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Re: Walter's proposal (Fire Ext)

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 10:52 am
by sachilles
This is how I understood it, and correct me if I'm wrong.

You have your metal mount. It's bolted to the structure. If the bolts are the furthest forward part of the extinguisher setup, then the latch is facing the rear of the car. So in essence if the bolts, go forward or to the side you are legal? I think the intent was that in a frontal impact, the bracket takes the brunt of the force, rather than the strap.

I do think this is one of those rules where a picture is worth a thousand words.

Re: Walter's proposal (Fire Ext)

Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 9:21 pm
by slickfast
I completely agree with the pictures comment made by sachilles.

I have an E36 M3. Read the rules much earlier in the season, made sure I understood them, and sourced a very rare OEM fire extinguisher and OEM bracket which has a metal bracket with a nylon (seatbelt material, sort of) strap, which was conforming to the current rules. Anyway, I FINALLY sourced all of these parts, installed them, went to check the rules, and was devastated to find they had changed drastically. This car is pristine and I really don't want to drill holes in it to install a fire extinguisher (I'm planning on selling, so I don't want to leave two giant holes where the extinguisher used to be).

I found a current-rules-conforming bracket and extinguisher, but I can't figure out how to do it without drilling ridiculous holes in the side of the nicest car I've ever owned. Can someone give a newb some pointers? I am in serious need of attending these events!

Thanks,
Colin

Re: Walter's proposal (Fire Ext)

Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2010 12:30 am
by Rabbit Farmer
The car we ran at the Bolton hillclimb was our daily driver (less than a year old). My brother made a metal bracket that attached to the front mounting points of the passenger's seat. Worked great.

Re: Walter's proposal (Fire Ext)

Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2010 4:11 pm
by Mopar 151
Colin - I would beg to differ with your post. 1)Our rules have not changed an iota since Febuary. 2) those changesdealt only with brackets for extuinguishers substantially larger than the minimum, and requiring the mimum handheld extuinguisher even with an onboard system.
3) The specific requirement for a 1A/5BC extuinguisher has been in existience for at least 4 years.

Re: Walter's proposal (Fire Ext)

Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 5:03 pm
by walterclark
Some details changed in Feb. 2010. Regarding straps we used to say: "No plastic straps, catches, or brackets." Now we say: "No non-metal or elastic straps, latches, or brackets are permitted."

Wikipedia says this: "Nylon is a thermoplastic silky material". And "Polyethylene terephthalate, commonly abbreviated PET, PETE, is a thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family" (it is also commonly known by the DuPont trade name Dacron). These are the 2 most common "seatbelt" type materials. While they are not as obviously plastic as say a zip tie, they are a plastic and thus they have not been permitted by our rules for years. The 2010 revision just makes it less subtle.

I found one image of one of these BMW extinguishers on line and I dont see a pressure gauge which is required. What is the chemical used and rating of it? It must be at least 2.5 pounds net and carry an ABC rating.

Re: Walter's proposal (Fire Ext)

Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2010 9:28 am
by sachilles
Post a picture of the bracket. It may be very easily adaptable to accept a metal strap(I have a spare you can have).