TheSamba.com :: View topic - Anyone ever lit a Volkswagen case on fire?

Tue Jan 19, 2010 2:58 pm

Here's my engine case fire from a camping trip this past summer. No photo enhancement here at all...

It was about 10:30 at night. The next morning, some folks came over and said "what the hell were you guys burning last night?" our reply... "just wood, that's all."

Sat Apr 30, 2011 10:42 am

Used to set em on fire at the river and go water sking at night.Good luck trying to put them out though.

Wed May 25, 2011 5:47 am

Sure looks like fun to watch.

Class D fire extiguisher is what you need for combustable metal fires. Almost $500 from Grainger though.

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/BUCKEYE-Fire-Exti..._sku=3GRY1

Thu May 26, 2011 11:08 am

We do a case burn every year at our annual Kaapse Kombi Kult kamp-out here in South Africa:

Tue Sep 20, 2011 2:24 pm

Nice photo, I need to go over the junk yards in search for a set for next summer. :)

Wed Aug 15, 2012 12:21 pm

*bump*

I'm thinking about lighting an old, past it's prime, case on fire, but I was wondering about safety concerns...

Magnesium burns bright enough that you're not supposed to stare right into the light, right? Is there a safe distance to view it from?

Thu Sep 27, 2012 8:37 am

I burned one last fall on a campout. I had sunburn-like burns on my face and arms the next day from the bright light. I would be very careful and weary of the fumes put off. I felt ill for a while.

The other side was that I had to get up close and personal with the fire after a drunk-ass threw an unopened beer on the fire (water!) and it exploded into a 50' radius fire around our campsite and burned everything down. It burned our camp chairs and all of our food on the tables. It left meteorite burns on three nearby vehicles, started a fire in the bed of one of them (truck) and burned the plastic step bumper as well. I spent about 30 minutes cleaning up and stomping out fires. People camping nearby got mad and thought we had damaged their campers, but it was just the shock-wave that hit their 5th wheel. I'm surprised the cops didn't come.

Be really careful and break the case into smaller pieces

Thu Sep 27, 2012 10:42 am

Wow. Thanks for the story. Good things to be aware of...

I ended up breaking the flywheel portion of a case off with a big hammer. Gave me a small enough piece that I could burn it safely... There was also a perimeter set up for the bonfire we had going, so that helped.

Green70 wrote: I burned one last fall on a campout. I had sunburn-like burns on my face and arms the next day from the bright light. I would be very careful and weary of the fumes put off. I felt ill for a while.

The other side was that I had to get up close and personal with the fire after a drunk-ass threw an unopened beer on the fire (water!) and it exploded into a 50' radius fire around our campsite and burned everything down. It burned our camp chairs and all of our food on the tables. It left meteorite burns on three nearby vehicles, started a fire in the bed of one of them (truck) and burned the plastic step bumper as well. I spent about 30 minutes cleaning up and stomping out fires. People camping nearby got mad and thought we had damaged their campers, but it was just the shock-wave that hit their 5th wheel. I'm surprised the cops didn't come.

Be really careful and break the case into smaller pieces

Mon Nov 26, 2012 12:33 am

We used to break cases up with a sledge hammer, and then use a generator stand,
and a little water to get the fire hot enough to get case pieces started.

Sat Jan 05, 2013 11:14 am

Years ago I found a rusty VW beetle pan with a tunnel type transaxle sitting in salt water . I thought that maybe I could get the cross shaft for the T/O bearing out for a transaxle of mine that needed one.

I got a BFH and started smacking the case to break it apart. It seemed that with each hit there was a puff of smoke and a crack like explosion.
It didn't start on fire or anything but it was kind of interesting.

Tue Dec 18, 2018 8:43 am

This was some years ago.
What people said about the smell, and the brightness.
It takes some heat to get a complete engine going. Easier with just a case.
Adding water to a burning case does make it burn more. These pics don't half show how bright it was.

The next day there the steel is left.

Tue Jan 01, 2019 9:01 pm

Does anyone else see the evil clown in the second picture in the above post.

Fri Dec 27, 2019 7:10 am

Although this looks like fun it is in fact one of the most ignorant and dangerous things you could do. We know someone that did this and was severely burned and like the other reference above was miles from the hospital, he suffered greatly before medical intervention. Also not mentioned the fumes which are poisonous DO NOT BREATHE THE FUMES.

If you really are curious about this light show go to a place that does VW machine work and ask for the shavings. Make a small pile and carefully observe but be aware watching magnesium burn can injure your eyes and just like welding flash burns and you won’t like it.

Fri Feb 21, 2020 6:29 pm

Once you get them going you can spray water on them with the hose.

Once these suckers get going they burn so hot that they split the water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen which immediately makes it burn more.