Flamethrowers

[Schwanger]

Does anybody know anything about laws on flamethrowers. If you get caught is just going to be an exhibition?

Reason I'm asking is I helped a friend build and install one on his Geo Metro and it turned out pretty cool so I'm thinking about doing it to my car.

[harwood39]

how did you build it? Im very interested in one.

I dont know about the laws, i know ive seen quite a few on older cars.

[out there]

i would assume that your car might get impounded as some sort of threat?

[harwood39]

My neighbor is a highway patrol man, and he said just have a switch so when there is a cop around you arent using it. He said there is some sort of fine, but he didnt specify.

[Schwanger]

Well his Geo is fuel injected but it uses a coil like any points style distributer would use so he ran a wire from the negative side of the coil to another coil that fires a spark plug in the exhaust tip (it has to be in the tip) then he welded a fuel injector (didn't actually weld the injector) into the tail pipe, put a T-fitting in the gas line (after the fuel pump), hooked it all up to two relays (have to have 2 otherwise the injector back feeds off the coil and will be open all the time) and a momentary rocker switch. But there's some technique to using it because there's not enough exygen in the exhaust to ignite the gas. If you're not moving you have to rev it up and come all the way back down to idle then it draws air into the pipe. We took it on the Interstate and hit the switch and it worked great.

It will shoot a 2-3 foot flame when you're parked.

[harwood39]

Sounds pretty complicated for me, seeing how i dont weld, and i dont really want to put a hole in thw tip of my new muffler.

[Schwanger]

I was thinking about this last night. You might be able to get away with propane and move the plug farther up the pipe. But I don't know for sure, and you would get a blue flame instead of orange. You would still have some welding to do.

[harwood39]

That would be cool, about how much did it cost? I like the idea of a blue flame. I know you can buy kits for like $125

[Schwanger]

I don't know for sure. If you did propane and wanted to do it right it would be more than 125. Unless you can find a cheap electric bottle valve. with gas you can get off cheap, all you need is a coil, old spark plug, plug wire, old injector, a couple relays, switch, and some wire.

[harwood39]

The kit i found was for a gas one, not propane.

[24valvenotak]

propane is the way to go though

[Schwanger]

I don't know. It's pretty cool with gas because the flames are about 3 foot long and 3 foot high, you can see the tips of the flames through the back window. Plus you can leave a little burning reminder that you were there on the ground.

[harwood39]

but what will the gas one do to the car if its that high? I know the propane ones arent as high so the wont damage the body, and can shoot out alot farther that 3 ft.

[24valvenotak]

propane is the way to go.. its eaiser to control then trying to time the mixture of your exhaust...just push the button

[harwood39]

i take it you have experience with propane.

[Guest]

is this the geo drivin around town with like taht tip that has some curve to it, my friend who also has a metro made a flame thrower kit but couldnt get any spark but when we held a lighter at the end of tip he had some that were prolly 4 feet so we tried it usuing a friends go kart racing alcohol and the flames were shittier, but it still is tight shit seeing flames from a geo, and it was the metro that has all those stickers in the back windows and its low

[24valvenotak]

I happen to know of a few guys who run it on their semis..ya know the 18wheeler ones. They use it to climb hills and for shits and giggles in the smoke stacks.