SCR11,
I think what Steve is saying, is to get one, anyone, but get one!
Have you ever seen fiberglass burn? It is ugly. Takes a bit to get it going, and not that much of a bit, but when it does, it is very hard to extinghuish.
Enzo is selling them for $85.00? Good for him! that is about $12.00 less than my cost! I would only suggest that you make sure you get a "HALON 1211" bottle. (Don't know if this is the one Enzo is selling or not.)
2.5 lbs is what is required by SCCA and all the Viper sanctioned racing events. It is a rather large bottle but can still be mounted in the Cobra fairly easily. We install the smaller 1.? bottles automatically in every Cobra we sell.
Yes, you can go to your local hardware store, marina, even drug stores carry the small home use types and for under $20.00! This IS better than nothing at all...maybe.
For example, lets say you had the old tried and true carb backfire, or in my case a power steering hose popped off that had been on for three years! Showering the hot headers with fuel or power steering fluid, or even
oil for that matter makes for a very intense and immediate "cobra roast"!
Now lets say you bought one of the cheaper extinghuishers, lets even assume it worked on your gas/
oil fire. (electrical - should work pretty well) Now you have the fire out, and lets assume since you had an extinghuisher to begin with and it was readily available, you sustained nothing more than some sooty fiberglass and valve covers. The only problem here is the Sodium powder!
Don't even think of starting that puppy up with all that sodium in the carb! Tow the car home, dismantle down to the heads at the minimum and thoroughly wash, and rinse before re-assembly.
OH-- then you can start on the guages, interior, wiring, etc. Heaven help if you have an EFI, cleaning all those injectors is real ugly!
Lets go to the same scenario with the Halon type system. "PULL OR SQUEEZE THE FRICKIN' TRIGGER!"
When the fire is out which will be almost immediately, find the problem at the "scene", fix if possible, then simply start up and drive away! The HALON will not leave any residue what so ever, in fact it is invisible, odorless and tasteless.
Safety, safety, safety......Sorry for going on and on. It's a safety thing to me. Ever seen a guy trapped upside down in a fully engulfed Cobra? Many of us have; Run N Gun, 1998 (?). The only thing and I mean the only thing that saved the drivers life was the fact that the driver of our car, Jay Kowalik, was behind the accident. Jay grabbed the extinghuisher and was out of our car before it stopped rolling, was able to extinghuish the "driver" (told you fires are quick!) and drag him out of the car. It still took months for that individual to recover enough to get out of the hospital.
I have this all on video, right to the point where I dropped the camera and ran to the scene.
Safety, safety, safety!
DV