked - depositing white powder all over the engine and grass under the car – FIRE OUT.

Lesson learned. If it wasn’t for a rally and the fire extinguisher still lying in the boot of the car -
there could have been one less beautiful Thunderbird convertible in the world – or a seriously damaged one.

Let’s take note of this incident and carry a “working” fire extinguisher in the future – in our vintage
and even in our modern cars.