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Thingster
Samba Member
Joined: February 28, 2006
Posts: 150
Location: Webster Groves, MO
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 Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 4:23 pm Post subject: 74 Thing- battery location and passengers side bracket q's |
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I haven't been able to find any information on 74 Things for this, only 73's. I know the 73 Thing I had and all of the documents I've seen have the battery sitting under the rear seat. Now I have this 74 and the battery is in the engine compartment on the drivers side. Just wondering if it was supposed to be there or if a PO moved it.
Second question is about a bracket on the passengers side kick panel. There's a "U" shaped bracket about 10" wide attached horizontally to the front firewall with two machine screws right above where the body meets the pan. I'm trying to figure out what it's there for and haven't been able to find it mentioned in any literature.
Justin
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"I like to take my Thing out and play with it."
1974 Thing (Play Toy)
1957 Sedan(Show Car)
1954 Sedan (On the back burner) |
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kubelmann
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Joined: April 13, 2003
Posts: 3266
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| Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 4:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Both the 73 and 74 came with the battery mounted under the passenger side rear seat. Can you post a picture of the 10" bracket it does not sound familiar. |
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bucko
Samba Member
Joined: December 09, 2004
Posts: 2617
Location: Coppell, Texas
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| Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 5:48 pm Post subject: |
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[i]"Second question is about a bracket on the passengers side kick panel. There's a "U" shaped bracket about 10" wide attached horizontally to the front firewall with two machine screws right above where the body meets the pan. I'm trying to figure out what it's there for and haven't been able to find it mentioned in any literature. "[/i]
This also sounds like a PO installed item. If VW installed it, I doubt it they would have machine screws for its installation. |
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Captain Spalding
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Joined: February 19, 2005
Posts: 2519
Location: . . . in denial.
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| Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 7:53 pm Post subject: Re: 74 Thing- battery location and passengers side bracket q |
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| Thingster wrote: |
| There's a "U" shaped bracket about 10" wide attached horizontally to the front firewall with two machine screws right above where the body meets the pan. I'm trying to figure out what it's there for and haven't been able to find it mentioned in any literature. |
Just a wild guess, but could it be an owner-installed fire extinguisher bracket? |
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Ferretkona
Samba Member
Joined: December 03, 2005
Posts: 1306
Location: Columbia, CA
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| Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 10:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Yes, hard to tell you without pictures. |
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wings_n_fins
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Joined: May 02, 2006
Posts: 166
Location: Mangilao, Guam USA
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| Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2006 1:33 am Post subject: |
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Speaking of fire extinguisher mounts, does anyone think it would be a real dumb idea to mount a portable fire extinguisher on the rear cargo deck with an enlongated hose feeding through a small hole into the engine bay?
I work on helicopters, and their engines have their own fire bottles and discharge ports inside the engine bays, and I thought it might not be a bad idea to incorporate it into automobiles.
I know alot of you will say (or at least think) that proper preventative measures will eliminate the need for such a system, but I don't think it could hurt. Any thoughts?
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DAVE
'73 Thing
'07 Harley Sportster
'09 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited |
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Captain Spalding
Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2005
Posts: 2519
Location: . . . in denial.
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| Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2006 9:24 am Post subject: |
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| wings_n_fins wrote: |
| Speaking of fire extinguisher mounts, does anyone think it would be a real dumb idea to mount a portable fire extinguisher on the rear cargo deck with an enlongated hose feeding through a small hole into the engine bay? |
If you are going to have on-board fire suppression (which is a great idea), you might as well rig it so that you don't have to move in the direction of the fire to put it out. 
There are several options. You can have the bottle next to you, with a hose going back to the engine compartment, and you press a button on the bottle to activate it. Or you can have the bottle in or near the engine compartment, and have a cable release next to you in the driver's seat that you pull to activate the system. Or you can have the bottle in the engine compartment with a thermal actuator which activates automatically.
Google Safecraft extinguisher or Sparco extinguisher and you will find lots of info on these types of systems.
Some other notes:
I recommend Halotron or Halon (where legal) as an extinguishing agent. The chemicals in a dry-chem extinguisher bond to aluminum at temperature and leave a nasty permanent residue. If you do go with dry-chem in a homebrew setup, you must set it up so that periodically you can remove the bottle and give it a shake, as the chemical powder tends to settle over time and will not disperse properly. Some extinguishers are meant to be used in a certain orientation. Example: some dry chem extinguishers will only siphon the chemical when held vertically, and won't work properly in a horizontal orientation.
Whatever system you decide upon, it should be sized properly. A 2.5 lb. extinguisher, while the most popular, is too small for the job. A 5 lb. system is adequate.
