A robin hood builder in Belgian just got his car through SVA and on the next day he was draining petrol when the fumes were ignited by a central heating boiler, the whole car was burned and 2 years work lost. Just be careful when playing with you car.

This is his original post

This is the collection that the Robin Hood owners have started

This is a picture of the car

And another


[Edited on 18/8/05 by GuyA]

poor bugga
great the way that the rhoc are getting behind it to help him

I have often thought what it must be like if this happens, it's not the loss of the car more the knowing that all your hard work is wasted.

Very sad but it's great to see how they are pulling together for him.

Rich.

as much as we think (or not!) of robin hood kits it is good to see such a nice bunch of guys and a decent club helping him out..

Ned.

He must be gutted. I joined the forum so I could send him a donation. I know how I would feel if it happened to me.
Let's be careful out there!
Cheers
Jon

Fortunately I'm not a heartless bastard otherwise I'd suggest that a canny manufacturer might send him a few brochures!


I wouldn't actually be that upset if mine burnt out now. Claim the insurance then start again but this time do it properly! Would be quicker and I'd have an excuse for why it's taken so long then too!

James



[Edited on 18/8/05 by James]

Every time my smoking neighbour comes over with a fag in his mouth I'm going to forcebly evict him from my garage.

unfortunatly, because of rules in Belgium, he wasnt insured, they will only insure a regestered car, he had only just passed there version of the SVA and was waiting for paperwork to be sorted before the insurance would be valid
Hence the help from the RHOCAR members,
hope this doesnt happen to anyone else, 2yrs building never to drive it before it goes up in flames

He must have been gutted (no pun intended)
Mitch,

[Edited on 18/8/05 by mitch2b]

Don't forget that the same thing happened to Squarefour on this forum. OK he is in California, but check his latest posting Second Drive
and his photo archive. Stray spark from a welder. Be careful out there guys.

Mike

Very sad,

I took out a build insurance for mine, covers fire and theft, but only in your garage, cost about £50 a year

Adrian

beware clicking on the links. I got a pop up warning me that 'my pc had critical errors' and i should click on it. thats typical of a stealth installation.

atb

steve

i set fire to my garage yesterday! was only an oily rag and was sat inside one of the stainless steel trays in my portable bench (aka-catering trolley nicked from a tescos) so didnt get chance to do much damage. it was started from a stray welding spark and errupted like a rocket.
just shows how easy it is. ive got 2 co2 fire extinguishers in my gargage and suggest that everyone should have one, although in the case of a fume explosion theres not much you can do.

I had to drain my tank a week ago, to fit a new sender. I HATE mucking around with petrol...

Back end of the car was out of the garage and open to the breeze, and I had a couple of extinguishers within easy reach. I also kept a good look-out for my next-door neighbour who tends to wander round with a lit ciggy!

Nevertheless, I was glad when I'd finished the job and poured the petrol back into the tank (especially when I look at those pictures).

David

My useual trick is to have the oiley rags under the bench or thrown to the back out of the way, twice when I've been grinding I've set them alight!

I am very sorry for his loss and it was lucky that he didnt get hurt but the man was messing about with petrol in a garage. he may have had the doors open but its not the same as doing it outdoors especially when theres a flame at the back.

i agree, feel very sorry for him but from what he said in one of his posts "i saw a trail of fire come in out of the garage..." sounds like it was leaking all over the plce to me.

Purely guesswork, but I'd suspect that the problem was petrol vapour - heavier than air, invisible, highly inflammable (as opposed to petrol in liquid form, which isn't).

I imagine that he was working with the petrol tank, loads of fumes, which finally reached the central heating boiler in enough of a concentration to ignite. Whoosh, with no time to do anything. V. scary.

David

Has no one seen the state of chitty at the start of the film, professor potts restored him in a couple of weekends.

Whats the problem?

chitty chitty bang bang- possibly the first ever locost??