The Gemini, Fire, and Sacrificial Doona.

[Woz]

Well, i had an interesting weekend - me and some of my friends went for a bit of a camp on friday night, doing burnouts, circle work, rally driving etc, but something happened to my car when i was doing doughies.

It caught on fire.

I was flying round when all of a sudden i lost all lights, all engine power and stopped. Then, as i pulled the bonnet release flames began to appear from between the left quarter and the bonnet. Swiftly grabbing my good $120 doona from the back seat i jumped out to pry my bonnet open, preparing to utilize my sacrificial doona to save my car.

Luckily it wasnt as bad as i thought; the battery had slid across about 2cm and was arcing with a wire loom holder - now my batteries dead, but i still have my doona and uncooked gemini

Anyone else got any fire stories???

-Woz

[Adam]

None in geminis... had a scare when I connected 12 volts directly to the fuel pump without first disconnecting the 9volt feed... the 12 volts ran back into the battery regulator and one of the bundle of six wires that go into the regulator did its best impression of a fusable link.

Was out driving with my brother once and we spotted a falcon which was on fire under the front guard, grabbed the extinguisher from the passenger footwell and helped the guy put that out.

The night gerty broke her timing chain (the reason I'm building a 2 litre), while we were waiting for a towie, my mate hugh helped put out a fire in two dumpsters behind a nearby servo, used about half of the fire extinguishers from the servo... to quote him "I got to smash the glass"

[WAY2LOW]

my td caught on fire when i was takin a sharp left hander. the engine died and smoke started pouring out from the drivers side of the bonnet. popped the bonnet and all the wiring on the drivers side had melted. dont know why!
ne way replaced the wiring and it was fine again

[Gene FJ20DET]

the very night i registered the gem i was reversing out the driveway when the whole thing died. i sat for a bit trying to start it but nothing. untill i noticed the smoke comeing from the bonnet!!! i swore quite abit then ripped the bottet up to see that EVEY wire coming of the battery was melting!!! SHIT SHIT SHIT!!! quickly grabed the 1st thing i could see (radiator fan that i just took off) and bashed the earth wire off the batery to stop what ever that was shorting out from doing so.
in the morning, the inspection begain to find that the power lead for the starter motor had rubbed on the crossmember to much and cut into the wire which started the fire!
well thats my story heheh
GENE
_________________

[HONES]

Not the gemini but driving home from school one day long ago and the battery decided to fall down onto the inside of the guard and the air intake thingo.
SO there i was in the country side bonnet up trying to stop the thing from sparking agaisnt the body whie sparks were flying at my head.
Anyways nice old couple pulled over and helped by calling my dad (i was mobilephone less) and after using about 10 mins of their phone i said goodbye and continued driving (after battery in place and secure.
No melted wires but after driving about 15-20 km (home) i noticed the temperature was about to blow up coz the needle couldnt go ney farther.

So had another look under the bonnet and noticed i was missing the fan belt.
The fken battery fell on it and snapped it.
that was my drama.

i have more stories - including 'jones' tailshaft'
lol

[Dave]

What happened to Gene - the starter motor lead rubbing on the crossmember until one day it shorts - is a common problem with the Geminis. So take heed and check your starter motor lead!!! Do it!!! DO IT NOW!!!

I was racing my BreadVan at Mallala and was doing a cool-down lap along the Mallala driveway when it died. I kept rolling, trying to key start the thing, but everything was totally dead.

Then thick, white smoke started to pour from under the bonnet. I kept rolling, and yelled at my mate Ross (DOHC) to stop.

We both used up our fire extinguishers - mandatory equipment for Super Sprints.

We put it out and did some dodgy work under the bonnet, as the starter motor solenoid was now fused on. Gave the car a push-start, packed it up and headed back to Adelaide - SO glad I wasn't stranded there!

[Fastgem]

Have plenty of fire stories but nothing that was unintentional.
Do yourself a favor any buy a fire extinguisher, best $30 you will ever spend and dont keep it in the boot. Not a very useful place to have it in a time of need.

[greg j]

not gemini related. but i was doing plenty of circle work in a mates old ford ute, after some heavy rain on a silt/mud flat....lots of fun! anyway the thing kind of started to bellow smoke, and i lifted the bonnet revealing that the intake was on fire. very much so on fire. that was funny. we just pushed it aside, and jumped in my gemi, and on went the fun and games!

then there's another story how (not car related whatsoever) my brother, some mates and myself were being "dare-devils" and dirt jumping our bmx bikes over some decent sized doubles we had built. this got boring, so we added in some petrol in a container, and lit her up. anyway we jumped over the flames...OH MY GOD....how courageous they say (sarcasm) until my mate tips some petrol on the ground, therefore spreading some flames. i don't know what i was thinking but i kicked the tin that the petrol was in......it glided through the air spilling all over my brother's shorts, and incidently set them on fire. he jumped around like a looony for a bit and rolled around on the ground, and attempted to slap it out while we couldn't help but laugh our arses off! the flames were eventually put out, and my brother wasn't hurt at all. thank god!. his shorts were a bit worse for wear though:) but that's another story of fire. anyone got others?

[HONES]

and this one time at band camp...

[greg j]

.....they put onions on your meal? lol

[alan]

and spend $5 on a battery bracket, which you obviously didnt have, so the battery doesnt move at all. then these things wont happen.