Took the Avon out for it's first proper, fully road legal drive today..... all went well to start with, ran a bit poorly but the brakes have decided to start working and ity didn't overheat....

finally after abot 30 miles we were in town about a mile from home when the engine made an odd noise and seemed to start running on 3 cylinders....

pulled over and looked under bonnet but couldn't see anything obvious..

tried to drive home and kept dying.. about half way back saw smoke from the bonnet!

stopped and took off bonnet to find the throttle bodies had fallen off and we had a small engine fire

typically I had forgotten the fire extinguisher but actually managed to blow the flames out!

apart from some melted convoluted tubing there doesn't seem to be any real damage and i had a screwdriver with me so I re-attached the TBs and managed to drive home....


Now I need to look again at how the TBs are mounted (coolant hose and jubilee clips) and work out something better

lucky really - it could have been much worse

[Edited on 18-5-08 by DaveFJ]

Ouch! Lucky escape. Even if you did have the fire extinguisher on you I doubt the engine would have like having tons of extinsguisher powder shoved down the inlet (unless you've got a fancy CO2 one!!!)...

Thets why mechanics all used to wear hats. Gave them somthing to drop over a burning carb!

No long term damage done. Watch out using cooling hose to attach as it might not be fuel proof.

adrian

..... so you had fun , a very exciting trip

Bloody hell that was close dave

I had a similar problem but with bike carbs and no fire,but they fell of a few times.I ended up making a bracket to support there weight,so the hose just joins them to the manifold.


[img]http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/[/img]

[Edited on 18/5/08 by triumphdave]

Very close

Phew, close call m8, glad things aren't too bad though, wouldn't recommend coolent hose for TB's or carbs as the walls aren't strong enough to cope with the vacuum that is created which is why they probably came off as the were getting squeezed by the vac. Try and get some off a bike.

2 pence well deposited!

Cheers
Rich

quote:

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Originally posted by DaveFJ


tried to drive home and kept dying.. about half way back saw smoke from the bonnet!

stopped and took off bonnet to find the throttle bodies had fallen off and we had a small engine fire

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I used to have the same problem with mine, back when i used to have a boat anchor, i fitted some bike brake cable bolted on both ends then bolted to the rocker cover, worked well for me.

zx9 carbs ties

[Edited on 18/5/08 by roadrunner]

if you have a look at a late model volvo straight 5-6 cylinder injection engine, they have short hoses between the manifold and the cylinder head that might be what your after, their held on by jubilee clips either end. Just a thought...

only the NA 6 cylinders !

there 50 mm ID

The coolant hose is very heavy gauge and was recomended by walker rubber... the hose wall is about 7mm thick - and it is fuel proof!

the problem is the flange on the end of the gsxr TBs is very short so it is hard to get a decent purchase for the clamps....

I have now refitted them properly and replaced the melted convoluted tubing.... no loom damage thankfully....

I have also added a coule of brackets and used locking wire to effectively pull the throttle bodies towards the head. they seem pretty solid now..

just been out for a test drive and it's driving like did this morning now - maybe even a touch better!

I super glue the rubber pipe the my carbs let it set then use narrow jubilee clips

T
The manifold you are using have the trumpets had a groove machined into them ? this will allow the hose to become more secure as it will bite into the groove.

Coolant hose is usually made from EPDM rubber and is definately not fuel resistant!

quote:

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Originally posted by Dingz
Coolant hose is usually made from EPDM rubber and is definately not fuel resistant!

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