The downside of a system in or plumbed to the engine compartment is that you can't use it anywhere else. Even if you have an on-board system, it's a good idea to have a hand held extinguisher in the event of an electrical fire under the dash, or to help out fellow motorists who are less prepared.
Some systems use a liquid extinguishing agent, and others a vapor. The liquid agent is meant to be sprayed at a specific source, while the vapor is meant to flood a compartment. For a VW, you want the latter type.
The benefit of the automatic (heat triggered) suppression system is that since it just consists of a bottle with a special valve on top, it can easily be moved from one car to another. For those with more than one VW, this can give you engine compartment fire suppression at a reduced cost. |
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wings_n_fins
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Joined: May 02, 2006
Posts: 166
Location: Mangilao, Guam USA
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| Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 1:33 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| I recommend Halotron or Halon (where legal) as an extinguishing agent. |
How about carbon dioxide? Or is CO2 not dense enough to flood the bay and expel all the oxygen present?
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DAVE
'73 Thing
'07 Harley Sportster
'09 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited |
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Captain Spalding
Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2005
Posts: 2519
Location: . . . in denial.
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| Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 7:40 am Post subject: |
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| wings_n_fins wrote: |
| How about carbon dioxide? Or is CO2 not dense enough to flood the bay and expel all the oxygen present? |
Actually, CO2 and Halon are very different in how they work to put out a fire. As you suggested, CO2 works by depriving the fire of oxygen via oxygen displacement. Halon, (and Halotron) chemically inhibit combustion. The reason Halon is preferred, especially in aviation and marine applications, is because it can be used in a confined space to extinguish the fire without suffocating the people within. (That's not to say that a lung full of halon is anything you'd enjoy.)
For the purposes we're discussing, CO2 would be fine. It would be a cheaper system to maintain. But it would be much heavier, and would have to be home grown, as all the off-the-shelf solutions use Halon/Halotron.
On a purely subjective note, I find that a fire doused with Halon is less prone to relight than one put out with CO2. |
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LanceMcKay
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Joined: February 23, 2006
Posts: 17
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| Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 8:00 am Post subject: |
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| This may be a dumb question, but this is the 1st Volkswagen I’ve owned. How real is the danger of having a fire in the engine compartment? I had my 181 serviced when I purchased it; the mechanic moved the in-line fuel filter out of the engine compartment to the transmission area. |
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wings_n_fins
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Joined: May 02, 2006
Posts: 166
Location: Mangilao, Guam USA
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| Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:10 am Post subject: |
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From what I've gathered from previous posts, the risk of an engine fire is not all that great, though the likelihood of a fire is increased substantially when suitable clamps are not used on fuel lines within the engine bay. I'm currently rebuilding my engine, and one of the things on my to-do list is to pick up a bunch of 1/2" or 1/4" hose clamps to use on all my lines.
As for the relocation of the fuel filter, there has also been some discussion on that. Some of the wise old men here have expressed their views on the location of said filter, and I'm sure one of the gurus will hobble down from his or her mountaintop shortly and dispense the proper wisdom.
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DAVE
'73 Thing
'07 Harley Sportster
'09 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited |
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Thingster
Samba Member
Joined: February 28, 2006
Posts: 150
Location: Webster Groves, MO
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| Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 8:49 pm Post subject: |
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basically it's not a stock bracket, that's about all I really need to know.
As for fire suppression in the engine compartment, I'd rather go with a CO2 setup than a dry-chem setup. I had a portable generator catch fire and put it out with a dry-chem extinguisher, the motor sucked it up through the carb and tore the rings out of it. So long as you had a CO2 extinguisher that could totally fill the engine bay, it would be much better for engine life if you did have to use it.
Justin
_________________
"I like to take my Thing out and play with it."
1974 Thing (Play Toy)
1957 Sedan(Show Car)
1954 Sedan (On the back burner) |
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scottienoel
Samba Member
Joined: July 10, 2006
Posts: 51
Location: Seattle, WA
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| Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2006 11:54 am Post subject: |
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| Well in high school I had a '73 thing that caught on fire due to a leaky fuel line (and dumbass friends that I let borrow the car), so I can tell you that fires do happen. A fire suppression system or just an estinguisher is a good idea, unless you want to repaint your thing, get a new top, new engine (and the hardest part new wire harness). |
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bucko
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Joined: December 09, 2004
Posts: 2617
Location: Coppell, Texas
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| Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2006 1:49 pm Post subject: |
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I could not agree with you anymore on the subject of fires. Everythime I enter a junkyard, there's always at least one air cooled VW with the rear of the car showing fire damage. Because of the design of the fuel line from the fuel pump to carb crossing the distributor, this was an open invitation to a fire.
It should be very important to check the condition of the fuel lines often as part of our routine maintenance. If there's any sign of cracking, brittleness, or rot, change all of them immediately. |
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