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Re: Heat shields & Fuel pumps

To: <gardner5@comcast.net>, "'rjh'" <rjh@hockertlaw.us>, "'Dan
Subject: Re: Heat shields & Fuel pumps
From: Theo Smit <tsmit@shaw.ca>
Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2007 10:41:31 -0700
Hi all,

Locating the fuel pump in the trunk presents no great hazard as long as 
some basic safety precautions are taken. In order to explode a gasoline 
mixture the air to fuel ratio must be within a reasonably narrow range; 
accordingly, if you were to start doing some work in the trunk and 
anticipate that you might strike a spark, it would suffice to remove the 
trunk's contents and leave it sitting open for five or ten minutes (out 
in the breeze is even better) and that would pretty much guarantee that 
there was no explosive gasoline vapor mixture in the trunk. The battery, 
by itself, is not a source of sparks or heat unless there is a bad 
electrical connection to the battery, and some simple precautions (such 
as disconnecting the ground first and making sure the ignition, lights, 
etc. are off before starting work on the battery ) will reduce the 
chances of drawing a spark when connecting or disconnecting the battery. 
Enclosing the battery in a battery box reduces the chance of dropping a 
tool on the battery posts.

There is no guarantee of 100% safety when doing work on the car, but 
some simple precautions and not taking shortcuts will greatly reduce the 
risk of fire or other disaster. Our Tigers are almost all over 40 years 
old already - taking five minutes longer to follow  proper procedures 
when working on it isn't going to hurt. As a side note, I am not sure 
that the Bosch relays that lots of people use are hermetically sealed, 
and as such opening and closing the relay contacts may cause ignition of 
a flammable gas mixture. This risk would be increased if the relay were 
used to drive an inductive load such as a fuel pump motor.

Best regards,
Theo




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