[Roadsters] FW: Video of Burnt Eliza

[Gary Boone]

Here's another possible cause based on something I experienced with my
roadster.  I found my new carpet's backing severely melted directly behind the
driver's seat.  The heat from the muffler directly below that area was making
the floor very hot and melting the carpet.  It might be worth a check
underneath to see how close the exhaust system is routed to the body and after
the engine runs for a while, feel around inside for hot spots in the areas
above the exhaust system.  I fixed my problem by wrapping the top of the
muffler with high temp blanket insulation as opposed to revamping the exhaust
system.
Gary      




>________________________________
> From: Pete Peters
<ppeters914 at comcast.net>
>To: Datsun Roadster List
<datsun-roadsters at autox.team.net> 
>Sent: Sunday, April 8, 2012 1:29 AM
>Subject: [Roadsters] FW:  Video of Burnt Eliza
> 
>Think this should have
gone to Peter (the roadster owner) and/or the
>list....
>
>-----Original
Message-----
>From: Andy Pastore [mailto:ajpastore at rcn.com] 
>Sent: Saturday,
April 07, 2012 7:44 PM
>To: Pete Peters
>Subject: Re: [Roadsters] Video of
Burnt Eliza
>
>I don't know if you found the exact source of the fire yet but
I want to
>mention something that has happened to me.  It's a bit wacky but
true.
>One summer I noticed what appeared to be melted spots on the vinyl seat
back
>of the drivers side. It upset me because they were relatively new and in
>perfect shape. I thought maybe I got some cleaning solvent or brake fluid or
>something on my back while crawling around on the ground and transferred it
>to the seat.
>Then some time later that summer in the morning, I pulled the
car out of the
>garage and left it in the driveway, top down, while doing
something in the
>garage. After a while I looked out at the car and saw smoke
wafting up from
>the drivers seat back. It was the sun, reflecting off the
steering wheel and
>pinpointing a "laser" of heat onto the seat and burning a
hole! Really? WTF
>On my roadster I installed a steering wheel which I can't
remember the name
>of.  This wheel has a very shiny chrome horn button that
acted like a
>parabolic collector/reflector, pinpointing the suns power to my
seat. If I
>hadn't noticed it I'm sure it would have continued until the sun
moved
>enough to stop the "laser" or even started the seat afire when it made
>through to the foam.
>I can't tell from your video which steering wheel you
have but is it
>possible this may have happened to Eliza?
>The different spots
on the back of my seat prove that it happened more than
>once and in slightly
different positions so it wasn't a one in a million
>type of thing.  In the
morning during the summer, the sun shines perfectly
>down my driveway, low in
the sky and hotter than hell.
>As far as the speaker wires...unless the amp
malfunctioned, it's not very
>likely you could get enough current to start a
fire with out the fuse
>blowing. It would require more power than the amp
should put out before just
>stopping working. A shorted speaker can get pretty
hot but you need many
>watts of continuous power to get it to glow and the
voice coil would burn
>out before that or the amp would crap out. Does the
radio still work? All
>the channels left and right? If so I really doubt the
stereo was the
>culprit.