Safety, 24 hours of lemons, racing, station wagon, volvo

Fuel Filler Leak? Fix It With A Rubber Glove!

If you potential Volvo 240 racers want to see a good reason for relocating the fuel filler on your cars, just take a look at the photo above. Yes, that's a Volvo 245 that got bashed in the right rear during a 2006 24 Hours of LeMons race, and that scary gasoline-filled balloon hanging from the fuel filler area is a latex glove ziptied over the end of the busted-off filler tube. We can thank Ecurie Ecrappe for being so helpful to a competing team by performing this totally safe Field Expedient Repair; thanks also to EE member TheEastBayKid for sending in the photo. [Hardtuned]

2:40 PM on Mon Apr 21 2008
By Murilee Martin
1,474 views
28 comments

Comments

layabout at 02:59 PM on 04/21/08
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I got one just like it,only made from a rubber sock.
cyclopticgaze at 03:00 PM on 04/21/08
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Aha! The answer to all our problems: genetically modified cows whose udders produce gasoline.

Patent pending Patent pending Patent pending Patent pending Patent pending Patent pending Patent pending Patent pending Patent pending Patent pending Patent pending Patent pending Patent pending Patent pending Patent pending Patent pending Patent pending Patent pending Patent pending Patent pending Patent pending Patent pending
akirachan at 03:01 PM on 04/21/08
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I'm fascinated by the udder-like appearance of the glove.
PatFromGundo at 03:01 PM on 04/21/08
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This is actually a pretty common fix for gas leaks. I mean, Howie Mandel...
combat chuck at 03:10 PM on 04/21/08
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What could possibly go wrong?
elwood at 03:11 PM on 04/21/08
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And the track safety marshals allowed this? I know LeMons is all about racing cheap cars, but come on.
graverobber- Two BEER... at 03:12 PM on 04/21/08
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The handy external reserve tank probably gave them the edge they needed.
AllenK at 03:13 PM on 04/21/08
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I still prefer the red shop rag.
OldeEnglishD misses Polar at 03:19 PM on 04/21/08
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Looks like those Truck Nuts boys have themselves a new product, Utility Udderz!
acidic at 03:19 PM on 04/21/08
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@PatFromGundo: Why do you have to pick on Howie? What happened to bashing Celine Dion? At least Howie is funny...sometimes.
Ash78 at 03:22 PM on 04/21/08
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@acidic: Howie was funny when he was doing Bobby's World, which was ahead of its time as far as the kids'-shows-that-also-appeal-to-adults genre is concerned.
Mike the Dog at 03:26 PM on 04/21/08
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Do I always have to be the serious one? Oh well, someone has to. That can't be a latex glove. Latex and gasoline get along about as well as Listerene Strips and saliva, which is to say that if that was a latex glove it would be dissolving even as it was installed. The blue color suggests nitrile or maybe neoprene.
Indiana Bento and the... at 03:36 PM on 04/21/08
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Have I mentioned yet that I would like to be Amy Adam's Listerine strip????
mechimike at 03:37 PM on 04/21/08
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They should install these on the cars of people who smoke. There'd be a lot fewer cigarette butts littering the sides of motorways. Though, possibly many more charred automobile carcasses.
verbing weirds at 03:53 PM on 04/21/08
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Dangerous? Maybe not. How many people hit the right rear of the car after this fix? The best way to survive a crash is to avoid one, right?
theeastbaykid at 04:00 PM on 04/21/08
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@elwood: No, this was/is not allowed. We learned a lot about safety in the first LeMons, which this photo is from--after surviving a race with gas-filled glove balloons and no fire suits (!), we figured amending the rules was in order. Of course, we now refer to that first race as "the good old days."
Mad_Science at 04:03 PM on 04/21/08
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@*Ashsterisk*78: Loved that cartoon.

How long could that have possibly lasted? Rubber gloves (nitrile or latex) aren't all that tough, and gas eats both.

Although, with this modification the Volvo's overall Safety Score™ is likely still ahead of most competitors.
elwood at 04:58 PM on 04/21/08
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@theeastbaykid: That's nostalgia for you. Everyone looks back on the past with fondness, regardless of how stupid and un-safe it might have been.
narf at 05:11 PM on 04/21/08
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... and folks doubted me about using zipties to hold the filler tube. This one held up the entire auxiliary fuel tank!
NovaloadMissesPolar at 05:12 PM on 04/21/08
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@AllenK: Yeah, that's what we use. Molotov gas cap.
boosted-lego-wagon at 05:40 PM on 04/21/08
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Aren't rubber gloves supposed to be used to prevent explosions?
SupermotoThud at 06:02 PM on 04/21/08
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Thats probably a good $3 bucks worth of gas in that glove
Turboner at 07:11 PM on 04/21/08
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That's one hell of a "reservoir tip!"
graverobber- Two BEER... at 07:57 PM on 04/21/08
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@Turboner: COTE! Comment of the evening!
deus ex wagon at 10:34 PM on 04/21/08
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(Sexy female computer voice) "Jalopnicity confirmed. You may enter." (Doors open, fog dissipating in the night air, and a defiant wagon disappears from the alley).

And that's why I love [jalopnik.com]
Turboner at 12:25 AM on 04/22/08
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@graverobber- Same great taste, new low price!: It was morning for me. Night shifters FTW!
chrystlubitshi at 11:33 AM on 04/22/08
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@Turboner: da,m/// would have joined you in that celebratory cry if i hadn't been working...
chrystlubitshi at 11:34 AM on 04/22/08
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wow... spaten optimator is my typing friend... "damn...."