[seventymiura]

Can anyone recommend a fire suppression system kit that can be operated by a switch in the cockpit? Not interested in the system where the actual bottle of chemicals is mounted in the car next to your seat. I want to be able to mount the bottle under the hood on the chassis but turn it on from a switch inside the car. For a Miura. Thanks.

 

[DaLamboMan]

Couldnt you just take the normal bottle system and mount it wherever you want? Might be a little tricky to build a switch for it though.

 

[detour_racing]

I bought the FireCharger kit. It is pretty easy to install. I mounted mine in the trunk. Then ran the T-handle in the cockpit. Here is the site that I got mine. It was the best price that I could fine. Cheap insurance if you ask me!! I suggest that everyone get one. Doesn't matter where just get one.

http://www.trackhaus.com/category-exec/category_id/29

 

[seventymiura]

Thanks David. I had seen that website when I was doing research. I guess I have to figure out a way to operate it remotely. I know Bobileff has installed systems in Miuras with the bottle up front near the spare tire-maybe those are custom jobs?. I'll try and reach him on Monday.

 

[detour_racing]

You can mount the tank up front and run braided hose to the engine compartment. It is not too difficult. You'll have to buy the braided hose separately, only hard pipe comes with the kit. I haven't seen a kit that has a remote electric activator, if that is what you are refering to. They all use the same pull cable type. I believe that is more reliable. If there was an electrical fire you'd be in trouble. The pull cable in the kit is about 6 feet long.

 

[xs10shl]

Does the tank need to be mounted horizontally?

My Halon system is mounted in the left rear wheel well. There should be enough room to mount the small FireCharger 2.3 liter bottle vertically in that same space, right behind the driver-side firewall in the wheel well. I grabbed a 2 liter bottle of Coke and placed it there, and it fit nicely in that space. A $50 custom shroud would hide it and protect it from stones. It's certainly the least complicated installation from a "routing" standpoint, IMHO.

Or is this what you meant by "next to your seat"?

 

[SI LAMBO]

Where do you put the nozzles?

Where do most fires start in Diablos? I've seen pictures, but never asked where it started. Is the problem of fire in Diablos unique, and is there something owners need to check or do to prevent fire?

I like the idea, but before I had to look at that bottle, I would just raise my insurance and make sure I had lots of pictures.

 

[aajr]

Indeed Bobileff can install such a system. I am having a halon extinguisher system installed on my Miura as I write this (well not literally, unless Bobileff is putting in longer hours than I think he is). The system is a halon Phoenix system. It is mounted horizontally on the front cross member, and will have a button inside the cockpit to actuate. One of the important pieces (and apparently somewhat hard to find) is a 90 degree head that fits on the extinguisher that allows for easy routing of the cable that you use to actuate it (hopefully never) into the cockpit since the 90 allows you to point it towards the cockpit (hope this makes sense). The halon is activated by pushing the button inside the cockpit, which pushes the cable which punctures the bottle top. The halon is routed by hard line to the engine bay, with two nozzles pointing to the general engine compartment and individual nozzles inside the air filter boxes pointing to each carburator inlet trumpet. I will eventually have pictures of the system, which I could post later.

You might contact Gary Bobileff in San Diego if you are interested. Tell him Alberto suggested you contact him. As I said, he's installing it on my car, along with a few other fuel system changes which I initiated after one of my carburator floats stuck and poured fuel all over my engine compartment. Thank God I noticed what was going on and did not start the car. I could have easilly burned the cars and the house down if I had not been on top of the situation.

Gary has at his shop an SV that he just restored that has the exact system I am having intalled (as well as the other fuel system changes). As a result, I could see exactly what what going to be done to my car. Excellent installation details, very well done, looks good (well, as good as a big red bottle in the middle of your front boot can look anyway).

Alberto

 

[seventymiura]

Alberto-that's great information. I'm on the East coast so using Bobileff is out of the question right now. I would like to see those pictures and maybe get more details from you when it's done. Do you know the manufacturer that he is using for the system?

 

[aajr]

Phoenix is the manufacturer. He sourced the thing for me, so I cannot say for certain where they are. You might ask Gary.

I am guessing this is them: http://www.phoenixfiresuppression.c...cing_system.htm

Alberto

 

[aajr]

OK guys, after considerable delay, here are some pictures of the fire prevention related additions on my Miura. Not pictured is an aluminum fuel tank replacement of the original metal one. I'll have to make various posts to accomodate the pictures. I'll explain after I have posted all of the pictures.

 

[aajr]

Second batch of pictures.

 

[aajr]

oops, here is the last Picture

 

[aajr]

The fire extinguisher system consists of a front mounted Halon fire extinguisher, made by Phoenix. The Halon is routed by metal tubing to the engine compartment. There are two nozzle sprays in the engine compartment one on the passenger side, the other on the drivers side directed towards the engine (not pictured) .

The first picture shows the tube routing the halon to each of the carburator trumpets. These are mounted to the air filter boxes (and, in fact, the entire set up is completely reversible). As you can see from the rearward (front to the left) carburators, one can remove the air filter housing completely and the tubing remains inside the air filter housing. I forgot to take one of with the covers on, but the engine compartment from the top looks essentially stock.

The next two pictures shows a close-up of the tube routing and mounting in the air filter box. These tubes have holes in the botton, as shown in the next picture, showing the underside of the air box (note holes). The next picture is a close up of the hole (not very sophisticated, but it should work). The next post and picture shows the connection and routing of the tubing into the air filter boxes. The two air boxes are connected by the coupling and tubing shown. From the side, this tubing is visible and although it does not look original to the knowing eye, I think it looks OK visually in general.

The next picture shows the Halon fire extinguisher mounted to the front bracket. Not very pretty and I'm not sure what to do about that (??) other than live with it. The more important item in this picture is the 90 degree nozzle that allows the routing to the rear of the car of the cable to activate the extinguisher and the halon.

The next picture is a close up of the 90 degree nozzle. The next picture shows additional detail. The upper cable is the push button cable that is routed to the interior of the car. When one pushes the fire button in the car, the plunger brakes the seal and releases the Halon. The lower tubing carries the Halon once activated.

The next picture shows the push button inside the cockpit, that one would push to activate the Halon system. I hate the look of the thing and will eventually replace it with something a little more discrete (any ideas?).

I just realized that I also did not include pictures of a couple of additional items. In addition to the fire extinguisher system, the fuel pump that was on the car was replaced for a lower pressure one. Also, a fuel return line has been added to the car. A nipple was welded to the filler neck at the front of the car, and the appropriate tubing routed from the engine compartment to this location. Now when the fuel pump is activated, it runs continously, diverting excess fuel back to the fuel tank. Other changes include the aforementioned aluminum fuel tank and new fuel lines.

As mentioned in a previous post, all of these fire related improvements were the result of a sinking float that I had in one of the carburators which allowed fuel to continously flow from the top of the carburators all over the place. Thus, the top end carburator rebuild was also conducted.

I hope this is helpful and that I explained this well enough.

Alberto